Thursday, December 29, 2022

Best Ambient 2022 part 3

 

I can't decide which of these Best Ambient mixes I like the most. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to listen all 3 all day, every day until the end of the year. Then the journey starts all over again.

As another year comes to a close, it's hard to believe I've been at this for 17 years. Yikes! I'm not sure how long I'll keep creating these mix but I at least have to make it to 20 years, right? If I ever retire from my day job this seems like the perfect retirement activity. Forget golf, I just want to listen to music and create mixes(and go to movies, concerts and funky restaurants.)

Here's to a hopefully less chaotic 2023.

Cheers!


[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ a p p l e _ p o d c a s t s ]


T R A C K L I S T :

  • 00:00    Seabuckthorn - Of No Such Place (Of No Such Place - Laaps)
  • 03:26    Son of Chi & Arthur Flink - Part Two (The Fifth World Recordings - Astral Industries)
  • 07:45    Tapani Rinne & Juha Mäki-Patola - Distant (Open - Hush Hush)
  • 12:36    Nils Frahm - Do Dream (Music for Animals - Leiter)
  • 19:35    Toàn - Coraline (Phonolite - [Krysalisound)
  • 22:35    Gylden - A drink at the stream (Island Friend - Seil)
  • 27:00    Oren Ambarchi - IV (Ghosted - Drag City)
  • 31:10    Adrian Copeland - No Heat No Light (If This Were My Body - Lost Tribe Sound)
  • 36:45    Roméo Poirier - Le case degli altri (Living Room - Faitiche)
  • 40:00    't Geruis - Quand Le Bois Chante (Bain D'Étoiles - Laaps)
  • 43:20    The Lonely Bell - The Final Light (Kingdoms Of The Deep)
  • 49:40    Music For Sleep - L'ansia che cura (L'ansia che cura)


Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Best Ambient 2022 part 2

 


Not much to say other than here is Best Ambient 2022 part 2. Enjoy.

Cheers!


[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ a p p l e _ p o d c a s t s ]


T R A C K L I S T :

  • 00:00    Snufmumriko - Langt under noll (Radio Mnemosyne - Dronarivm)
  • 06:10    Heavenchord - Field Recordings #19(Field Recordings #4 - Secret Domain)
  • 12:00    Austin Rockman - Muter (Our Own Unknown - Krysalisound)
  • 13:27    Alio Die - Il Lievito Dell'anima (Distillation Of Time - Hic Sunt Leones)
  • 18:25    Taylor Deupree - Rythn (Harbor - Laaps)
  • 21:15    Jason Kolàr - Magic / Random / Exotism (Liquid Rhythm - Dauw)
  • 27:37    Jarguna - Neogene (Neogene - Projekt)
  • 28:33    Alio Die & Dirk Serries - Without The Light Of The Sky, Time Is Lost (The Chapters Of The Eclipse - Projekt)
  • 34:25    State Azure - Nova Sonus (Nova Sonus)
  • 42:40    Deepchord - Drassanes (Functional Designs - Soma)
  • 47:20    Louigi Verona - Journeys on Google Earth III (Journeys on Google Earth)
  • 54:22    CELL - Auxin (Onwards System - Ultimae)
  • 59:50    Calm Whale - Awaken Earth (Handpan Journey)
  • 67:37    Ruven Nunez - Untitled No. 51 (Untitled No. 51 - Longform Editions)
  • 75:06    end


Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Best Ambient 2022 part 1

 

Man, these lists are tough to assemble. So why do I does this? Mostly because I enjoy the exercise of reviewing the tons and tons of music that is released over the year. It's a more active and intentional listening mode that I switch to at this time of year. I love checking out other lists to see what I may have missed. I'll link to some of those in another post. But mostly I'm just a music dork who likes lists.


My Top 10 Ambient Albums of 2022

  1. Ecovillage - The Road Not Taken [Laaps]
  2. Snufmumriko - Radio Mnemosyne [Dronarivm]
  3. Man Watching the Stars - The Sextant of a Blind Seafarer
  4. Gylden - Island Friend [Seil]
  5. Nils Frahm - Music For Animals [Leiter]
  6. Glåsbird - Himalaya [Whitelabrecs]
  7. Alio Die & Dirk Serries - The Chapters Of The Eclipse [Projekt]
  8. Tapani Rinne & Juha Maki-Patola - Open [Hush Hush Records]
  9. Oren Ambarchi, Johan Berthling, Andreas Werliin - Ghosted [Drag City]
  10. Tapes and Topographies - Modalities [Simulacra]


Here's the rest of the list in alphabetical order:

  • 't Geruis - Bain D'Étoiles [Laaps]
  • 't Geruis - Slow Dance on Moss Beds [Lost Tribe Sound]
  • Adrian Copeland - If This Were My Body [Lost Tribe Sound]
  • Alio Die - Distillation of Time & Spirals of Light [Hic Sunt Leones]
  • Austin Rockman - Our Own Unknown [Krysalisound]
  • Calm Whale - Awaken Earth
  • CELL - Onwards System [Ultimae]
  • Deepchord - Functional Designs [Soma]
  • Glåsbird - Cinéma Noir [Whitelabrecs]
  • Harry Towell & Guy Gelem - Restful Spaces [Polar Seas]
  • Heavenchord - Field Recordings #4 [Secret Domain]
  • Inhmost - Space & Awareness [Tonight’s Dream Records]
  • Jarguna - Neogene [Projekt]
  • Jason Kolàr - Liquid Rhythm [Dauw]
  • Jens Pauly - 1989 [Whitelabrecs]
  • Johann Johannsson - Drone Mass [DG]
  • Louigi Verona - Journeys on Google Earth
  • Michael Scott Dawson - Music For Listening
  • Moss Covered Technology - Brick & Air [Audiobulb]
  • Oren Ambarchi - Shebang [Drag City]
  • Pan-American - The Patience Folder [Kranky]
  • Polaroid Notes - Cloud Anthems [Whitelabrecs]
  • Romeo Poirier - Living Room [Faitiche]
  • Ruven Nunez - Untitled #51 [Longform Editions]
  • S. van der Toorn - vervlogenheden i-xi [Aural Canyon]
  • Scattered Light - D.A. #017 A.D. 2022 [Dust Archive]
  • Seabuckthorn - Of No Such Place [Laaps]
  • Son of Chi & Arthur Fink - The Fifth World Recordings [Astral Industries]
  • State Azure - Nova Sonus [2022]
  • Steve Tibbetts - Hellbound Train [ecm]
  • Tapes and Topographies - Amplitudes [Whitelabrecs]
  • Taylor Deupree - Harbor [Laaps]
  • The Lonely Bell - Kingdoms Of The Deep
  • Toàn - Phonolite [Krysalisound]
  • William Basinski & Janek Schaefer - “ . . . on reflection [Temporary Residence]


I've done three separate mixes to celebrate the best ambient music of 2022 and I will post one a day.

Cheers!


[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ a p p l e _ p o d c a s t s ]


T R A C K L I S T :

  • 00:00    Ecovillage - Silent River(ft. Henrik Meierkord & Ruven Nunez) (The Road Not Taken - Laaps)
  • 03:10    Jens Pauly - Vast (1989 - Whitelabrecs)
  • 08:40    't Geruis - la petite riviere (Slow Dance on Moss Beds - Lost Tribe Sound)
  • 13:00    William Basinski & Janek Schaefer - . . . on reflection(one) (“ . . . on reflection " - Temporary Residence)
  • 19:41    Scattered Light - A.D. 2022 - SP#086 (D.A. #017 - A.D. 2022 - Dust Archive)
  • 23:36    Man Watching the Stars - Sakkyoku • 55 Cancri (The Sextant of a Blind Seafarer)
  • 29:10    Harry Towell & Guy Gelem - Montague's Creek (Restful Spaces - Polar Seas)
  • 36:05    Inhmost - So Far Away (Space & Awareness - Tonight's Dream Records)
  • 40:12    Glåsbird - Vansa (Himalaya - Whitelabrecs)
  • 44:30    Johann Johannsson - To Fold & Remain Dormant (Drone Mass - DG)
  • 47:54    Tapes and Topographies - The First of Many Moons (Modalities - Simulacra)
  • 51:54    S. van der Toorn - vervlogenheid i (vervlogenheden i-xi - Aural Canyon)
  • 55:08    Michael Scott Dawson - Summerfallow (Music For Listening)
  • 57:51    Pan•American - Swimming in a Western Hotel (The Patience Fader - Kranky)
  • 60:30    end


Monday, December 26, 2022


As usual I listened to a lot of music in 2022. Anyone who says there's no good music being released is just not trying. There's a ton of it and it's hard to keep up. My Spotify playlist of 2022 albums has 4000 tracks in it. I end up making playlists called Heavy Rotation & More Time in an attempt to give select tracks & albums a more in depth listen. I also have separate 2022 playlists for ambient, electronic and jazz in an attempt to keep it all straight in my head.

All that is to say there was a lot of music in 2022 and I have some favorites that I'd like to share with you.

MY 2022 FAVORITE ALBUMS:

  1. Kevin Morby - This Is A Photograph
  2. Angel Olsen - Big Time
  3. Sprints - A Modern Job EP
  4. The Smile - A Light For Attracting Attention
  5. Shearwater - The Great Awakening
  6. The Beths - Expert in a Dying Field
  7. Yard Act - The Overload
  8. Beth Orton - Weather Alive
  9. Gang of Youths - angel in realtime.
  10. Hermanos Gutierrez - El Bueno Y El Malo

#1 - Inspired by his father's illness and paging through old photo albums, this album celebrates all the joys and heartaches of life and is catchy as hell.

#2 - Perfect country-tinged album with beautiful melodies and gorgeous pedal steel guitar.

#3 - Bursting with energy & angst, I love this EP.

#4 - Yes, it sounds like a Radiohead album but that's a good freaking thing!

#5 - this whole album has a late-stage Talk Talk vibe going on. A beautiful album.

#6 - Excellent indie jangly guitar music. The title track compares breaking up with someone to being an expert in a dying field - you have all this knowledge that is now useless.

#7 - Another album that is bursting with energy. This one is fun as heck.

#8 - This sounds like Beth Orton doing her own take on a Radiohead vibe and it works. This may have been the most surprising album of the year.

#9 - I don't really listen to this type of music much anymore - big, bold, fist-pumping arena rock - but I latched on to this album early in the year and kept returning to it.

#10 - I found Hermanos Gutierrez via Khruangbin. It's an instrumental album on which they use heavily reverbed guitars creating a kind of film soundtrack-esque atmosphere and vibe.


Here’s the rest of the list in alphabetical order:

  • Beach House - Once Twice Melody
  • Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
  • Courtney Marie Andrews - Loose Future
  • Curse of Lomo - People in Cars
  • Flock of Dimes - Head of Roses: Phantom Limb
  • Florist - Florist
  • Horsegirl - Versions of Modern performance
  • Hurray for the Riff Raff - Life on Earth
  • Julia Jacklin - Pre Pleasure
  • Los Bitchos - Let the Festivities Begin!
  • Lucrecia Dalt -¡Ay!
  • Makaya McCraven - In These Times
  • Mitski - Laurel Hell
  • Momma - Household Name
  • Nilufer Yanya - Painless
  • The A’s - Fruit
  • Wet Leg - Wet Leg
  • Weyes Blood - And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow
  • Wild Pink - ILYSM

I'll post ambient favorites soon but until then what are your favorite "normal" albums from 2022?


Wednesday, December 14, 2022

A Tribute to Manuel Gottsching

 

I have been a casual fan of Manuel Gottsching for a long time but I never really dug into his discography until the last few days with the news of his passing. I don't have time to write much about him so I'll cut & paste a few things from Pitchfork.

"Manuel Gottsching, the Ash Ra Tempel bandleader who went on to compose the electronic cornerstone album E2-E4, died last Sunday (December 4).

Göttsching made his name in the West Berlin underground scene in the late 1960s and early ’70s. He was a core member of Ash Ra Tempel, a krautrock linchpin with revolving members including Tangerine Dream’s Klaus Schulze. The loose, shapeshifting outfit released five influential albums between 1971 and 1973. Göttsching’s solo debut, 1975’s Inventions for Electric Guitar, was subtitled Ash Ra Tempel VI; from then on he mostly produced records under his own name or as Ashra, such as the 1976 classic New Age of Earth.

In 1981, after a visit to Schulze, Göttsching improvised the composition that became known as E2-E4, hoping to throw together some listening material for an imminent trip. That mysteriously perfect hourlong exercise, which combined Prophet 10 synth pulses with waves of electronic percussion and electric guitar, came to define his post-krautrock output. After composing the track, Göttsching later recalled, the billionaire and Virgin Records owner Richard Branson invited him to his houseboat and, upon hearing the track, advised Göttsching that it could make him a fortune. But Göttsching decided to release the full improvisation on his friend Schulze’s label, without overdubs, in 1984, and it appeared to have little impact.

Though E2-E4 sold poorly, it had—unbeknownst to Göttsching—made its way across the Atlantic and into Larry Levan’s Paradise Garage sets, as well as the collections of key electronic music innovators. As Pitchfork’s Mark Richardson wrote in a 2016 review, the improvisation “wound its way across the world, morphing and changing with formats and remixes, finding new contexts, a music that is constantly in the process of becoming.”

It was a nice trip through Gottsching's music making this mix. I hope he is improvising with his buddy Klaus somewhere.

Cheers!


[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ a p p l e _ p o d c a s t s ]


T R A C K L I S T :

  • 00:00    Ash Ra Tempel - Traummaschine (Ash Ra Tempel 1971)
  • 11:37    Manuel Göttsching(Ash Ra Tempel VI) - Echo Waves (Inventions for Electric Guitar 1975)
  • 24:35    Ashra - Slightly Delayed (Blackouts 1977)
  • 30:55    Manuel Göttsching - E2-E4 (E2-E4 1984)
  • 47:00    Ashra - Deep Distance (New Age Of Earth 1976)
  • 52:12    Manuel Göttsching - Halensee(Excerpt) (The Best Of The Private Tapes 1998)
  • 58:24    Manuell Göttsching(Ash Ra Tempel VI) - Quasarsphere (Inventions for Electric Guitar 1975)
  • 64:52    end

 

Sunday, December 04, 2022

Bells and Flutes for Sleep & Meditation by Paul Asbury Seaman


photo by Paul Asbury Seaman

This is the perfect mix to offset the hustle & bustle of the holiday season. Skip the shopping and make some tea and chill the f*** out to this wonderful meditation mix from Paul Asbury Seaman.

Here's what Paul says:

"Native American flutes. A bit of Ireland, a bit of acoustic guitar (with echoes of India), interspersed with Tibetan bells, wind chimes, and a recent track by Steve Roach that is his most sublime composition since “Structures From Silence.” So, a bit of variety, but all with a consistent tone of serenity—my most soothing mix yet.”

Here links to all the music used in this mix:

Thanks Paul for another great mix!

Cheers!


[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ a p p l e _ p o d c a s t s ]


T R A C K L I S T :

00:00    Suzanne Teng & Gilbert Levy - Sounding the Bell (Shimmer 2022)

05:25    Michael Stearns - Monk with Bell (Baraka 1993)

07:42    Sherry Finzer - Obsidian Shadows (Synesthesia 2022)

10:55    Jeff Johnson & Brian Dunning - Shepherding the Wind (Coming, Going 2022)

13:55    Jarguna - Garden of the Mantras (Prospective Animiche 2019)

21:35    Stevin McNamara - Aubade (Om Guitar 2020)

29:00    Forrest Fang - Song of the Wanderer (The Bok of Wanderers 2020)

34:15    Manrose - Tengpoche Monastery (Dhyana Aman 2010)

40:43    Suzanne Teng & Gilbert Levy - Mother and Child (Shimmer 2022)

45:55    Steve Roach - What Remains(excerpt) (Projekt2022 2022)

53:01    Calm Whale - Blue Moon Wind (Blue Moon Meditation 2017)

60:00    end


Sunday, November 27, 2022

Seabuckthorn - Transcendental Freq.

 


A couple of weeks ago I posted the Numinoustrings mix which featured a track by Seabuckthorn. I like the vibe of that mix and how the Seabuckthorn cut fit in. So I reached out to the man behind Seabuckthorn, Andy Cartwright, to see about him creating a guest mix and I was psyched when he said yes!

I am happy to present Transcendental Freq. Similar to Numinoustrings, it falls into the ambient/modern classical category. This set does exactly what I love about guest mixes - it combines familiar artists with new discoveries and tosses in a surprise or two. Andy saves the best surprise for last - an unreleased Seabuckthorn song recorded last year.

Here a link to Seabuckthorn music on Bandcamp - https://seabuckthorn.bandcamp.com/music

And here are links to all the music used in this mix in the order in which they appear:

https://seabuckthorn.bandcamp.com/album/of-no-such-place
https://boomkat.com/products/camo-06cba13d-7559-414d-96e0-d1875a1a534d
https://aeolian.bandcamp.com/album/the-complete-landings
https://astralindustries.bandcamp.com/album/ai-30-cardamom-laudanum
https://highaurad.bandcamp.com/album/no-river-long-enough-doesnt-contain-a-bend
https://setfiretoflames.bandcamp.com/album/telegraphs-in-negative-mouths-trapped-in-static-2
https://lowtheband.bandcamp.com/album/things-we-lost-in-the-fire
https://enniomorricone.bandcamp.com/album/crime-and-dissonance
https://seabuckthorn.bandcamp.com/album/of-no-such-place
https://facture.bandcamp.com/album/unstill
https://nathanmoody.bandcamp.com/album/tudes-i-blue-box
https://mandysoundtrack.bandcamp.com/album/mandy-original-motion-picture-soundtrack
https://ambientoan.bandcamp.com/album/hist-s-lusis
https://kningdisk.bandcamp.com/album/the-journey
https://aeolian.bandcamp.com/album/the-complete-crow-autumn
https://ianwilliamcraig.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-magnesium-173
https://williamryanfritch.bandcamp.com/album/at-once-there-was-no-horizon
https://williamtyler.bandcamp.com/album/new-vanitas
https://benfrost.bandcamp.com/album/by-the-throat

Thanks to Andy Cartwright for creating this fine mix. Cheers!





T R A C K L I S T :

  • 00.00   Seabuckthorn – Fell Into Journey (Laaps 2022)
  • 01:40   Ben Bondy – I Thought You'd Look Away (Good Morning Tapes 2022)
  • 05:30   Richard Skelton – Undertow (Sustain Release 2009)
  • 08:55   Mystic AM – The Dervish (Astral Industries 2022)
  • 11:25   High Aura'd – All The Spirits That Dance  (Debacle Records 2017) 
  • 13:47   Set Fire To Flames – Your Guts Are Like Mine (Alien8/Fat Cat 2003)
  • 15:30   Low – Whitetail (Kranky 2001)
  • 19:50   Ennio Morricone - Ninna Nanna Per Adulteri (Ennio Morricone 1968)
  • 22:38   Seabuckthorn – Jagged Horizon (Laaps 2022)
  • 25:20   Andy Cartwright – A Diary Of Sorts (Fluid Audio 2021)
  • 28:12   Nathan Moody – Cobalt (Studio Obsidian 2017)
  • 29:25   Johann Johannsson - Mandy Love Theme (Lakeshore Records 2018)
  • 31:16   Toán -Inland (Eilean Rec 2017)
  • 34:44   Voice Of The Seven Woods – Breaking Moonlight (Kning Disk 2008)
  • 36:00   A Broken Consort – Like Rain (Aeolian 2011)
  • 38:28   Ian William Craig – Its A Sound, Not An Ocean (Fatcat 2022)
  • 42:50   William Ryan Fritch - At Once, There Was No Horizon (Lost Tribe Sound 2020)
  • 45:05   William Tyler – Slow Nights Static (Merge Records 2020)
  • 48:02   Ben Frost - Leo Needs A New Pair Of Shoes (Bedroom Community 2009)
  • 51:30   Seabuckthorn - Phthalo (Unreleased Song)
  • 54:08   end



Sunday, November 20, 2022

A Little Louder


I was going to say - "...and now for something completely different" because this mix is louder than normal. But having recently posted a Robert Fripp mix I guess this isn't "completely different." However, this mix is, as the title says, a little louder than a normal Low Light ambient mix.

As per usual the mix started with one album in particular - Mox by Mox from 1998. I absolutely loved it when it came out in '98. I stumbled upon it a couple weeks back and decided to build a mix around non-ambient instrumentals. Some of the tunes have a kraut rock vibe, some are jazzy, some have a retro feel, and others are just cool. More than half the tracks are from 2022 with one of the old ones going all the way back to 1973.

Links to albums used in this mix in the order in which they appear:


I hope you enjoy this diversion. We'll be back to ambient soon. Oof, I just realized that I should start thinking about best of the year lists. Any suggestions?

Cheers!


[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ a p p l e _ p o d c a s t s ]


T R A CK L I S T :

  • 00:00 MOX - Wig (MOX 1998)
  • 04:40 Project Gemini - Scorpios Waltz (The Children Of Scorpio 2022)
  • 07:52 Surprise Chef - New Ferrari (Daylight Savings 2022)
  • 12:05 Ghost Power - Asteroid Witch (Ghost Power 2022)
  • 15:33 Pneumatic Tubes - Saw Teeth (A Letter from TreeTops 2022)
  • 19:25 Cathode Ray Tube - Invisibility (The Burning Century 2022)
  • 24:50 Oren Ambarchi & Johan Berthling & Andreas Werliin - I (Ghosted 2022)
  • 32:32 The Comet Is Coming Lucid Dreamer (Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam 2022)
  • 35:57   Passengers - One Minute Warning (Original Soundtracks 1 1995)
  • 39:10 Dungen - Trollkarlen och fageldrakten version 2 (Haxan Versions 2017)
  • 44:20 Can - Spray (Future Days 1973)
  • 49:23 AI Lover - Stereoscopic View (Cosmic Joke 2022)
  • 54:10 Polyoctopus - Ill Patience (Central Standards, A Strange Melodic Shape 2004)
  • 57:43 Rain Tree Crow - Big Wheels In Shanty Town (Rain Tree Crow 1991)
  • 63:59 end

Sunday, November 13, 2022

NUMINOUSTRINGS

 

Many times a new mix is inspired by a track or album. In this case it was the new album, The Road Not Taken by Ecovillage.

The album is full of long, deep string vibrations that carry you along from track to track, place to place, and memory to memory. This is one of my favorite albums of the year.

So I went looking for, not just string based tunes, but tracks that had a similar slow, reflective pull. Sometimes a mix with track that are too similar can be stale but in this case the mix becomes one long meditation. As the tracks bleed one into another I experience an almost devotional trance, an ethereal sojourn. 

Here are links to all the music used in this mix in the order in which they appear:


Cheers!


[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ a p p l e _ p o d c a s t s ]


T R A C K L I S T :

  • 00:00    Ecovillage - Ascend(ft. Henrik Meierkord) (The Road Not Taken 2022)
  • 04:09    Seabuckthorn - So It Remains (Of No Such Place 2022)
  • 07:40    tapes and topographies - the floating world (floating world - reflections on 36 views of newland island 2022)
  • 12:55    Kasper Bjørke Quartet - Formation (Mother 2022)
  • 18:18    Andrew Heath & Simon McCorry - Tree Shadows (A Is For Autumn 2022)
  • 20:36    Anne Mueller - Heliopause (Heliopause 2019)
  • 25:12    't Geruis - Tastbare Stilte, Zilver (Vast 2022)
  • 30:33    Halftribe & Seabuckthorn - Sway (Ambientologist Sustain Series, Vol. 3 2022)
  • 36:20    Adrian Copeland - Stars With No Sky (If This Were My Body 2022)
  • 40:55    Man Watching the Stars - Na Leigheasan • UGC 10214 (The Sextant of a Blind Seafarer 2022)
  • 46:15    Harry Towell & Guy Gelem - Sefad (Restful Spaces 2022)
  • 50:40    glåsbird - restless progress (cinéma noir 2022)
  • 53:40    Henrik Meierkord, Pawel Kobak, Marco Lucchi & Rocco Saviano - Sunshine(Stilla Natt) (Venusia 2022)
  • 57:06    Anne Mueller - Nummer 2 (Heliopause 2019)
  • 63:00    end



Tuesday, November 08, 2022

Music for Recovery(from the midterm elections)

 

Well, christ on a bicycle, this midterm election season was a shit show. So here is a mix of beautiful ambient tracks to help us all heal and recover.

Here are links to all the albums used in this mix in the order in which they appear:

Cheers!


[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ a p p l e _ p o d c a s t s ]


T R A C K L I S T :

  • 00:00    Uther Moads - Future Waves (Uther Moads 2011)
  • 03:53    Brian Eno - Making Gardens Out Of Silence (FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE 2022)
  • 11:30    Katharina Schmidt -  Particles (Particles 2022)
  • 19:00    Taylor Deupree & Arovane - Sill Lili (Skal_Ghost 2022)
  • 22:45    Ruven Nunez - Untitled No. 51 (Untitled No. 51 2022)
  • 30:00    Nils Frahm - Stepping Stone (Music For Animals 2022)
  • 35:30    Son of Chi & Radboud Mens - Side A excerpt (AI-25: The Transition Recordings 2022)
  • 43:15    From Overseas & City of Dawn - Silent Friends (Misty Memories 2022)
  • 47:40    V. Kristoff - Creek II (Nocturne 2022)
  • 54:25    Jason Letkiewicz - Emergent Ray I (Emergent Rays 2022)
  • 58:00    Monogoto - Komorebi(deletion 47) (Partial Deletion of Everything Vol. 2 2022)
  • 61:55    Andrew Heath & Simon McCorry - Rain (A is for Autumn 2022)
  • 65:05    end


Friday, October 28, 2022

Slightly Spooky

 


I wasn't planning on making a Halloween themed mix but a couple of days ago I heard a new album called "Xiuxiuejar" by Hekla and I knew I had to use some tracks in a mix. Hekla is an Icelandic musician who use the theremin to create haunting, other-worldly soundscapes. Perfect for a Halloween mix.

Some of the other tracks follow a similar vibe I have used for creepy mixes in the past, sort of a dark jazz feel. Then I mix in some noisy stuff, some ambient & some other oddities. I don't want these mixes to be ultra dark doom ambient but this is more off-kilter than most Low Light Mixes.

After finding the theremin tracks from Hekla I was reminded of a very theremin-like instrument - the Ondes Martenot. It looks like a piano or organ but sounds like a theremin and it's played by sliding a ring attached to wires up and down the keyboard. Check out this video for an idea of how it's played and what it sounds like:

 


There are two tracks in the mix that use the Ondes Martenot. They are Tindersticks - The Strangler & Christine Ott - Pluie. I believe Christine Ott plays the instrument on the Tindersticks track as well as her own. Radiohead is famous for using the Odnes Martenot in a few songs. Maybe I'll make an entire mix featuring the instrument someday.

Here are the links to all the music used in this mix:

https://phantomlimblabel.bandcamp.com/album/xiuxiuejar
https://buenaureliomalazar.bandcamp.com/album/pre-pro-post
https://theodoreshapiro.bandcamp.com/album/severance-season-1-apple-tv-original-series-soundtrack
https://elikeszler.bandcamp.com/album/empire
https://tindersticks.bandcamp.com/album/minute-bodies-the-intimate-world-of-f-percy-smith
https://facture.bandcamp.com/album/unstill
https://williamselman.bandcamp.com/album/pavaka-group
https://thephonometrician.bandcamp.com/album/c-iste-bodharhttps://johnbutcher1.bandcamp.com/album/resonant-spaces
https://tgeruis.bandcamp.com/album/bain-d-toiles
https://christineott.bandcamp.com/album/time-to-die
https://astrangelyisolatedplace.bandcamp.com/album/a-state-of-decrepitude
https://dekorder.bandcamp.com/album/sentimental-favourites
https://bloxhamtapes.bandcamp.com/album/magnetism
https://whitelabrecs.bandcamp.com/album/a-is-for-autumn
https://grails.bandcamp.com/album/black-tar-prophecies-vols-4-5-6
https://whitelabrecs.bandcamp.com/album/the-last-sense-to-fade
https://williamryanfritch.bandcamp.com/album/built-upon-a-fearful-void
https://aaronmartin.bandcamp.com/album/the-end-of-medicine-original-score

Cheers!





T R A C K L I S T :
00:00    Hekla - Hrakföll (Xiuxiuejar 2022)
03:18    Buen Aurelio Malazar - pre.sagio (pre pro post 2020)
04:49    Theodore Shapiro - After Hours (Severance Soundtrack 2022)
06:45    Eli Keszler - The Tenth Part Of A Featured World (Empire 2019)
09:15    Tindersticks - The Strangler (Minute Bodies: The Intimate World of F. Percy Smith 2017)
12:20    Andy Cartwright - Seeker (Unstill 2021)
14:00    Pavaka Group - I Am Void (Pavaka Group 2022)
15:43    The Phonometrician - Death is a Woman (Cóiste Bodhar 2022)
18:00    John Butcher - Wind Piece (Resonant Spaces 2006)
18:49    't Geruis - L'Appel (Bain D'Étoiles 2022)
21:35    Christine Ott - Pluie (Time to Die 2021)
26:30    Wanderwelle - Decay (A State of Decrepitude 2020)
30:25    Andrew Pekler - Close to Strangers (Sentimental Favourites 2011)
32:17    Lars Rynning & Suren Seneviratne - Solar Wind (Magnetism 2020)
33:35    Andrew Heath & Simon McCorry - From Darkness (A is for Autumn 2022)
37:02    Hekla - Sólin Gekk (Xiuxiuejar 2022)
42:53    The Phonometrician - I See Youy (Cóiste Bodhar 2022)
47:55    Grails - Bad Bhang Recipe (Black Tar Prophecies Vols 1, 2, 3 2006)
49:50    Darkroom - The Shadowy Side of the Hill ( The Last Sense to Fade 2021)
54:50    William Ryan Fritch - Lay Hands Upon Us (Built Upon a Fearful Void 2021)
57:39    Aaron Martin - Buried in Waves (The End of Medicine 2022)
59:09    Hekla - Tangarhald (Xiuxiuejar 2022)
60:20    end

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Quiet Indie Fall 2022

 

As we are getting closer to the end of the year I figured it was time for some quiet indie tunes from 2022. 

This collection goes from the slow pop of Monica Martin to the ambient vocals of Brian Eno to the simple folk sound of Phosphorescent to a Joni Mitchel cover. My favorite track is "This Is How It Works" by Angel Olsen. It will probably be in my top three songs of the year.

Enjoy these vocal tunes, I'll get back to ambient soon.

Cheers!



T R A C K L I S T :

00:00    David Byrne And Yo La Tengo - Who Has Seen The Wind
02:42    Monica Martin - Go Easy, Kid
06:37    The Smile - Open the Floodgates
10:44    Kevin Morby - Stop Before I Cry
15:33    Shearwater - Aqaba
20:30    Angel Olsen - This Is How It Works
26:42    Courtney Marie Andrews - These Are The Good Old Days
29:11    Peter Gabriel - Here It Is
34:10    Brian Eno - There Were Bells
38:34    Flock Of Dimes - Amelia
44:16    Big Thief - Change
49:04    Mamak Khadem - Dead and Alive
54:14    Phosphorescent - Meridian, MS
56:27    end


Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Robert Fripp Guitar Moments

 
 
A few months ago a friend and I were talking about King Crimson & Robert Fripp. He is not as familiar with Fripp's work as I am so I started a playlist of not just Crimson tracks but also other excellent Fripp guitar work with other artists such as Brian Eno, David Bowie, David Sylvian, Hall & Oates(yes, Hall & Oates!) & others. 
 
This week I decided to finally make a mix of some of the tracks. I wasn't sure if or when I'd post it online. Then this morning I see that today, Oct. 19th, is the global premiere of the King Crimson documentary "In The Court Of The Crimson King: King Crimson at 50". What a perfect coincidence! 
 
I guess that makes the decision for me about when to post the mix. So here it is - a collection of some of my favorite Fripp guitar work. In order to keep the length manageable I had to leave out some great tracks like Bowie - Heroes, King Crimson - Lark's Tongue is Aspic, Talking Heads - I Zimbra, Fripp & Eno Heavenly Music Corp. & several others. I think the tracks I settled on cover a wide range and fit together nicely over the 84 minutes of the mix.
 
If anyone is interested the documentary will be shown in a special streaming event this weekend on Oct. 22nd. Here's the link - https://www.nugs.net/live-download-of-king-crimson-in-the-court-of-the-crimson-king.-king-crimson-at-50.-london-gb-10-22-2022-mp3-flac-or-online-music-streaming/621290-WEBCASTVARIANT.html
 
Cheers!




T R A C K L I S T :
00:00    David Sylvian - Upon This Earth (Gone to Earth 1986)
06:12    Fripp & Eno - Evening Star (Evening Star 1975)
13:38    The Roches - Hammond Song (The Roches 1979)
19:00    Brian Eno - St.  Elmo’s Fire (Another Green World 1975)
21:41    David Bowie - Teenage Wildlife (Scary Monsters 16980)
28:15    King Crimson - Fracture (Starless and Bible Black 1974)
37:23    David Sylvian & Robert Fripp - God’s Monkey (The First Day 1993)
42:11    Brian Eno - Baby’s On Fire (Here Come the Warm Jets 1974)
47:24    King Crimson - Space Groove II(edit) (ProjeKt Two Space Groove 1998)
55:00    King Crimson - Sailor’s Tale (Islands 1971)
61:20    King Crimson - Starless (Red 1974)
73:30    David Sylvian - Wave(version) (Camphor 2002)
76:15    Fripp & Eno - Meissa (The Equatorial Stars 2004)
84:05    end


Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Solace of the Sea

 

s o l a c e
g a t h e r s   t h e   s i l e n c e
o f   t h e   s e a

Anyone who has followed this mix blog for more than a minute knows I like sea themed mixes. I like the ebb & flow, the washes of synth sounds and especially echoing sounds, like a bell or buoy pinging in the distance or underwater echolocation.

So this mix continues that vibe. Lots of new music and lots of echolocation.

Here are links to all the music used in this mix in the order in which it appears:


Cheers!




T R A C K L I S T :
00:00    Submersion - Alignment (Parallel Motion 2020)
02:25    xu - a1. slicing space-time into objects (slicing space-time into objects 2022)
06:25    Moss Covered Technology - Brick & Air VI (Brick and Air 2022)
09:40    Spheruleus - The Ocean Yawns (Sub-Aquatic Spheres 2020)
14:18    Gylden - Bug light (Island Friend 2022)
18:55    A Produce - It comes in waves (A Smooth Surface 2004)
25:45    Taylor Deupree - Harbor (Harbor 2022)
29:20    ASC - Kelp Forest (The Waves 2019)
35:45    landtitles - fragments(of) (as the night comes softly down 2022)
37:20    Taylor Deupree - Too Close To Being Far Away From Everything (The Inland Sea 2022)
45:50    Jeff Greinke - Undercurrent (Noctilucent 2022)
52:15    ASC - Nautical Depths (The Waves 2019)
59:53    end

Sunday, October 02, 2022

Autumn Trumpet by Paul Asbury Seaman

 


Certain instruments seem suited for particular settings or seasons. I've always thought that piano works well as a winter accompaniment. Twangy guitar goes well with hot weather. And trumpet feels right at home during autumn.

Which brings us to the latest collection from Paul Asbury Seaman - Autumn Trumpet. The mix sets the mood perfectly. Here's what Paul has to say about it:

“No Scandinavian angst this time, just mellow trumpet and, hopefully, some pleasant surprises. Mostly very languid night music, interspersed with a bit of fall color and swirling leaves... The contemplative theme seems to fit with the season—my favorite).”

Thanks for another excellent set, Paul.

Cheers!


[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ a p p l e _ p o d c a s t s ]


T R A C K L I S T :

  • 00:00    Miles Davis - Nuit Sur Les Champs-Elysees(Take 2) (Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud 1958)
  • 05:22    Patrick O'Hearn - Eldorado (Eldorado 1989)
  • 10:00    Tom Harrell - Dublin (Infinity 2019)
  • 19:32    Herb Alpert - Fandango (Fandango 1982)
  • 23:02    Chuck Mangione - Consuelo's Love Theme (Children Of Sanchez 1978)
  • 30:33    Matthew Halsall - The Temple Within (The Temple Within 2022)
  • 35:32    Enrico Rava - Interiors (New York Days 2009)
  • 42:52    Jeff Oster - From The Dreamtime (True 2007)
  • 47:00    Jeff Greinke - The Milky Way (Scenes from a Train 2013)
  • 53:18    Meg Bowles - Night Sun Journey (From The Dark Earth 1997)
  • 60:42    Patrick O'Hearn - Upon the Wings of Night (Indigo 1991)
  • 68:28    end