LUMINOUSOUNDS - Orchestral Strings & Strands

 

I've been wanting to make an orchestral mix for a long time. Sometimes individual tracks will show up in other mixes but I haven't done one devoted exclusively to modern classical music in a long time.

What finally got me going with this mix was the new album from Max Richter - Voices 2. It's a beautiful album with lots of tracks that would work for an ambient leaning modern classical set. 

I really like how this one turned out. All but two of the tracks are from 2021. They flow from one to the other really well, making for a nice cohesive mix.

Cheers!

[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ i t u n e s ]

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Max Richter - Psychogeography (Voices 2 2021)
• 06:40    Glowworm - A Late Arrival (Midnight Intervals 2020)
• 10:30    Sven Laux - Fragment 3 (Scattered Fragments of Separation 2021)
• 13:48    Christine Ott - Pluie (Time To Die 2021)
• 18:35    That Which Is Not - Twin (The Basic Sharpness Of Emotions 2021)
• 24:56    Simon McCorry - Full Circle (And Where Are You Really From? 2021)
• 28:33    William Ryan Fritch - Resurface (Freeland 2021)
• 30:01    Christian Löffler - Pastoral (Parallels 2021)
• 33:33    A Winged Victory for the Sullen - Every Solstice & Equinox (Invisible Cities 2021)
• 35:42    Jóhann Jóhannsson - Flight From the City(Vikingur Olafsson Rework) (Retrospective II _ Rarities 2021)
• 41:29    Elskavon & John Hayes - Du Nord (Du Nord 2020)
• 45:55    Peter Gregson - Somnia [2021]
• 48:40    Max Richter - Movement Study (Voices 2 2021)
• 53:41    Slow Dancing Society - The Devil Knows How To Row (Galilee's Dream 2021)
• 58:38    Ross Gentry - Nobody Wants To Leave (Prism of Dust 2021)
• 62:00    end

Secret Songs of the Harp

 

Last year saw a trio of very fine albums of harp music from Andrea Cortez, Mary Lattimore, and Kirsten Agresta Copel. Here are links to all three albums:

I used "The Secret Song of Plants" quite a bit as a work-from-home soundtrack. Then recently I realized that I'd never made a mix devoted to harp music. So here it is. It's beautiful and relaxing without being spa, new age crapola.

Cheers!

[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ i t u n e s ]

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Assia Cunego - Section 25-30 (Canto Ostinato 2009)
• 03:42    Alice Coltrane - Vrindavana Sanchara (Transcendence 1977)
• 07:22    Andrea Cortez - Song 3 (The Secret Song of Plants 2020)
• 14:20    Mary Lattimore - Pine Trees (Silver Ladders 2020)
• 17:28    Lavinia Meijer - Gnossienne No. 1 (Voyage 2015)
• 21:45    Kirsten Agresta Copely - Winter's Bone (Around The Sun 2020)
• 26:51    Claire Deak & Tony Dupé - for bernadette (the old capital 2020)
• 29:27    Lavinia Meijer - Glassworks Opening Piece (Glass:Metamorphis The Hours 2012)
• 35:33    Susan Jolles & Bert Lucarelli  - Claire De Lune (Music for Oboe & Harp 2012)
• 40:35    Julia Rovinsky - An Arc of Doves (Dusk 2010)
• 46:52    P.G. Six - #1 For Wire-Strung Harp with Echo (Music From The Sherman Box Series and Other Works 2006)
• 49:49    MItch Greer - Ambient Harp Midnight Reverie (Ambient Harp Midnight Reverie 2020)
• 65:55    end

Quiet Indie Songs #2 - Spring 2021

At the end of 2020 I posted a mix called "Quiet Indie Songs" and it did a lot better than I expected. A few folks thought it should be a recurring series and I agreed. So here you have installment #2 - "Quiet Indie Songs #2 - Spring 2021."  

I'm sneaking this in under the wire as it's barely spring anymore. Most of the songs are from 2021, with 4 of them from 2020. There are some old favorites in there, like Damien Jurado & Phoebe Bridgers. And also a lot of new to me artists like Arooj Aftab, Becca Mancari & Mt Went.

I'm always open for suggestions for new indie artists to use for this series so let me know in the comments if you have some ideas.

Cheers!

[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ i t u n e s ]

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Vagabon & Courtney Barnett - Reason to Believe (2021)
• 02:25    Damien Jurado - Helena (2021)
• 05:05    Helado Negro - Sound & Vision(Bowie cover) (2021)
• 08:16    Damielle Durack - There Goes My Heart (No Place 2021)
• 12:46    Bryce Dessner - Another World(String Arrangement  (Impermanence/Disintegration 2021)
• 16:31    Arooj Aftab - Saans Lo (Vulture Prince 2021)
• 20:22    Jack Symes - Overwhelming (Tompkins Park 2021)
• 25:08    Phoebe Bridgers - Halloween (Punisher 2020)
• 29:20    Piers Faccini - Together Forever Everywhere (Shapes of the Fall 2021)
• 33:27    Mt Went - Light in the Dark (Lit Way Down 2021)
• 38:20    Dawes - St. Augustine At Night (Good Luck With Whatever 2020)
• 43:23    Laura Marling - For You (Song For Our Daughter 2020)
• 47:14    Alexia Avina - Inner Garden (Unearth 2020)
• 50:31    Gia Margaret - Solid Heart (2021)
• 54:08    Waxahatchee - Streets of Philadelphia(Springsteen cover) (2021)
• 58:03    Skullcrusher - Song for Nick Drake (Sorm in Summer 2021)
• 60:47    Becca Mancari - Annie (Juniata 2021)
• 65:23    end

Meditation & Solace

The origin of this mix is very simple - I wanted a new collection of meditative tunes to sleep to or zone out to while sipping tequila on the deck.

Once I decided to go with a meditation mix I immediately thought of a recent purchase of music from an artist known as Calm Whale. You can't go wrong with any of their releases. Just close your eyes and pick one and it will be beautifully calm and meditative. 

Calm Whale on Bandcamp

The rest of the mix is almost all new stuff except for one random track from 1980 sneaking in.

Go sit in your comfy spot of choice and zone out to Meditation & Solace.

Cheers!

[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ i t u n e s ]

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Lab Cloud - Serenity 5am (The Structure Of Emotions 2021)
• 06:00    Don Slepian - Sea of Bliss (New Music for Digital Orchestra 1980)
• 13:03    Hipnotic Earth - Sadness Too Deep (HomeWorld 2021)
• 21:41    Calm Whale - Flowing In Harmony - Tibetan Bowls & RAV (Flowing In Harmony - Tibetan Bowls & RAV 2021)
• 29:33    Clariloops - Solace (Sun-Rain 2021)
• 32:32    zakè & City of Dawn - Fragile Dreaming In A Fragile Mind (Frizzell & Duque: A Sorrow Unrequited 2021)
• 39:27    the heart is awake - the Return ii(Healing Arts reMix) (the Healing Arts reMIXES Vol III 2020)
• 45:11    jarguna - My Temple (My Temple 2020)
• 50:15    Calm Whale - Breathing EARTH (Breathing EARTH Meditation 2021)
• 62:17    end

>_here_comes_my_data_^

 

A year or two ago I read a sci-fi novel in which some of the main characters were sentient robots. When two of them would meet they establish secure channels with dialog such as "I am Paladin. You are unknown. Here comes my data. We want information about a pirate named Judith Chen. She goes by Jack … That is the end of my data." For some reason the line "Here comes my data" stuck with me.

I immediately wrote it down as a possible title for a mix. I thought it would fit well with a slightly more upbeat electronic mix. And so this mix was born, or more like artificially grown in a lab.

The mix starts with a track from Saul Stokes. I haven't listen to Stokes in years but when I stumbled on his album "Local Crowd," I knew I had to include it. He still has a unique sound which comes from, I believe, the fact that most of his synths are built from scratch. 

The rest of the mix a a nice combo of new music with some older tracks, some from as far back as 2003. Oops! One short track is from 1987.

I think the whole mix hangs together quite well, with the vibe of a digital handshake.

Cheers!

[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ i t u n e s ]

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Saul Stokes - My memory I hope you remember (Local Crowd 2017)
• 04:12    Time Rival - Vaporous (Vertigo Sessions 2021)
• 08:22    Joel Vandroogenbroeck - rock program (Digital Project 1987)
• 08:57    Hannah Peel - Fir Wave (Fir Wave 2021)
• 12:45    Polypores - Fairy Rings (Shpongos 2021)
• 17:03    Coti - Tiptoe (Metamemoria 2020)
• 19:49    Zoltan Fecso - Wave (Silken Wave EP 2019)
• 28:55    Robert Lippok - Schemes Like These (Falling Into Komëit 2004)
• 31:15    Jan Jelinek - B1. ICE 897 (Ice Compositions 2021)
• 32:40    Nalepa - Porcelain (Beneath The Surface 2006)
• 36:55    Hainbach - Amtsweg (Landfill Totems 2021)
• 38:40    Pye Corner Audio - Phase B (Where Things Are Hollow 2 2020)
• 42:38    Belbury Poly - ffarisees (The Gone Away 2020)
• 46:37    Frank Bretschneider - Optik(For Yen-Ni) (Lunik 2018)
• 50:53    Atom™ - Computermusik (This Is Computermusik 2021)
• 54:25    Johnny Woods - Secret Commonwealth (Behind The Sky Presents: Portals 2020)
• 58:31    Komet - Blau (Gold 2003)
• 63:30    end