Low Light Mixes: May 2022

Sunday, May 29, 2022

Stranger Synths 2022

It's been three years since the last season of Netflix's Stranger Things. Now with the 4th season upon us it must be time for a new mix - Stranger Synths 2022. Similar to previous versions of Stranger Synths, this takes the retro vibe of the show's soundtrack and collects tracks that sound like they would fit perfectly in the TV series.

I wasn't planning on doing a mix this time around until I stumbled on the track Cybernaut by Jonny Fallout. The track can be found on a compilation from Triplicate Records called "Protozoa." As soon as I heard the track I was hit with a great Stranger Things vibe so I knew I had to gather more tracks and put together another mix.

I ended up going back to Triplicate Records three more times for this mix, using tracks from Hverheij, BVSMV, and Willebrant. Here's the link to Triplicate - https://triplicaterecords.bandcamp.com/ Also, check the links below for these artists' album and bandcamp pages.

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

Artist links:

Oops, I almost forgot links to the two previous Stranger Synths mixes:

https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/stranger-synths/

https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/stranger-synths-2019/

Well, I guess I should go start season 4. Cheers!

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T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Jonny Fallout - Cybernaut (Protozoa 2021)
03:20 Nils Frahm - #2 (All Melody 2018)
10:20 Pye Corner Audio - Leaf Mould (Entangled Routes 2021)
13:04 Belbury Poly - ffarisees (The Gone Away 2020)
17:01 Foam and Sand - Circle 13 (Full Circle 2022)
19:42 Michael Garrison - To the Other Side of the Sky (Soul Jazz Records presents Space, Energy & Light: Experimental Electronic And Acoustic Soundscapes 1961-88)
23:30 Cliff Martinez - Landscape Gardener (The Foreigner 2017)
26:00 Boards of Canada - Come to Dust ( Tomorrow's Harvest 2013)
29:20 Pye Corner Audio - Decade Counter (Prowler 2015)
34:30 Graintable - Vision Quest (UnIVersal Ash 2019)
38:09 Hverheij - Becoming (Afterlight 2022)
40:42 The Belbury Circle - No Cat's Eyes (Outward Journeys 2017)
45:07 BVSMV - Rubicon (Triplicate Tapes Vol. 1: Datacap 2021)
49:07 Peter Baumann - The Blue Dream (Machines of Desire 2016)
50:48 Paul Haslinger - Dreamers and Misfits (Halt and Catch Fire Vol 2 2019)
53:10 Willebrant - This Day (Music for Dotted Lines 2022)
56:34 Wolfgang Riechmann - Abendlicht (Wunderbar 1978)
60:55 end

Thursday, May 19, 2022

Tears in the Rain - A Tribute to Vangelis

We lost Klaus a few weeks ago and now Vangelis. I'm getting tired of doing these tribute mixes.

His music was my electronic soundtrack to the 80s. I played the daylights out of Antarctica and Soil Festivities back then. And then of course there is Blade Runner. I am still in awe of that soundtrack today.

I don't know what else to say other than I loved his music. Godspeed Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou.

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T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Vangelis - Theme from Antarctica (Antarctica 1983)
07:23 Vangelis - Movement 1 (Soil Festivities 1984)
24:46 Vangelis - Blade Runner Blue (Blade Runner 1994)
33:20 Vangelis - Opening Titles (The Bounty 1984)
37:11 Vangelis - L'Enfant (Opéra Sauvage 1979)
42:00 Vangelis - Pulstar (Albedo 0.39 1976)
47:06 Vangelis - Movement 4 (Mask 1985)
54:21 Vangelis - Juno's Echoes (Juno to Jupiter 2021)
57:50 Vangelis - Heaven & Hell pt. 1, 3rd Movement (Heaven & Hell 1975)
62:04 end

Sunday, May 15, 2022

Fractal Panorama - Guitar Space Rock

Seven years ago I did a mix called "Space Rock" that is unique in the Low Light Mixes catalog. It's a collection of instrumental tunes that are guitar driven and are a bit spacey, a little prog rock, with some post-rock tossed in as well. You can find to original mix here: http://lowlightmixes.blogspot.com/2015/04/space-rock.html

I've always wanted to do a follow-up mix but never got around to until now. So here is "Fractal Panorama - Guitar Space Rock". It's a set of new and old instrumentals with the same vibe as the first mix. I was happy to have dug up some really old cuts from 1972, '73 & '74. I was especially psyched to have stumbled on the Richard Pinhas homage to Robert Fripp with the track "In the Wake of King Fripp" from 1974. But my favorite cut in the mix is "Slowburn" by Sonar With David Torn. It's got this great, slightly menacing vibe to it.

Cheers!

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T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 The Re-Stoned - Fractal Panorama (Stories of the Astral Lizard 2018)
09:50 Dungen - Kalifen(versio) (Haxan - Versions by Prins Thomas 2017)
17:20 Agitation Free - First Communication (2nd 1973)
22:46 Maat Lander - Planet of the Intelligent Gas-shaped Lifeforms (Seasons of Space Book #12017)
27:50 Sonar With David Torn - Slowburn (Tranceportation Vol. 2 2020)
37:00 Papir - IIII (IIII 2014)
41:50 Achim Reichel & Machines - Invitations (Echo 1972)\
46:45 Heldon - In the Wake of King Fripp (Allez Teia 1974)
53:12 My Brother the Wind - Once There Was A Time When Time And Space Were One (Once There Was A Time When Time And Space Were One 2014)
56:32 My Brother the Wind - Epilogue (Once There Was A Time When Time And Space Were One 2014)
60:49 end

Sunday, May 08, 2022

A Faint Resemblance - Tapes & Topographies mix

A new album from Tapes and Topographies dropped last week and as expected it is very good. Tapes & Topographies is one of my favorite ambient artists so I asked if they would do a guest mix and here it is "A Faint Resemblance".

I'm stealing this background info from friend of the blog, Harry Towell over at Whitelabrecs. "Tapes and Topographies is US based artist Todd Gautreau, who has had music releases on labels such as Past Inside the Present, Dronarivm, Shimmering Moods and his own imprint, Simulacra. His project has been active since 2014 following his previous alias Tear Ceremony and he also produces a downtempo as Sonogram."

This mix hits the sweet spot for me - the perfect combo of dusty noise and loops and ambience to create a dreamy, meandering mix. If you like that kind of sound and enjoy the mix the definitely check the new Tapes and Topographies album. Here's the link:

https://tapesandtopographies.bandcamp.com/album/modalities

And here's a link to other Tapes & Topographies recordings:

https://tapesandtopographies.bandcamp.com/

Here is a list of all the albums used in this mix in the order in which they appear:

Thanks Todd for a great mix!

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T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Tapes and Topographies - With that being said (Modalities 2022)
06:25 r beny - Ektar 100 (Seafoam & Dust 2020)
10:00 The Lifted Index - Chronologic Moss (Host of Living Forms 2021)
13:00 Jogging House - Strangers (Holds 2021)
17:35 Color of Time - Color of Time (Color of Time 2021)
20:05 Andrew Tasselmeyer - Becoming (Vantage Points 2018)
22:22 Tomosla - Possum (A Small Town In The Mountains 2021)
25:20 Tapes and Topographies - Verticals (Modalities 2022)
29:10 Halftribe - Imperfect (Archipelago 2020)
35:05 Sonogram - Certainly Obscured (Cubists 2012)
41:10 zaké - Variation (Sound Space Variations 2022)
44:25 Brian Eno - Chamber Lightness (Lightness 1997)
56:34 end

Sunday, May 01, 2022

Space Requiem - A Tribute to Klaus Schulze

Klaus Schulze 1947 - 2022

Klaus Schulze, considered to be a godfather figure in electronic music, died this week. I'd say he was one of the big four of early electronic music pioneers which in addition to Schulze would include Jean-Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk, and Tangerine Dream.

I've always enjoyed his music but I was a bigger fan of the other three artists in that group. That being said, somehow I still ended up accumulating around 20 of his albums. He released more than 60 during his life.

This mix is a collection of his solo work and his collaborations as well as his early work in the groups Ash Ra Tempel & Cosmic Jokers. This set is expanded in length because so many of his tracks are long. While putting this together is was great to rediscover that I love the album Transfer Station Blue. Check it out if you get the chance.

https://michaelshrieve.bandcamp.com/album/transfer-station-blue

Take time to remember Klaus, listen to this mix and seek out some of his myriad recordings.

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T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Klaus Schulze - Floating (Moondawn 1976)
07:09 Ash Ra Tempel - Amboss (Ash Ra Tempel 1971)
10:20 Michael Shrieve & Kevin Shrieve & KS - Communique (Transfer Station Blue 1984)
23:10 Pete Namlook & KS - Set the control for the heart of the mother 5 (Dark Side of the Moog 9 2002)
30:48 Lisa Gerrard & KS - Unity (Come Quietly 2009)
32:15 Klaus Schulze - Dune (Dune 1979)
37:55 Cosmic Jokers - Galactic Joke (Cosmic Jokers 1973)
41:50 Stomu Yamashta - Space Requiem (Go 1976)
42:53 Klaus Schulze - Minority Report (Eternal: The 70th Birthday Edition 2017)
55:55 Klaus Schulze - My Ty She (Ballet 3 2007)
1:28:50 Richard Wahnfried - The End - Someday (Trancelation 1994)
1:32:45 end