Sequential Circuits

I don't really like berlin school music much anymore. I used to love that style. The first electronic music that I bought was Tangerine Dream & Jean Michel Jarre. I liked both of those artists for a long time. Eventually I think I just became bored with that style of electronic music.

Recently, however, I've been re-discovering some berlin-type music. It started with the latest Steve Roach release, Arc of Passion. I've been enjoying the album quite a bit so I dug up some other berlin school or nearly berlin tunes to throw into a mix.

Of course there is a cut from Arc of Passion as well as another Roach tune, "Sundial", which I absolutely love. Add in some old T-Dream, Klaus Schulze, Richard Pinhas(3 tunes) and I'm good to go. The Tangerine Dream cuts are from an old cassette that I had of "Hyperborea" which I used to play constantly 10 to 15 years ago.

I'm sure I'll pass out this phase soon. But for now the bouncing sequencers of berlin school are getting plenty of airtime at home & at work.

Download(right click/save as):
Sequential Circuits
t r a c k l i s t :

• 00:00 Arp - St. Tropez
• 05:00 Solvent - wig $1
• 07:15 Richard Pinhas - la ville sans nom
• 10:30 Steve Roach - Sundial
• 17:30 Klaus Schulze - Euro Caravan
• 25:15 Richard Pinhas - Melodic Simple Transition
• 28:20 Tangerine Dream - No Man's Land
• 33:20 Robert Rich & Ian Boddy - Chamber
• 37:30 Detroit Escalator Co. - city lights
• 41:00 Geometric Farms - The Chemist's Lullaby
• 45:15 Richard Pinhas - Home ''ruitor''
• 48:40 Steve Roach - Arc of Passion
• 59:30 Tangerine Dream - Hyperborea

Migrations - an ambient field mix

I have been interested in doing a mix of field recordings ever since I did the shortwave mix last year. I've been collecting field recordings from various sources & even bought a digital recorder so I could do my own phonography.

I haven't really had the time to seriously record anything but I did manage to squeeze a few of my own things into this new mix.

There is very little proper music in this mix. It's mostly field recordings that I downloaded from sites like Quiet American and SoundTransit. Some of the recordings are from cd's that I own. Most of the music is music that already has field recordings built into the track. I used two tracks from a great cd by Emanuele Errante called "Migrations". a few other tracks came from Geir Jenssen 's "Field Recordings From Tibet". A couple of other cuts came from "Classifields - Trips 6" on Tripostal. One of the Tripostal tracks is "A Sunday Walk" by Nim is a Tree, which I already used in the Netlabel Mix. It's such a great cut that I had to use it again. I also sneaked some loops into the mix here & there.

Some of my favorite field sounds are trains, so you'll hear various train sounds at different times in the mix. I also like empty train station reverb, so that fades in & out a couple times. The sounds range from a resonant pipe in a rain storm to foghorns to church bells to chanting to arrival anouncements to piano and an open window. I know that some field recordings may be interesting but not really listenable, not musical enough. I think this mix works pretty well & is easy to listen to.

Download...
M i g r a t i o n s (76.7MB, 42:53)

Sorry there is no track list. It's nearly impossible to keep track of what's playing & when in this mix. Most of the time there several tracks playing at once.

It was a lot of fun putting this together and hope you enjoy the trip.

Album Cover Wallpaper

I'm not exactly sure why I decided to post these pix. I thought that Low Light listeners might get a kick out them.

These first pix are of a wall in my family room. It was ugly dark paneling that I just put up with for years. Then on a whim, I dug up what was left of my vinyl album collection and simply tacked some of them to the wall.

I know it has the decorating look of some stoner kid who lives in his parents' basement. But I don't care, they make me smile every time I look at them.

I liked how it worked so much that I then used more album covers to make a border all the way around the room.

I also did the same thing in a small bathroom right off the family room. It was tough to take a good picture in there because the room is so small. I'd need a really wide angle lens to be able to see the whole wall. I also messed around with the mirror.

These album covers really bring back a lot of memories. I like them even if it does look like some dorm room from the 70's.

Somnia Soumd

Just a quick post to point people in the direction of an excellent new mix blog/podcast. Evan at Somnia : Music For The Spaces Inbetween, describes the blog this way..."Music blog and podcast for Somnia record label. Explores ambient, minimal, experimental, electro-acoustic, modern classical, minimalist classical, jazz, post jazz, avant garde, and "other" music recordings." Sounds like a good description of this blog.

I've downloaded all three mixes & listen to them often. Any regular Low Light listeners will definitely enjoy Evan's mixes.

Download and Subscribe at: http://somniasound.blogspot.com/

Best of 2007

There were some excellent releases in 2007, so I thought I'd feature some in a new mix.

My favorite ambient recording of the year was Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of the Decline. I know there are quite a few people who didn't care for the cd, but I love it. I like the more orchestral feel. I like that SOTL relies less & less on synths. A beautiful record.

My favorite vocal record was PG Six - Slightly Sorry. Snips from the Boomkat review..."a collection of quite unashamedly gorgeous 'proper' songs...'Slightly Sorry' is an album without tricks...'The Dance', the second track on the record - there's nothing necessarily modern about the song itself, it could have come out any time since 1969 and nobody would have batted an eyelid, but it's great music, pure and simple." I played this probably more than any other record this year.

As far as this mix is concerned, I pretty much stayed away from vocal tunes, with one exception in the middle of the mix. The mix opens with four drone tracks, including Paul Bradley, a new discovery thanks to the folks at the Hypnos forum. Some of his stuff gets a bit dark & dissonant for my taste, but his 2007 release "Chroma" features gorgeous, wide open drones. Th drones gradually giveway to piano based tunes which morph into electronics with a little beat then back to ambient to finish it off.

My full best of 2007 list follows the tracklisting for the mix. What were your favorite releases this year? Please leave some comments, I'd love to hear what you think.

Here's the mix...

Best of 2007

T R A C K L I S T :

1. 00:00 - 04:30 Stars of the Lid - Even(out)
2. 04:30 - 07:30 Paul Bradley - untitled #1
3. 07:30 - 09:40 Adam Pacione - Warming Trend
4. 09:40 - 15:30 Emeralds - arbole del tule
5. 15:30 - 20:30 Alio Die & Luciano Daini - Crucibulum
6. 20:30 - 24:24 Fennesz & Sakamoto - Aware
7. 24:24 - 25:45 Library Tapes - Snowleaf
8. 25:45 - 31:54 Dakota Suite - Because our lie breathes differently
9. 31:54 - 35:20 Wes Willenbring - While my lungs fill with water
10. 35:20 - 41:20 Sonmi 451 - Outer Shell
11. 41:20 - 46:05 Kiln - Flycatcher
12. 46:05 - 50:45 Rameses III - Theme 5
13. 50:45 - 54:20 Meursault - Ivy
14. 54:20 - 58:50 Alio Die & Zeit - Raag Drone Theory
15. 58:50 - 06:20 Taylor Deupree - Landing
16. 06:20 - 10:45 Tim Hecker - Norberg
17. 10:45 - 14:30 Northern - Cinema
18. 14:30 - 19:53 Stars of the Lid - Even if you're never awake

B E S T O F 2 0 0 7

• Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of the Decline (kranky)
• Alio Die & Luciano Daini - End of an Era (hic sunt leones)
• Alio Die & Zeit - Raag Drone Theory(hic sunt leones)
• Tetsu Inoue - Inland (fax)
• Taylor Deupree - Landing (room40)
• Adam Pacione - from stills to motion (infraction)
• Paul Bradley - Chroma (twenty hertz)
• Emeralds - Allegory Of Allergies (gods of tundra)
• Fennesz & Sakamoto - Cende (touch)
• Northern - Drawn (infraction)
• Tim Hecker - Norberg (room40)
• Rameses III - Honey Rose ( important)
• sonmi451 - probes & prisms (u-cover)
• Meursault - Sleeping Debris (students of decay)
• Wes Willenbring - Somewhere someone else (Aquarius Records)
• Library Tapes - Sketches (make mine music)
• Kiln - Dusker (Ghostly Int'l)
• Iron & Wine - The Sheperds Dog (sub pop)
• Trespassers William - noble house ep
• various - Box of Dub (soul jazz)
• Once - soundtrack (columbia)
• Canon Blue - Colonies (Rumraket)
• Dakota Suite - Waiting for the dawn to crawl through and take your life (glitterhouse)
• P.G. Six - Slightly Sorry (Drag City)

I wish I could drown the world in reverberation

I am starting to repeat myself. I've done two piano mixes, two string theory mixes, two winter mixes and now a second guitar mix. I decided to do a new guitar mix because I seem to have come across a lot of good guitar music lately.

All the tracks on this mix are new, from either 2006 or 2007. The music ranges from electric to acoustic. Originally I intended to do a feedback-filled guitarscape like a long Peter Wright song. But in the end the music in this mix is fairly straight forward. Some is ambient, some is pretty, some is droney(is that a word?).

I hope you enjoy it.

Download(right click/save link as) :

drown the world in reverberation (64:47, 192k, 91mb)

T R A C K L I S T :

1. 00:00 - 00:50 Peter Broderick - Balloon Bomb
2. 00:50 - 02:00 twinsistermoon - I wish I could drown the world in reverberation
3. 02:00 - 08:20 Robert Fripp - Tallinn
4. 08:20 - 20:30 Meursault - Sleeping Debris
5. 20:30 - 23:30 Origamibiro - Gathers in Puddles
6. 23:30 - 25:30 Wooden Spoon - Untitled #10
7. 25:30 - 30:20 Wixel - Nowhere
8. 30:20 - 33:40 Brian Grainger - wind calmly bends our hair
9. 33:40 - 36:20 Hisato Higuchi - Kizauto
10. 36:20 - 40:30 øjeRum - tonerum
11. 40:30 - 41:40 Area C - Daymarks
12. 41:40 - 45:10 Peter Wright - Folk Song for Contradiction
13. 45:10 - 49:20 Christopher Flores - Farewell Son
14. 49:20 - 53:30 Oren Armbachi - fever, a warm poison
15. 53:30 - 59:20 Meursault - Mirror
16. 59:20 - 02:20 Six Organs of Admittance - Goodnight
17. 02:20 - 04:30 Wooden Spoon - Untitled #1

Netlabel Mix

I've gone on another binge of downloading music from netlabels. You know how the net is...one link leads you to another and then another and another and the next thing you know, you've download 10 free releases.

Free is obviously a huge attraction for most netlabel releases. With some of the recordings, it's a good thing they are free. It's not that they are bad, just that I probably won't come back to them again and again in the future. However, some releases are very good. Nest, released earlier this year on Serein is an excellent recording. Marsen Jules has two Autoplate releases, Yara & Lazy Sunday Funerals, which I highly recommend.

I haven't really had time to digest all the new music yet, but I thought I'd put together a quick mix using all netlabel albums that I've downloaded in the last couple of weeks.

Here's a list of some interesting netlabels...

1. Serein
2. Aerotone
3. Test Tube
4. 12rec
5. Tripostal
6. Miasmah
7. Rain Music
8. Ekonetlabel
9. Mendorla
10. Thinner
11. Autoplate

I just noticed a new Off The Sky release at Autoplate. I'll be downloading that one asap. All of the labels listed here are worth browsing.

Here's the mix...(right click/save as)
Netlabel Mix


TRACKLISTING:

• 00:00 - 03:30 nim is a tree - a sunday walk (tri postal)


• 03:30 - 06:30 krill.minima - sommerdellen (thinner)


• 06:30 - 09:50 Alexandre Navarro - la terre (mandorla)


• 09:50 - 12:40 Muhr - 'a gouache des temps (serein)


• 12:40 - 20:30 Klotzsch & Sudermann - corylus avellana (autoplate)


• 20:30 - 24:35 Bersarin Quartet - st. petersburg (aerotone)


• 24:35 - 28:35 Weigl & Hoffmann - country lane (autoplate)


• 28:35 - 35:15 Twile - spanish cruiser (autoplate)


• 35:15 - 38:00 Herzog - there are options (12rec)


• 38:00 - 42:33 Cantaloup - dawns & echos (aerotone)


• 42:33 - 46:00 Haruki - sometimes seeing through things helps (rain music)\


• 46:00 - 49:33 Silencio - botaniska trdgrd (tri postal)


• 49:33 - 53:43 Bersarin Quartet - es kann nicht ewig (aerotone)


• 53:43 - 1:02:19 Childs - marysal(fax emix) (mandorla)

breathing music

After a quick side trip we are back to a straight forward, ambient mix.

I got the idea for this mix from my online friend, Brian and his excellent podcast, The Quiet Sounds. At the beginning of the year he did a mix of sleep music and said this about it..."many of these tracks have a lullaby, 'breathing' quality...".

The idea of "breathing" music caught my attention. I would come back to the concept again and again as I listened to music this year. So I finally decided to put together my own mix of "breathing" music.

Most of the tracks have a common feel...in & out, back & forth, ebb & flow...a wash of sound that fades then the wash returns. Most of the cuts are fairly new, though I was happy to squeeze in some old Cluster & Eno.

download(right click/save as)
b r e a t h i n g


T R A C K L I S T

• 00:00 - 05:30 Alp - tropen
• 05:30 - 10:30 Robert Henke - layer #3
• 10:30 - 14:00 Stars of the Lid - another ballad for heavy lids
• 14:00 - 18:30 Scott Solter - wave & sepia wire
• 18:30 - 22:30 Cluster & Eno - old land
• 22:30 - 27:30 Steve Roach - slow rapture
• 27:30 - 31:30 Jeff Pearce - life in the dusk air
• 31:30 - 34:20 Alio Die & Luciano Daini - la rocca’s view
• 34:20 - 43:30 Marsen Jules - eilet en delta
• 43:30 - 48:00 Cluster & Eno - fur luise
• 48:00 - 50:40 Andrew Deutsch - loops over land
• 50:40 - 58:40 William Basinski - el camino real
• 58:40 - 03:26 Stars of the Lid - the evil that never arrived

Sydney's Summer Mix

This month's mix is a departure from the usual ambient soundscapes. The new download comes to us from my 15 year old daughter, Sydney. She made this mix for our family vacation at a small cottage in northern Wisconsin.

She didn't just pick the tunes, she did the mix herself using Acoustica MP3 mixer. I think she did an excellent job. I know she kept obsessing about whether segues were just right.

The music is fairly acoustic in nature. Some artists, like The Fray, are fairly typical for a 15 yr old. But some, like Kings of Convenience & The Decemberists, are a bit more unexpected. I'm just glad her music taste doesn't run to 50 cent, High School Musical or Toby Keith.

I hope you enjoy it.

Download Syd's Summer Mix by clicking here. (you'll be re-directed to Podbean.com for download)

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 - 02:18 Ben Gibbard - Carolina

02:18 - 07:22 Colin James Hay - I don't think I'll ever get over you

07:22 - 11:15 Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova - Falling Slowly

11:15 - 14:57 The Shins - New Slang

14:53 - 18:00 Kings of Convenience - Toxic Girl

18:00 - 22:41 The Decemberists - 16 Military Wives

22:41 - 26:28 Plain White Tee's - Hey There Delilah

26:27 - 29:19 Feist - 1-2-3-1-2-3-4

29:19 - 32:02 Rocky Votolato - Portland is Leaving

31:55 - 34:46 Death Cab for Cutie - Death of an Interior Decorator

34:39 - 37:12 Fountains of Wayne - Hey Julie

37:12 - 39:25 The Beatles - Blackbird

39:25 - 40:22 Fountains of Wayne - Yours and Mine

40:19 - 44:12 The Fray - Over My Head

44:08 - 47:27 Corine Baley Ray - Trouble Sleeping

47:26 - 50:35 The Shins - Kissing the Lipless

50:33 - 56:34 Sufjan Stevens - Chicago

56:28 - 00:37 Death Cab for Cutie - Marching Bands of Manhattan

00:33 - 04:57 The Fray - How to Save a Life

There Will Come Soft Rains

I started this mix a couple of weeks ago and I wasn't sure when to post it. Then the rains came. We have been getting pelted here for a week, so I figured now is the perfect time to post a rain mix.

Based on the amount of rain we've been getting maybe a more appropriate title would have been "A hard rain is gonna fall & flood my basement & turn my backyard into a swamp." I guess that's a little long. So I'll stick with "There Will Come Soft Rains". The title is taken from a short story by Ray Bradbury who takes the title from a poem by Sara Teasdale. Not that poem or story have anything to do with the mix, I just love the sound of the line.

The music in this mix is a collection of tunes I thought would work well with the sound of rain. Most of the rain you hear in this mix was added by me. I hope I didn't over do it. The listening environment has a lot to do with how the rain is perceived. While mixing in a quiet room I kept worrying about too many rain fx, but then listening in my office at work, I couldn't hear half of the rain sounds. Hopefully I managed to strike the right balance.

Download
There will come soft rains(53:17, 62mb)


t r a c k l i s t :

• 00:12 - 02:30 Chas Smith - Santa Fe
• 02:40 - 05:40 Elegi - despotiets vesen
• 05:44 - 10:20 Fenton - neon giraffe
• 10:33 - 11:51 Max Richter - harmonium & time passing
• 11:51 - 15:55 Julien Neto - vi
• 16:00 - 22:20 Loscil - steam
• 22:35 - 25:50 Loren Connors - airs #6
• 25:30 - 28:50 Rameses III - night blossom written in sanskrit
• 29:25 - 32:20 Leo Abrams - scene memory
• 32:20 - 35:40 Daniel Lanois - telco
• 35:50 - 41:36 Popol Vuh - listen he who ventures
• 41:36 - 50:35 Rameses III - theme three
• 50:35 - 51:41 Lawrence - a quiet day
• 51:47 - 53:17 Max Richter - fragment