I can hear the snow fall

For some reason,when I think of falling snow, the instrument that comes to mind is the piano.  Maybe it's from years of listening to Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas album.  So it's no surprise that there is a fair amount of piano music in this "snow" mix.

We didn't have any snow yet but I had been thinking about doing a "first snow" mix for awhile & decided to throw one together Friday night.  Then I woke up Saturday morning to a light dusting of snow on the ground.  Maybe next I should do a mix for winning the lottery. ;)

 As I said there is a lot of piano music in here.  Led by Nils Frahm, from his excellent Felt album.  A release that will end up on my best of the year list & one which everyone needs to hear.  I think this mix works well as an early season "snow" mix versus the more bleak mid winter drones that will show up later.

I expect to crank out at least one more mix before the end of the year.  Plus I'll have a year-end top 20 list, so start thinking of your own lists if you'd like to contribute.

Enjoy.

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T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Nils Frahm - less [erased tapes]
• 05:20    Bernocchi, Budd, Guthrie - Heavy Heart Some More [Rarenoise Records]
• 09:35    Deepspace - Whisper
• 12:50   The Humble Bee - Sky Litter [cotton goods]
• 15:22    Willamette - Echo Park [infraction]
• 18:10    Pleq + Lauki - II (antonymes remix) [somehow recordings]
• 24:44    Cliff Martinez - Wrong Floor [lakeshore records]
• 25:45    Max Richter - eternal flowers question stars [Metropolis Movie Music]
• 27:48    e and i - Pearls for Alma [cotton goods]
• 29:40    Isnaj Dui - Always Close [hibernate]
• 32:48    I've Lost - in this cold, empty place [future sequence]
• 36:35    Diatonis - Whiring Above Our Heads
• 40:00    Nils Frahm - Pause [erased tapes]
• 44:25    Cliff Martinez - He Had A Good Time [lakeshore records]
• 45:39    Harold Budd - Three-Fingered Jack [darla]
• 47:40    Maps & Diagrams - Groghe(fort) [nomadic kids republic]
• 51:00    S. Carey - Rothko Fields [jagjaguwar]
• 54:50    Part Timer - seed collection [mobeer]
• 58:20    Nils Frahm - Keep [erased tapes]

I can hear the snow fall by Lowlight on Mixcloud

Vote

Mixcloud has started taking votes for Mixcloud Cloudcaster of the year.  So I'm basically shilling for votes.

If you click on the link it will take you to my Mixcloud page.  Unfortunately there is no simple "vote" button.  You have to "share" on Facebook to vote.  I hate that.  There are probably other cloudcasters I'd vote for but I don't like cluttering up my Facebook with random stuff like that.

Anyway, if anyone doesn't mind the Facebook sharing aspect, I'd really appreciate any votes you can throw my way.  Last year Low Light Mixes finished surprisingly high.

Thanks for your support.

Launch of Curiosity

This past Saturday NASA launched the Mars Science Laboratory known as "Curiosity" on a 9 month journey to the planet Mars.  As I was watching video of the launch, I was thinking about music that would work well with a launch & space voyage.  I quickly collected some appropriate tune & cranked out this mix at escape velocity speed.

The tracks are all electronic/electronica cuts that I thought seem to fit the theme.  As it turns out, many of the tunes have titles that are perfect for a mix like this.  Titles such as "Towards Unknown Space", "Solar Sailer", "Born to Fire", "Your Wings Make You Fly" and of course "Phobos & Deimos Go To Mars".

That "Phobos & Deimos" tracks was one of my absolute favorite tracks in college.  I had a clear vinyl version of the Synergy album "Cords".  There aren't going to be too many times that I can sneak that cut into a mix so I'm glad I got that one in here.

The NASA audio is all from the actual launch of the Curiosity Mars rover mission.

In the coming months maybe I'll do "Flight of Curiosity" & "Curiosity Lands" mixes.

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T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    M83 - Another Wave from You
• 01:55    Boards of Canada - Dayvan Cowboy
• 04:40    Saul Stokes - Greys
• 08:25    Pinch & Shackleton - Monks on the Rum
• 13:07    Synergy - Phobos & Deimos Go To Mars
• 17:40    Brad Smith - Any Colour You Like (8-bit Pink Floyd cover)
• 21:05    Balam Acab - Apart
• 23:30    Jumpel - Lissabon
• 26:20    Daft Punk - Solar Sailer
• 28:25    Steve Roach & Vir Unis - Born to Fire
• 36:15    Delta M45 - Towards Unknown Space
• 41:00    Winterlight - Your Wings Make You Fly
• 46:20    Jumpel - Arles
• 49:25    Rena Jones - Helix
• 54:28    Plumbline - 66 w12
• 58:51    end




Launch of Curiosity by Lowlight on Mixcloud

drowsy

I recently had surgery on a broken collarbone & had to spend a fair amount of time laying around, recuperating, sleeping.  So I decided to make a mix that would work well with Percocet & Vicodin.

I've produced other sleep mixes before, "I fell asleep at my desk making this mix", "slo mo", "slow & sleepy", and have often relied on them for nighttime listening.  Of course most of the mixes found here could work as "sleep" mixes. 

This new mix, "drowsy", fits right in with those others.  It's a soothing mix of drones & synth washes that will put anyone to sleep.

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T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Benoît Pioulard - Drowsy
• 04:15    Ex Confusion - Bloom
• 09:45    Peter James & Disturbed Earth - A Descending Calm
• 13:45    Steve Roach - Slow Heat (excerpt)
• 21:05    Aglaia - Milosis
• 30:45    David Tagg - Wolf Suite II
• 34:40    Alio Die - Innamorato
• 42:35    Kyle Bobby Dunn - New Pures
• 45:35    Loscil - Stave Peak
• 51:15    Nest - Koretz's Meteor
• 55:55    Ursula - Un final decepcionante
• 01:01:01    end
• 
  

Drowsy by Lowlight on Mixcloud

psalms & lullabies

A friend of mine made an excellent Spotify playlist called "Atmospheric Songs for Travelers" which had some great music from John Martyn, Nick Drake, Wilco & more.(I saved it as my own playlist which is why name is on it if you click the link.)

Listening to that collection made me want put together my own mix of vocal music.  I don't do vocal mixes very often but I thought it'd be nice to do one now, while all that music is swimming around in my head.

The songs are very laid back.  Most are acoustic.  Some new music(Antlers, Bon Iver, Horse Thieves) and some old stuff(John Martyn, Loudon Wainwright, Cat Stevens).

Somehow the mix ended up with 3 covers in it -  Iron & Wine - Love Vigilantes(New Order Cover),   Josh Rouse - Straight to Hell(Clash cover) and Radiohead - Wish You Were Here(Pink Floyd cover).  All brilliant covers.

I have some leftover vocal tunes that might make it into a new mix fairly soon.  Then it'll be back to good 'ol low light ambient.  For now, enjoy this vocal detour.

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T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Bon Iver - Flume(daytrotter session)
• 03:25    The Horse Thieves - (I was) Crazy (About You)
• 07:55    J. Tillman - Earthly Bodies
• 12:00    Josh Rouse - Straight to Hell(Clash cover)
• 16:35    Cat Stevens - The Wind
• 18:07    Damien Juardo - Beacon Hill
• 21:05    Johm Martyn - Let the Good Things Come
• 23:55    Radiohead - Wish You Were Here(Pink Floyd cover)
• 30:50    The XX - Stars
• 34:55    The Antlers - Corsicana
• 38:15    Bon Iver - Wash.
• 42:45    David Sylvian - September
• 43:55    Loudon Wainwright III - Lullaby
• 46:45    Iron & Wine - Love Vigilantes(New Order Cover)
• 49:50    Alexi Murdoch - All My Days
• 54:35    Red House Painters - Song for a Blue Guitar
• 1:00:20    end

Psalms & lullabies by Lowlight on Mixcloud

Shadowland

Josh, from Nocturne Records,  requested a Halloween mix.  

At first I was reluctant because I'm not a big fan of dark ambient.  I've never really cared for Lustmord records, although I do have "The Place Where Black Stars Hang."  While I do have a fair amount of drone music, I don't like dissonant drones.

When I set out to do this mix I wasn't sure what direction it would take.  Would it be noisy, scary ambient drones?  As I was looking through my music I came across "The Twin Peaks Archive" by David Lynch & Angelo Badalamenti.  I thought, now there is some dark-ish music that would be cool to use in a Halloween mix.

Three Twins Peaks tunes made it into the final mix & helped establish a sort of film noir feel.  There are definite dissonant moments but hopefully the mix is more creepy & shadowy rather than outright scary & annoying.

It was fun putting this together and I'm looking forward to making this an annual ritual.

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T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Bass Communion - Ghosts on Magnetic Tape IV
• 04:30    Felicia Atkinson - Half-Blonde
• 06:10    David Lynch & Angelo Badalamenti - Mysterioso 2
• 09:30    Ricardo Villalobos and Max Loderbauer - rethikhiy
• 14:20    The Caretaker - Friends Past Reunited
• 16:00    Grouper - Soul Eraser
• 21:45    Je Suis Le Petit Chevalier - Maine Jungle
• 23:05    DJ Signify - The Sickness
• 24:20    Julien Neto - V(Rivers)
• 28:45    Deaf Center - Hunted Twice
• 32:05    David Lynch & Angelo Badalamenti - Dark Mood Woods
• 36:00    Deaf Center - New Beginning
• 38:45    Aidan Baker - complex iconographical symbology
• 44:25    The Caretaker - Dream Waltz
• 47:05    David Lynch & Angelo Badalamenti - Mysterioso 2 (film version)
• 49:35    Bohren & Der Club Of Gore - Maximum Black
• 54:15    Earth - Dry Lake
• 57:00    Clint Mansell - Death is a Disease
• 59:27    end

Shadowland by Lowlight on Mixcloud

AUTUMN IN SLOW MOTION

It hasn't felt much like autumn around here, with temps in the 70's & 80's the last week or two.  But the leaves are still falling and before you know it we'll have snow flying.  

So I figured now is as good a time as any to publish this new mix, "Autumn in Slow Motion."  This is a fairly straight forward mix with a nice blend of old & new tracks.  As you can tell all the tracks have the word "autumn" or " leaves" in the title.  I'm pretty sure I've used the track by Eluder, "Autmun Hips", before but I just had to include it again because it's absolutely beautiful.

Normally I don't use my own pics for these posts, but the last two have been Low Light originals.  This one was taken last fall on a photo hike through a nature park in my neighborhood.  If you shoot a ton of pix one or two are bound to turn out.

Enjoy.

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T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    wind
• 00:30    Shuttle358 - Dead Leaves
• 04:50    Eluder - Autumn Hips
• 10:10    Need More Sources - Autumn
• 13:15    A Broken Consort - Leaves
• 15:28    Shinichi Hirota - Autumn Loop Rain
• 18:40    The Green Kingdom - Autumn Toadlick
• 23:55    Peter James & Disturbed Earth - Autumnal Nights
• 31:45    Brian Eno - Dunwich Beach, Autumn 1960
• 37:45    Philip Sulidea - Autumn in Town
• 40:40    Spheruleus - Autumn
• 45:45    Jasper, TX - Through Dusk & Falling Leaves(Steinbruchel remix)
• 50:40    Aaron Martin - The Shape of Leaves
• 52:00    Tape Loop Orchestra - A Late Autumn
• 54:35    D RRadio - Leaves
• 58:22    end

Autumn in slow motion by Lowlight on Mixcloud

future days

I guess you could call this mix "Televison Sky #2".  It's a continuation of the sounds found in that mix.

This has more beats than a normal low light mix, more of an electronica sound.  I think it has a nice mix of old & new material.  The oldest cuts are from Can, Eno & Earthstar, 1973, 1975 & 1981 respectively.  In the middle we have the Casino Versus Japan cut from 1999 & the Aspen track from 2000.  Then there are a few newer tunes like the ones from Tobacco & Maps & Diagrams.

I was happy to sneak in part of a long track from B. Fleischmann called "Take Your Time".  I listened to it recently for the first time in a long while & remembered how much I like it & knew that I had to squeeze it in somewhere.

I was also happy to have done the accompanying pic myself.  It's from a picture I took in New York & then messed with in my video editing software, rather than photoshop, because I don't how to use photoshop. :(   It's nothing great but it was fun to come up with something sort of original.

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T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00   ATOM™ -  weisses rauschen (zweiter teil)
  02:44    Earthstar - Cafe Sequence
  04:13    Brian Eno - In Dark Trees
  06:15    Can - Future Days
  08:45    Field Rotation - lichtermeer
  14:55    Joey Fehrenbach - Don't Wake me
  19:05    Aspen - Are You that Retail Snob?
  24:05    B. Fleischmann - Take Your Time
  31:03    Black Dog - Rainbow Bridge
  35:07    Tobacco - Stretch Your Face
  37:49    Casino Versus Japan - Warm Windows
  42:25    Maps & Diagrams - Waking Up
  44:25    Digitonal - After the First Death
  49:40    ATOM™- weisses rauschen (erster teil)
  53:22    Boc Scadet - Ganymede
  56:10    end

 

Future days by Lowlight on Mixcloud

porch music

"Several times I've seen the evening slide away. Watching the signs taking over from the fading day."
- Brian Eno from Golden Hours

This is music for sitting on the porch in the evening, as the day slips into night. The sounds of traffic, lawn mowers & kids fade away as the first stars come out.

I stole the title from a recording by Fognode, which you can find here... Fognode - Porch Music. Brian Siskind is Fognode & he has some fantastic albums that have been released over the years. Definitely worth checking out here... FOGNODE.

Enjoy.


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T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00 Susumu Yokota & Rothko - sentiero (from Distant Sounds of Summer)
  
• 05:00 Fognode - Verdant (from Porch Music)
  
• 06:48 Jacob Newman - Whispering Pulse (from Against a Quantized Sky)
  
• 09:02 Helios - Eclipse and Nafas
• 14:10 Simon Bainton - Sun Settlings (from Sun Settings)
  
• 16:00 offthesky - waiting to fade (from The Beautiful Nowhere)
  
• 19:22 Brian Eno - Pour (from Drums Between Bells)
• 22:55 Fognode - West (from Porch Music)
• 26:43 Po - Morning Poem (from The Sound of Summer Silence)
  
• 28:45 Hisato Higuchi - ai no tanjo (from Dialogue)
  
• 31;14 Daniel Lanois - New Smoke (from Purple Vista)
  
• 33:30 Loren Conners & David Grubbs - blossom time (from Arborvitae)
  
• 37:15 Taylor Deupree & Savvas Ysatis - for a morning when (from The Sleeping Morning)
  
• 40:40 Frederico Durand - elin (from Elin)
• 43:30 Brian Eno - Real (from Drums Between Bells)
  
• 49:10 Rain Cloud - Fades Alright (from Kerala)
  
• 54:20 Fognode - Duquaine (from Porch Music)
• 59:10 end

Porch music by Lowlight on Mixcloud

Follow lowlight on Mixcloud

graceful silence

"Music is the space between notes."
- Claude Debussy


I found a couple of tunes recently that exemplify that Debussy quote. So I looked for more tracks that had definite valleys between the peaks of synth washes or long pauses between piano chords and then I let the mix take off from there.

The result is similar to the "breathing" mixes I've done before with the lulling ebb & flow that I like so much. This mix differs in it's use of piano & guitar tracks. There is a section in the middle where there really isn't a whole lot of "silence", more of an up & down of synth washes. But like happens so often with mixes, they just go places I didn't expect & then I've got to bring them back.

"Music and silence combine strongly because music is done with silence and silence is full of music."
- Marcel Marceau


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T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00 Antonymes - 311210 (from Like Rumours of Hushed Thunder)
• 01:38 Wixel - Vaarwel (from Somewhere Between The Sun and The Moon)
• 03:50 Danny Saul - Kinison part 2 (from Kinison - Goldthwait)
• 05:30 Good Weather For An Airstrike - Broken (from Winter)
• 11:00 Wixel - 10 minutes (from The End)
• 13:42 World Standard & Moose Hill - Graceful Silence (from Futari - Graceful Silence)
• 17:50 Stuart Dempster - Standing waves 1976 (from In The Great Abbey of Clement VI)
• 21:40 Kyle Bobby Dunn - Tuohy's Theme (from Ways of Meaning)
• 26:00 Celer - untitled #10 (from Compositions for Cassette)
• 36:39 Listening Mirror - Glass Slopes (from Spires, Spirals and Stones)
• 37:15 Jasper Leyland - they carry (from Sediments)
• 41:24 Dakota Suite - One Day Without Harming You (Machinefabriek remix) (from The Night Just Keeps Coming In)
• 42:33 Marsen Jules - Chanson du soir (from Herbstlaub)
• 47:00 Brian Eno - Neroli (from Neroli)
• 51:25 The Dead Texan - Beatrice part 2 (from The Dead Texan)
• 55:08 Antonymes - 291210 (from Like Rumours of Hushed Thunder)
• 57:16 end

Graceful silence by Lowlight on Mixcloud