Showing posts with label best of. Show all posts
Showing posts with label best of. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 07, 2026

Favorite Instrumental Rock Albums of 2025

 

One of my favorite genre rabbit holes that I went down in 2025 was instrumental rock music. That title covers a lot of styles from post-rock to stoner rock to prog rock to cosmic country to fusion to psych rock etc. I've always listened to music that falls into this category whether it's Khruangbin or Causa Sui or Oren Ambarchi but this year my interest in this genre exploded. 

So I thought I would create a mix of some of my favorite instrumental rock albums from 2025. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the heavy stuff. This mix has a nice blend of a few heavy tunes with some Khruangbin-like tracks, a couple kraut rock style tracks, a jam band cut, a prog tune, even a dub track, and a bunch of other difficult to categorize music. 

>>>LINKS TO ALL THE MUSIC USED IN THIS MIX<<<

01 - https://actiontensionspace.bandcamp.com/album/new-dimensions

02 - https://heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/yawning-man-pavement-ends

03 - https://ambarchiberthlingwerliin.bandcamp.com/album/ghosted-iii

04 - https://elparaisorecords.com/product/causa-sui-in-flux/

05 - https://piotrkurek.bandcamp.com/album/songs-and-bodies

06 - https://elparaisorecords.com/product/edena-gardens-dispossessed/

07- https://barrywalker.bandcamp.com/album/barry-walker-unit-at-the-13th-moon-gravity-well

08 - https://jeffthebrotherhood.bandcamp.com/album/magick-songs

09 - https://kungensman.bandcamp.com/album/resande-i-rockmusik

10 - https://markusreuter.bandcamp.com/album/truce-3

11 - https://re-stoned.bandcamp.com/album/the-loom-maxi-single

12 - https://townportal.bandcamp.com/album/grindwork

13 - https://holmisanisland.bandcamp.com/album/behind-curtains

14 - https://yuuf.bandcamp.com/album/alma-s-cove

15 - https://eliwinter.bandcamp.com/album/a-trick-of-the-light


I know this isn't the usual LLM ambient fare but it is still somehow trance inducing. I hope you enjoy this deviation from ambient bliss.

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 :

01)  00:00   Action & Tension & Space - Folkemusikk fra Kvala (New Dimensions 2025)
02)  04:47   Yawning Man - Bomba Negra (Pavement Ends 2025)
03)  09:45   Oren Ambarchi, Johan Berthling, Andreas Werliin - Chahar (Ghosted  III 2025)
04)  15:49   Causa Sui - The Circus is Back (In Flux 2025)
05)  17:32   Piotr Kurek - Nothing Holds Still (Songs And Bodies 2025)
06)  22:26   Edena Gardens - Fills The Well (Dispossessed 2025)
07)  27:50   Barry Walker Unit - High in the Hummocks (At the 13th Moon Gravity Well 2025)
08)  32:51   Jeff The Brotherhood - Many Moons Dub (Magick Songs in Dub 2025)
09)  37:27   Kungens Män - Resande i rockmusik  (Resande i rockmusik 2025)
10)  42:40   Markus Reuter - We Have Your Back (Truce <3 2025)
11)  47:20   The Re-Stoned - The Loom (The Loom 2025)
12)  52:24   Town Portal - Gold-Plated (Grindwork 2025)
13)  56:18   Holm - Behind Curtains (Behind Curtains 2025)
14)  60:08   Yuuf - Alma’s Cove (Alma's Cove 2025)
15)  63:37   Eli Winter - A Trick of the Light (A Trick of the Light 2025)
       67:16   end

Posted by Low Light Mixes at 7:20 AM 0 comments
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Wednesday, December 31, 2025

Berlin School EM 2025 End Of Year XL Update by Erwin Broers

 

Oh man, what a way to end the year! Erwin has been curating excellent Berlin-school mixes for us all year and now he finishes it off with this massive end-of-the-year update. I've been in this headspace for a while now so this perfectly satisfies my craving. Thanks to Erwin for a great year of electronic mixes.

Here what he has to say about this year-ender:

"Another smorgasbord of what the electronic music scene has to offer these days and another invitation for space travelling! It's an extra long mix given my incapacity to choose from the wide offer of sublime tracks and albums that were released in 2025.

The diversity in styles within this music category is remarkable; synth pop, retro, contemporary and progressive Berlin School, cosmic sound tapestries, contemplative/meditative/emotional (drone) ambient and a lengthy deep house track.


Special mention for two female electronic music artists Andrea Cichecki and Lisa Bella Donna. Unfortunately, women are rare in this line of music, but these ladies more than deserve their place in this mix with thrilling evocative compositions. Check it out & enjoy your trip!"



LINKS TO ALL THE MUSIC USED IN THIS MIX:

Happy New Year to everyone and here's to 2026 being another fantastic year of music.


Cheers!





T R A C K L I S T :
01. 00:00:00   AE Van Elst Projects - Take-Off (The Art of AE Live)
02. 00:05:58   Fritz Mayr - Wind & Rain (Eye Of The Storm)
03. 00:07:12   Cosmic Cadence - Alien Artifacts (Alien Artifacts)
04. 00:11:45   Epigenetics - Leaving Everything Behind (Tunes for the Trip to Alpha Centauri)
05. 00:16:04   Rodrigo Passannanti - Blue Skies (Everything Dies)
06. 00:20:08   Andrea Cichecki - Fragmented Reality (Gemstones VI - Cyclical Dreams label compilation)
07. 00:25:00   Michael Brückner - Sequential Blue (A Sequence Of Colours)
08. 00:30:48   Peter Mergener - Julia Quantity (Chip Meditation 2025)
09. 00:35:14   MoonSatellite - Litanie Part 04 (Litanie Des Songes)
10. 00:41:34   Johan Tronestam - Pioneers (Settlers)
11. 00:48:36   Caught In Joy - Cathedrals Of Light (Equilibrium)
12. 00:53:03   Matthias Lehmann - Stubai Fall (Autumn Rhapsody - Season Quadrology Part IV)
13. 00:57:15   Sequentia Legenda - Love Feeds Love II (Timeless)
14. 01:01:03   Jim Ottaway - Cosmic Odyssey (Cosmic Odyssey)
15. 01:07:36   Däcker & Skoulaman - Hiraeth (Saudade)
16. 01:15:56   Lisa Bella Donna - Reach For The Light (Dawn Of A New Age)
17. 01:22:14   Fallen + Philippe Blache - Supplique Au Vent (Making Things Happen: Netlabel Day 10th Anniversary Compilation)
18. 01:26:22   Matt Goodluck - After Hours (Portals)
19. 01:29:35   Martin Stürtzer - Return To Earth (Live at Planetarium Erkrath)                         
20. 01:35:56   UNI Sphere - Shifting Your Horizon (Opus Tria)               
21. 01:43:10   Drune - Nucleia (Beyond) 
22. 01:49:44   Joerg Dankert - Checkpoint Velocity (Back To Berlin)
23. 01:53:12   Hello Mr Klaus - Uriel Angel Of Light (Angels "Memento Mori")
24. 01:58:36   MindPhaser - Mellotron Resonance (Analogue Birth Of The Universe) 
25. 02:00:32   Tectonia - Tranquility Base (Luna - The Moon)
26. 02:02:50   Grant Beasley - Zero Point (The Vanishing Point)
27. 02:10:55   Subtle Shift - Dream Mooring (Dream Mooring)             
28. 02:29:14   Shawn Rudiman - Psyconnex (Yesterday Sky)
29. 02:35:44   Tim Stebbing - Deep Freeze (Spacehopper)
30. 02:43:23   Colin Rayment - Mysterious Illusion (Optical Perceptions)
31. 02:46:26   Terminus Void - Zero Gravity (Music for the Mental Health of Astronauts Vol. 1)
32. 02:52:01   Astropilot - Fading Sun Endless Blue (Fading Sun Endless Blue)
33. 02:55:34   Jay Hosking - Prince, The Poet (The World Will Never Survive Without You)
end 03:03:44


Posted by Low Light Mixes at 11:21 AM 0 comments
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Friday, December 26, 2025

Favorite Ambient Albums of 2025 Part 2

 

Not much to say in this post other than here is part two of my favorite ambient albums of 2025. I'll also repost the full list here with links.

  1. Alexander Knaifel - Chapter Eight

  2. Almost An Island - Almost An Island

  3. Andrew Heath - Signals and Codes

  4. Anthéne & Simon McCorry - Wellspring

  5. Bill Brennan and Andy McNeill - Dreaming In Gamelan

  6. Byron Metcalf - Spiral Exchange

  7. Clarice Jensen - In holiday clothing, out of the great darkness

  8. Dictaphone - Unstable

  9. Emily A. Sprague - Cloud Time

  10. Erik M - Soft Wish

  11. Florian TM Zeisig - A New Life

  12. Lab's Cloud and Flavio Salvaje - Kalima

  13. Loneward - Musings of a Painted Sky

  14. M. Sage - Tender / Wading

  15. Martin Stürtzer - Nexus-6

  16. offthesky - form.radio

  17. offthesky - Nocturnas

  18. Peter Gregson - Peter Gregson

  19. Rod Modell - Northern Michigan Snowstorms

  20. Seabuckthorn - A Path Within A Path

  21. Six Missing - Without Mind

  22. Steve Roach - The Reverent Sky

  23. Taylor Deupree & Zimoun - Wind Dynamic Organ, Deviations

  24. Xu - Murmurs of the Machine

  25. Yorkshire Modular Society + Peter Digby Lee - Beneath the Hanging Sky

  26. zakè - Silentium

Here's to more excellent ambient music in 2026.

Cheers!





T R A C K L I S T :
  • 00:00   Lab's Cloud and Flavio Salvaje - Sandwhistle (Kalima)
  • 04:12   Byron Metcalf - Voices Of Vision (Spiral Exchange)
  • 09:25   Seabuckthorn - Shadow Of The Land (A Path Within A Path)
  • 12:15   Steve Roach - The Nuturing  Ground (The Reverent Sky)
  • 20:10   Bill Brennan and Andy McNeill - Reverie (Dreaming In Gamelan)
  • 23:35   Almost An Island - Perfume Gloves (Almost An Island)
  • 27:40   Andrew Heath - Delegate 24 (Signals and Codes)
  • 33:00   Anthéne & Simon McCorry - Summer's Glow (Wellspring)
  • 37:20   Taylor Deupree & Zimoun - Deviation V (Wind Dynamic Organ, Deviations)
  • 42:55   Xu - Echoes from the Ether (Murmurs of the Machine)
  • 45:50   offthesky - form.radio 3 (form.radio)
  • 50:12   zakè - Pax Animi [ft. Tyresta] (Silentium)
  • 53:20   Loneward - Shrouded Sighs (Musings of a Painted Sky)
  • 59:48   end


Posted by Low Light Mixes at 4:59 PM 0 comments
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Favorite Ambient Albums of 2025 Part 1

 

When end-of-the-year list season began I wasn't sure if I was going to do a favorite ambient albums list. I wasn't as locked into ambient as much this year as in the past. I spent most of my listening time in indie, jazz, and berlin-school. I had several ambient albums that would for sure make my list so I started with those and the next thing I knew - I had a list of 26 albums that are my 2025 favorites.

Here are my favorite ambient albums of 2025, in alphabetical order, with links to each album:

  1. Alexander Knaifel - Chapter Eight

  2. Almost An Island - Almost An Island

  3. Andrew Heath - Signals and Codes

  4. Anthéne & Simon McCorry - Wellspring

  5. Bill Brennan and Andy McNeill - Dreaming In Gamelan

  6. Byron Metcalf - Spiral Exchange

  7. Clarice Jensen - In holiday clothing, out of the great darkness

  8. Dictaphone - Unstable

  9. Emily A. Sprague - Cloud Time

  10. Erik M - Soft Wish

  11. Florian TM Zeisig - A New Life

  12. Lab's Cloud and Flavio Salvaje - Kalima

  13. Loneward - Musings of a Painted Sky

  14. M. Sage - Tender / Wading

  15. Martin Stürtzer - Nexus-6

  16. offthesky - form.radio

  17. offthesky - Nocturnas

  18. Peter Gregson - Peter Gregson

  19. Rod Modell - Northern Michigan Snowstorms

  20. Seabuckthorn - A Path Within A Path

  21. Six Missing - Without Mind

  22. Steve Roach - The Reverent Sky

  23. Taylor Deupree & Zimoun - Wind Dynamic Organ, Deviations

  24. Xu - Murmurs of the Machine

  25. Yorkshire Modular Society + Peter Digby Lee - Beneath the Hanging Sky

  26. zakè - Silentium

I made two mixes so it will be a little easier to digest. This post is for part one. I hope you enjoy this look back at 2025.

Cheers!





T R A C K L I S T :
  • 00:00   Erik M. - Tall as Grass (Soft Wish)
  • 03:55   Offthesky - Poised Above A Place (Nocturnas)
  • 08:06   Rod Modell - Snowstorm In Munising (Snowstorm In Munising)
  • 13:40   Emily A. Sprague - Osaka (Cloud Time)
  • 19:23   Florian T M Zeisig - Earth Loop (A New Life)
  • 21:00   M. Sage - Fracking Starlight (Tender / Wading)
  • 26:18   Dictaphone - 122 (Unstable)
  • 29:50   Six Missing - Sit Down and Play (Without Mind)
  • 35:38   Peter Gregson - Prism (Peter Gregson)
  • 38:37   Clarice Jensen - From A to B (In holiday clothing, out of the great darkness)
  • 44:05   Alexander Knaifel - Chapter Eight: Stanza XXIII-XXXII (Chapter Eight)
  • 49:15   Martin Sturtzer - Nexus-6 (Nexus-6)
  • 55:30   Yorkshire Modular Society - Beneath the Hanging Sky (Beneath the Hanging Sky)
  • 01:09:28   end

Posted by Low Light Mixes at 10:07 AM 0 comments
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Friday, December 27, 2024

Jazz Trax 2024

 

This year, like last year, I listened to more jazz than I have in a long time. It should come as no surprise that a lot of my listening tends towards atmospheric jazz. My favorite jazz record of the year, Nala Sinephro - Endlessness, definitely falls into that ambient jazz category. Or as a Pitchfork reviewer called in - Jazz, Not Jazz.

Here are my favorite jazz albums of 2024:

  • Bill Laurance & Michael League - Keeping Company
  • Charles Lloyd - The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow
  • Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn - Quiet in a World Full of Noise
  • Eli Keszler - LIVE 2
  • Emile Londonien - Inwards
  • Flock - Flock II
  • Fuubutsushi - Meridians
  • Jasmine Myra - Rising
  • Kika Sprangers - (In)finity
  • Kinkajous - Nothing Will Disappear
  • Nala Sinephro - Endlessness
  • Prefuse 73 - New Strategies For Modern Crime Volume 1
  • Shay Hazan - Wusul
  • SHOLTO - Letting Go of Forever
  • Slowly Rolling Camera - Silver Shadow
  • The Bad Plus - Complex Emotions
  • The Sorcerers - I Too Am a Stranger
  • Total Blue - Total Blue

Not every album made into the mix plus I added a couple of tracks not on my album list. I hope you enjoy the jazz vibes. I'd love to know if listeners had any jazz favs from 2024. Leave a comment with some of you favorites.

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   Kika Sprangers - Winter ( (In)finity )
  • 02:27   Slowly Rolling Camera - Desert Sun (Silver Shadow)
  • 05:55   Nala Sinephro - Continuum 8 (Endlessness)
  • 09:28   Jasmine Myra - How Tall the Mountains (Rising)
  • 16:43   The Sorcerers - Bebaynetu (I Too Am a Stranger)
  • 20:43   SHOLTO - Moki, Pt. II (Letting Go of Forever)
  • 23:27   Work Money Death - The Fast Flowing River (People Of The Fast Flowing River)
  • 29:00   Kinkajous - Pulses (Nothing Will Disappear)
  • 32:10   Total Blue - Heart of the World (Total Blue)
  • 39:06   Shay Hazan - Shimo Kitazawa (Wusul)
  • 42:20   Prefuse 73 - The End Of Air (New Strategies For Modern Crime Volume 1)
  • 46:47   Fuubutsushi - Circulating Air (Meridians)
  • 50:04   Emile Londonien - Jundo (Inwards)
  • 54:10   Joel Ross - What Am I Waiting For! (Nublues)
  • 56:45   Bill Laurance & Michael League - Yours (Keeping Company)
  • 59:25   Flock - Edge Of Empty (Flock II)
  • 64:55   Nala Sinephro - Continuum 3 (Endlessness)
  • 68:50   Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn - Try (Quiet in a World Full of Noise)
  • 74:06   end


Posted by Low Light Mixes at 12:59 PM 2 comments
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Sunday, December 22, 2024

2024 Favorite Ambient Albums Part 2


 

I like making these favorites mixes because it reminds me of why I liked certain albums in the first place. The perfect example is Abandoned Spaces by OdNu & Ümlaut. It's so good and I'm glad I can share with folks via these mixes.

This mix, Part 2, has a little different vibe than Part 1. More sequencer driven tracks, some percussion here and there, generally a bit more active than the first mix. At least the first half is more active, then we slow down & space out. I hope you enjoy this one as much I do.

You can find the full list of favorite ambient albums of 2024, and links to each album, in the post with Part 1 - https://lowlightmixes.blogspot.com/2024/12/2024-favorite-ambient-albums-part-1.html

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   Martin Stürtzer - The Last Oupost (Lander Modules)
  • 06:50   Extraworld - Axial Precession (Perihelion)
  • 13:40   Civilistjävel! - VI(feat. Thommy Wahlström) (Br​ö​df​ö​da)
  • 17:00   OdNu + Ümlaut - Unforseen Scenes (Abandoned Spaces)
  • 23:00   2fel - Stranger Flow (Stranger Flow)
  • 27:25   Altus - Origin Extract (Ultraviolet)
  • 32:27   The Green Kingdom - New Constellations (Horizons)
  • 37:10   Michael A. Muller - Mirror 2 (Mirror Music)
  • 41:50   Heavenchord - Atmospheres & Soundscapes 1 (Atmospheres & Soundscapes)
  • 49:55   v e n n - Long Farewell Pt. 1(v e n n & Brannan Lane) (XIII)
  • 54:06   Ulla & Ultrafog - Jesses Car (It Means A Lot)
  • 59:13   end


Posted by Low Light Mixes at 8:32 AM 0 comments
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