That Beautiful Land of Nod Vol. 2

About a month ago I presented a guest mix of sleep music from Brian Bieniowski, whom I know from the heyday of the Hypnos Records forum in the mid 2000s. "That Beautiful Land of Nod" is indeed a beautiful sleep mix. 

Thankfully, back in 2007 Brian created two Land of Nod mixes. So here is volume 2 for your listening and sleeping pleasure.

Here is what Brian said about the Land of Nod mixes back in 2007:

"It wasn't until the early nineties when I discovered real ambient music suited for the purpose of lying down and listening. It felt finally natural to take to my bed after starting the CD player and allowing the soft music to carry my mind forth for a while until sleep took hold. This mix, That Beautiful Land of Nod, is the product of over twelve years of "field research" in ambient sleep music. All of the selections, new and old, on these two discs, are pieces of music I have personally played in the times before and during sleep. Each track is special to me, these soothing zones, as they have not only brought me hours of comforted sleep, but also tantalizing, never-lasting minutes of wild and wonderful imagery in those moments before unconsciousness occurs. Each track maps a route across my consciousness over twelve years of sleep listening. It is my honest hope that this becomes the mix you never fully listen to—if you are at all like me, you'll be asleep by track five or six every time. So, please, draw the shades, relax, pleasant dreams...."

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    Jochem Paap - Dx-Snth (Vrs-Mbnt-Pcs 9598 2)
• 05:45    Jason Sloan - The Color of Wind 1 (Still)
• 11:45    Sam Rosenthal & VidnaObmana - Dark Mist, Rain (Terrace of Memories)
• 16:15    Bill Nelson - Crimsworth(edit) (Crimsworth)
• 22:30    James Johnson - Surrender(edit) (Surrender)
• 26:20    Aphex Twin - #19(edit) (Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2)
• 29:10    Rod Modell & Michael Mantra - Vitamin K(edit) (Sonic Continuum)
• 33:30    Ruxpin - Autocaz (Midnight Drive)
• 38:30    Never Known - Spheres (On the Edge of Forever)
• 43:10    Oöphoi - Let the Nightsky Envelope Us (Hymns to a Silent Sky)
• 49:40    Mathias Grassow - Through the Void (The Fragrance of Eternal Roses)
• 55:12    Aloof Proof - The Ghost Ship(edit) (Expo Two: Piano Text)
• 58:55    David Sylvian - Approaching Silence(edit) (Approaching Silence)
• 65:00    Steve Roach - Towards the Blue (Quiet Music)
• 68:23    end

Time to Listen - by Peter van Cooten of Ambientblog

 

Peter van Cooten runs the excellent Ambientblog website which has great reviews and, of course, wonderful mixes. Anytime Peter reaches out with a mix idea or a a set he'd like to cross-post on both of our platforms, I will always jump at the chance.

As I said on Peter's last guest mix, his sets are different from mine in that they are more intricate. He does not use full tracks, instead opting for excerpts and samples piled on each other, sometimes 2, 3, or 4 tracks play simultaneously, to create a new sound collage.

Here's what Peter says about this mix:

"Apart from its opening sample – ‘It is time to stop seeing. It is time to stop speaking. It is time to listen’, from David Cronenberg’s Crimes Of the Future – this mix has no central theme or story. It’s up to you, the listener to take the time to listen and go with the flow. Let your fantasy tell you the story. And, after you did, I’d love to hear what you heard.

This mix is created using many fragments and samples from longer pieces of music, often presented in multiple layers. Check the original compositions using the tracklist below."

Here's a map of the mix, layer upon layer of the 31 tracks used in the collage.

Check out Peter's work here:

https://www.ambientblog.net/blog/  He also does surround sound mixes, which you can find here: https://www.ambientblog.net/blog/the-surround-mix-versions/

And Peter is on Mixcloud - https://www.mixcloud.com/ambientblog/  https://www.mixcloud.com/DreamScenes/

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 - Start time - Sample Length - Artist - Title

Album - Year - Label

00:00 01:12  David Cronenberg - Time To Listen Sample

Crimes Of The Future, 2022 

00:04 03:35  Dronny Darko & Protou - Sin Eater

Liberty: Compilation Of Experimental Music From Ukraine, 2022, Flaming Pines

02:28 02:42  William St. Hugh - Voice Of The Dolphins

Dominion, 2022, self-released

04:31 02:16  Tapani Rinne & Teho Majamaki - Lucid Dream

On The Border, 2022, Signature Dark

06:13 02:36  Ivan Cebrian & Victor Cerdan - Enemigo Intimo

Inside // Outside, 2022, Oigovisiones

06:40 02:30  Park Jiha - At Dawn

The Gleam, 2022, Glitterbeat

08:49 02:39  Benedicte Maurseth - Eidfyrder

Hárr, 2022, Hubro

10:47 03:51  Bill Fontana - Imaginary Sonic Visions

MSCTY Expo Unknown Pleasures Zone, 2022, MSCTY Editions

12:40 02:18  Alva Noto - Odradek (for Jhonn Balance)

For, 2006, Line

13:31 01:50  Jacek & Ewa Doroszenko - Night Masque

Bodyfulness, 2022, Audiobulb Records

14:17 02:27  Higher Intelligence Agency - The Black Patch

Song Of The Machine, 2022, self-released

15:58 02:50  Siddhartha Barnhoorn - Final Ascension

Out There, Oceans Of Time, vol. 1, 2022, self-released

18:27 02:24  Mike Lazarev - All That Remains

When You Are, 2022, Slowcraft Recordings

20:27 03:17  Orghanon - Dronework V

Droneworks I-V, 2022, St.An.Da

22:13 03:27  Aleksi Myllykoski ft Wimme - Composition VI: Inherently Destructive Contamination

St. Virus, 2021, Signature Dark

24:37 04:13  Peter Phippen, Rahbi Crawford, Invar Lunde Jr. - Andromeda

Galaxies, 2022, Projekt Records

28:46 02:30  Jóhann Jóhansson & Echo Collective - Shell

12 Conversations With Thilo Heinzmann, 2019, Deutsche Grammophon

29:46 05:29  Maggi Payne - Distant Thunder

Arctic Winds, 2010, Innova Recordings

33:08 03:07  Leo Kupper - Litanea 1987

Complete Electronic & Voices Works 1961-1987, 2022, Sub Rosa

36:22 04:35  Monty Adkins - Remote Communion

Remote Communion, 2020, Cronica

38:56 01:28  Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet - Thunder Continues In The Afternoon

Landfall, 2018, Nonesuch

40:11 04:35  Cell - Passive Control Part 1

Onwards System, 2022, Ultimae Records

43:27 03:59  Alphaxone & Protou - Sub Signal

Stardust, 2017, Cryo Chamber

45:51 03:03  Wil Bolton & Francis Gri - The Ripples Theory

Imaginary Tales, 2022, Krysalisound

47:54 02:11  Xqui - Narrator

Pieces Part 2, 2022, Somewherecold Records

48:45 03:57  Michel Banabila - Alienation

Monochromes, 2022, Tapu Records

52:21 00:55  Stuart A. Staples - Fluids

Music For Claire Denis' High Life, 2019, Lucky Dog 

52:31 01:13  Helge Sten - Quad 2

Monochromes, 2014, Bôlt

52:45 02:29  Dean Hurley - Girl Appears /Black Smoke

Anthology Resource Vol. I: △△, 2017, Sacred Bones Records

54:00 01:55  I Wound - To Wind, Wound, Wound

Homework Year 1, Taâlem

54:52 05:07  Francois Robin & Mathias Delplanque - Le Puits

L'Ombre De La Bête, 2022, Parenthèses Records

60:00 end

Sunday Morning Music Vol. 22 - Warm Waves

 

It was a little more than ten years ago that I posted my first Sunday Morning Music mix. I had not intended on making it a regular series but the mix did very well on Mixcloud and is partially responsible for starting the explosion of followers the Low Light Mixes feed got in the following years. So I've been creating roughly two per year for 10 years. Yikes! It's kind of crazy to think about how long I've been making these mixes.

This one follows the same formula - some ambient some jazzy tracks, a few vocal tunes, all resulting in a mellow vibe perfect for sipping coffee on a Sunday morning.

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

• https://timerival.bandcamp.com/album/fell
• https://turnonthesunlight.bandcamp.com/album/warm-waves
• https://damiandallatorre.bandcamp.com/album/happy-floating
• https://auralcanyonmusic.bandcamp.com/album/strawberry-roan
• https://idra.bandcamp.com/album/duet
• https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07987C2PK/ref=dm_rwp_pur_lnd_albm_pm
• https://eccodek.bandcamp.com/album/ventrilokissed
• https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PRLRSX1/ref=dm_rwp_pur_lnd_albm_pm
• https://shearwater.bandcamp.com/album/the-great-awakening-2022
• https://thesmile.bandcamp.com/album/a-light-for-attracting-attention
• https://shimmeringmoodsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/of-context
• https://ryleywalker.bandcamp.com/album/little-common-twist
• https://bjornmeyer.bandcamp.com/album/provenance-2
• https://sip-groop.bandcamp.com/album/leos-naturals
• https://ctatsu.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-tomato-plants
• https://jonhopkins.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-psychedelic-therapy

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    Time Rival - Breakfast with Birdsong (Fell 2020)
• 02:40    Turn On The Sunlight - Warm Waves (Warm Waves 2020)
• 08:33    Damian Dalla Torre - Where to Go (Happy Floating 2022)
• 12:27    Cole Pulice & Nat Harvie - Dream Days (Strawberry Roan 2022)
• 16:27    IDRA - Air and Salt (Duet 2022)
• 19:03    Peter Banks - No Place Like Home (Be Well, Be Safe, Be Lucky 2018)
• 20:34    Peppermoth - Sun Dreamer (Ventrilokissed 2021)
• 24:45    David Byrne And Yo La Tengo - Who Has Seen The Wind (2022)
• 27:20    Shearwater - Wind Is Love (The Great Awakening 2022)
• 31:33    The Smile - Open The Floodgates (A Light For Attracting Attention 2022)
• 35:35    Kittylung - Garden Abandoned (Of Context 2021)
• 38:07    Charles Rumback & Ryley Walker - Self Blind Sun (Little Common Twist 2019)
• 42:13    Björn Meyer - Provenance (Provenance 2017)
• 48:04    SiP - Alice (Leos Naturals 2020)
• 54:00    Loris S. Sarid - Tano (Music for Tomato Plants 2020)
• 56:40    Jon Hopkins - Ascending, Dawn Sky (Music For Psychedelic Therapy 2021)
• 65:03    end

That Beautiful Land of Nod

 

Set the wayback machine to 2007.

I started creating ambient mixes back in the mid-2000s. Those were the days before social media had taken over our lives, before Bandcamp was such a great resource for ambient music.  Back then I spent a lot of time on the Hypnos Records forum. There, a bunch of like-mined music nerds shared comments about new recordings, gear, movies, books, tv, music trends, etc. 

We also shared mixes. That was one of the first places I tried to promote my mixes online. Back in 2007 fellow forum member, Brian Bieniowski, created a couple mixes under the Asphalt Eden moniker. These mixes, The Beautiful Land of Nod 1 & 2, are some of my all-time favorites and I've used them as sleep soundtracks for years.

With that as background, a few weeks ago a loyal listener reached out with this request - "Could you post some of the Asphalt Eden super-classics like The Beautiful Land of Nod I and II to your Mixcloud as guest mixes/classics in the field/inspirations to your mixes please? I think your fans would be overjoyed by this, and it would be sheer cultural maintenance."

I contacted Brian and he was kind enough to give the thumbs up to posting these classic mixes. He did not have the original tracklists but somehow was able to reconstruct them by listening to each set. Impressive! Thanks Brian for the mixes and for your memory. Here's a link to his website - https://www.handsometechnologies.com/

So kickback and remember a time before credit default swaps almost cratered the economy, before a reality show host became president, before a coronavirus swept around the globe, before....ugh...I'll stop now. Just sit back and drift away to The Beautiful Land of Nod 1.

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 :

• Robert Rich -Seascape (Trances/Drones)
• Koda - Where the Morning Light Exits (Movements)
• Scott Solter - Wave and Sepia Wire (The Brief Light)
• Thom Brennan - Raingardens (Mist)
• Robert Fripp and Jeffrey Fayman - The Sky Below (A Temple in the Clouds)
• MLO - Noodle #1 (Io)
• Heavenly Music Corp - Ambient to Be Here (In a Garden of Eden)
• Tetsu Inoue & Pete Namlook - Art of Dream (2350 Broadway 2)
• Klaus Wiese - Soma 1 (Soma)
• Rameses III - Queens Road Cemetery 28th March 2005 (Matanuska)
• Brian Eno & Robert Fripp - Wind on Wind (Evening Star)
• Jonn Serrie - Stratos (And the Stars Go With You)