Fixed links

Just a quick note to say that I fixed a bunch of bad links to old mixes.

Anything earlier than Feb of 2009 was questionable.  So I went back & re-linked the mp3s.  Hopefully everything is in place.

Some of the really old files are hosted on Mediafire & hopefully those are still good.  If not please let me know so I can correct it.  Someday I'll replace all those old mediafire links with podbean links.

I've started using cinemagraphs for the pix on some posts.  I love the look of a good, subtle cinemagraph.  Do they work?  I know sometimes certain browsers don't load animated gifs well.  So if they don't work I'll stop using them.  Maybe I'll try to make my own someday.

infinite ambient

I usually keep different folders of music for different types of mixes.  I have a "sea" folder.  And one called "dub & stuff."  Another is "piano."  And of course several "Sunday morning" folders as well.

The folder for this mix was called "just plain old good ambient."  And that's a pretty darn good description of this mix.  There's no special theme or concept other than the fact that these cuts are all excellent ambient tunes.

The mix has a classic sound, classic feel.  However, only one track is old - that's the Aphex Twin song.  I love how the cuts flow together, making it a perfect mix for sleeping if you use these mixes like I do.  I can also see listening to this while sitting on the front steps watching the sun set(unfortunately now instead of my nice farm across the street I have a subdivision of McMansions :(

Five or six of the tracks in this mix came from Bandcamp, which I love for buying music & discovering new things via collections.  I really have to control myself when I'm on that site or I'd be spending all sorts of money.  My collection there is not really that large, partly because I really don't buy as much ambient music as I used to.  If you're interested, here's a link to my Bandcamp collection... Dave's Collection

Enjoy the mix!


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T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Marsen Jules Trio - Œillet Parfait
• 04:34    Harold Budd - Jane 8
• 09:20    Caught in the Wake Forever - Chopin's 2 Nocturnes op. 48 no. 2 in F sharp minor
• 11:22    Taylor Deupree - Shutter
• 16:45    Aphex Twin - stone in focus
• 23:00    Dakota Suite - Things We Lost Along the Way (Loscil remix)
• 27:20    Maps & Diagrams - Utgores
• 29:15    Infinite Coil - Transmit 2
• 32:40    Unrecognizable Now - Two Rooms - One
• 39:50    Wouter Veldhuis - Side-effects of diversity
• 44:00    33 Bowls - Morning
• 46:00    Slow Dancing Society - After Twilight Takes Us
• 50:40    Ten and Tracer - By Twirling the Strong History
• 56:35    Cyber Zen Sound Engine - Mottomo Kodokuna Basho
• 1:00:00    end

Infinite ambient by Lowlight on Mixcloud

a leaf on the wind - field recordings & ambience 2013

The title pretty much says it all - this mix is a field recording mix.  I think I've done 3 field mixes in the past but haven't done one in a long time.  So I thought it was time for another sonic exploration.

The track that got me thinking about doing a new field mix was "El Divisader" by Chris Watson from the excellent "El Tren Fantasma" album.  Really a phenomenal track.

The mix starts with some church bells that I slowed down & messed with, then we get the Chris Watson track and from there the mix uses a variety of artists a field recordings to make an interesting(I hope) journey through various sonic landscapes.

I'm not going publish a formal tracklist because there is just too much stuff going on to keep track of. There are lots of other sounds and recordings mixed through out this collage.  Some are mine, some are just random things I found.  I hope it all flows well together.


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This is a list of the artists, and approximate times, that have tracks appearing for more a few seconds:

03:35  Chris Watson - el divisadero
10:30  Forrest Fang -  home in exile
15:00  Vangelis - Nocturnal Rain
18:00  David Chapman - an east wind through bomb ballistics and lab 2
21:00  Collin Thomas - blackjack afternoon
31:30  Moniek Darge - solstice sample
35:00  Rapoon - Melancholic Songs of the Desert
38:30  Chris Dooks - For Wolfgang Voight
40:00  Field Rotation - watermusic
45:20  Simon Scott - sealevel.6
50:00  Chris Dooks - Sola
53:45  Linda Aubry Bullock - near

There are lots of other sounds and recordings mixed through out this collage.  Some are mine, some are just random things I found.  I hope it all flows well together.

Enjoy.

A leaf on the wind - field recordings 2013 by Lowlight on Mixcloud

Sunday Morning Music - 1970s Recollections

More Sunday morning music - this time all the tracks are from the 1970s.  In collecting these cuts I discovered two albums that I somehow missed - Kraftwerk - Ralf & Florian and Cluster - Sowiesoso.  I have plenty of Kraftwerk & Cluster in my collection but I didn't have those two albums &  they are both wonderful.  So thanks to Matt for suggesting those two records.  Also thanks Matt for suggesting the Nue! track.  That one was "new" to me and it fit perfectly.  

I know the Nick Drake tune was technically not the 1970s but I had already fallen in love with it & put it in the mix before I realized that it was released in 1969.  Oh well.  

I went back and forth about using the Ralph Towner cut.  It's a bit too pretty, almost new age-like, but I used to love that song.  Along with Eberhard Weber, Towner's Icarus was my introduction into the wonderful world of ECM records back when I was in college.  So I had to include it for nostalgia sake.  I'm glad I did because it really is a beautiful tune.

I wasn't able to squeeze in all of the great suggestions from listeners so I'm definitely going to have to do a second mix with this theme.  I really want to work that Kris Kristofferson tune into the next one.  And I didn't get a chance to work in Josh's suggestions of electronic library music.  I sought out the Monkman album & it's so cool, it just has to be included next time.  Too many good tunes left on the cutting room floor!  I better get started on the next mix.

Enjoy.


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T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Kraftwerk - Heimatklange[1973]
• 03:31    King Crimson - Peace a Theme[1970]
• 04:40    Nick Drake - Riverman[1969]
• 08:50    Cat Stevens - The Wind[1971]
• 10:22    Ralph Towner - Icarus[1974]
• 16:27    Nue! - Leb Wohl[1975]
• 24:50    Cluster - in ewigkeit[1976]
• 31:25    Miles Davis - Recollections[1970]
• 38:25    Kraftwerk - ananas symphonie[1973]
• 45:30    Brian Eno - Julie With[1977]
• 50:30    Eberhard Weber - Moana I[1976]
• 55:22    Genesis - Horizons[1972]
• 56:55    Loudon Wainwright III - Lullaby[1973]
• 59:45    Steve Tibbetts - The Secret[1977]
• 04:25    Heldon 2 - In the Wake of King Fripp[1975]
• 08:30    Brian Eno - Taking Tiger Mountain[1974]
• 13:20    end

Sunday Morning Music - 1970s Recollections by Lowlight on Mixcloud

Infinite Coil

This is just a quick post to bring attention to a fine ambient release that you can find on Bandcamp.

The recording is transmit by infinite_coil and it's a wonderful example of guitar based ambient.  I've been using this as sleep music for the last week or so, works perfectly.

The music comes to us from Tom Lindsey, the curator of the excellent Spaceman's Transmissions mix blog.  You can also find Tom's mixes on Mixcloud here... tonepoet.

Tom also has a recording he did with a friend under the name harmony & decay.  It's on Bandcamp as well & is definitely worth downloading.  I'm sure I'll be working both of these recordings into future mixes.

Enjoy.

Sci Fi Adventures - All These Worlds

The good folks over at Nocturne Records asked me to do a mix for their podcast.  They put out some great music so how could I resist!

Most of the time with my mixes I'll stumble upon one or two tunes that spark an idea.  In this case I rediscovered an old electronic album that I had in college. It's a compilation called Music from the 21st Century.

That album got me thinking about science fiction music, whether it's music used in sci-fi or just tunes that sound like they should be in a sci-fi film.

This mix uses two tracks from the 21st Century album along with several other old electronic cuts.  A couple of those older cuts are from another college favorite, Synergy - Cords.  I loved that album back then & still go to it occasionally for a nostalgia hit.  The whole album definitely has a sci fi movie soundtrack sort of feel to it.  The mix isn't totally old electronics, there is also some newer material mixed in. 

Enjoy.



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T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Vangelis - Blush Response
• 04:00    Synergy - A Presuming to be Modern I
• 06:50    Richard Pinhas - L' Ethique
• 11:20    Lights Out Asia - All These Worlds are Yours
• 13:15    The Black Dog - Lounge
• 14:15    Frank Comstock - On the Dark Side of the Moon
• 16:00    Michael Garrison - Escape (music from the 21st century)
• 18:20    Synergy - Disruption in World Communications
• 22:00    David Bowie - Abdulmajid
• 25:10    Elf Machine - Evolutions Arrow
• 29:00    Underworld & John Murphy - Capa Meets the Sun
• 30:45    Vector Lovers - Girl + Robot
• 32:50    Maps & Diagrams - Skynet
• 35:30    Bruce Courtois - Inside the Black Hole (music from the 21st century)
• 37:10    Vangelis - Longing
• 38:35    Solar Fields - Blue Moon Station
• 45:00    Cliff Martinez - First Sleep
• 47:30    Rena Jones - The Problem of Time
• 49:50    Schengen - Me n' U
• 50:30    Lopside - To the Point of Obscurity
• 55:50    Vangelis - Fading Away
• 59:00    end 

 
 
 

Sci Fi Adventures Vol. 1 - All These Worlds by Lowlight on Mixcloud

 
 
 

Searching for songs

I'm looking for more song suggestions for an upcoming mix.

I've done several Sunday Morning Music mixes and for the next one I'd like to give it a new wrinkle.  Or actually an old wrinkle, as I'd like to a 1970s version of the Sunday Morning series.

So if you have any ideas for quiet music from the 70s, I'd love to hear them.  The tunes can be jazz, folk, ambient, electronic, whatever fits the feel of the series.

I've already started collecting tracks from folks like Eno, Soft Machine, Nick Drake, John Martyn, King Crimson and more.  I'm sure there are plenty of songs out there that would fit right in, so just leave any suggestions you have in the comments.

Thanks!

Rivers Flow

Cedar Creeek in Cedarburg, WI.

 This mix ended up in a different place than when it started.  I have folder in my prospective mix bin called "just plain old good ambient."  It had a few tracks in it & I sat down with it intending to make a mix with that "theme" in mind.

But then when I got to tracks #5, the Jasper, TX track, I started to hear something else happening.  It was the title of track #5, "Rivers Flow," that gave me the idea of where this mix really wanted to go.  It was taking me downstream.  Floating, drifting, flowing downstream.

I listened to the cut already laid down and sure enough they did fit with a river theme.  After deciding on the new direction I sought out a few more tracks and.. TA DA!  A new mix with a flowing river theme.

The mix contains some low light regulars like Eno and Maps & Diagrams.  The Kiln track I've been hanging on to for a long time, waiting for the right spot & I think this is it.  The first cut is from Lowercase Noises, an artist I discovered on Bandcamp.  Check him out here...Lowercase Noises.

Next up, a Sci Fi mix for Josh at Nocturne Records.


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T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Lowercase Noises - Ambient songs 01
• 05:15    Kiln - Drala
• 07:15    Michael Brook - Mimosa
• 12:40    Field Rotation - Repetition of History
• 17:00    Jasper, TX - Rivers Flow
• 21:45    Xela - The Only Rose
• 24:10    Gagarin - An Tarbet
• 28:50    Maps & Diagrams - Searching Faraway Places
• 30:50    Brian Eno - Unfamiliar Wind
• 35:10    Benoit Pioulard - If I could possibly tell the difference
•   I wouldn't care anyway
• 39:40    The Green Kingdom - Kalimba Sketch
• 43:05    Noto & Sakamoto - By This River (phantom)
• 46:00    Aglaia - On the Banks of a River
• 49:33    Martin Herterich - Silent Fields 2
• 55:15    Brian Eno - Riverside
• 58:37    end

Rivers Flow by Lowlight on Mixcloud

Ambient by Non-ambient Artists

Ambient music will never be a popular genre.  We all know the kind of looks we get from people when they hear some of our ambient tunes.  But over time ambient sensibilities have crept into a lot of modern music.  And artists that normally don't do ambient music have dipped their toes into a droning sea.

So that's where this mix takes us, to tunes that are fairly to very ambient, by non-ambient artists.  Many of the artists on this tracklist aren't exactly big surprises, Sylvian, Bowie, Gabriel & Boards of Canada have done many ambient-like tracks over the years.  But they are not known primarily as ambient artists.  I didn't include the Genesis tune that inspired this mix, mainly because it was the featured track in an earlier mix.  But I did manage to sneak in another Genesis tune from the same album.

Thanks to everyone for all the great suggestions.  I think 6 made it into the final mix.  I am saving some of the recommendations for the next Sunday morning mix.  Thanks!


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T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Andrew Bird - Belles
• 02:20    U2 - 4th of July
• 04:00    David Sylvian - Answered Prayers
• 06:39    S. Cary - Rothko Fields
• 07:44    Peter Gabriel - Slow Marimbas
• 10:30    Mercury Rev - Pickup if you're there
• 12:00    Radiohead - Treefingers
• 15:17    Boards of Canada - Over the Horizon Radar
• 16:05    Boards of Canada - Heard from Telegraph Lines
• 17:00    Nine Inch Nails - A Warm Place
• 19:33    David Bowie - Art Decade
• 22:45    Genesis - Ravine
• 24:15    Andrew Bird - Yawny at the Apocalypse
• 27:00    Trespassers William - Just Like This(disinterested remix)
• 31:45    Peter Gabriel - The Nest That Sailed The Sky
• 36:08    Richard Hawley - Last Orders
• 40:55    Unkle - The Piano Echoes
• 45:30    David Bowie - The Mysteries
• 51:50    Peter Gabriel - Powerhouse at the Foot of the Mountain
• 52:50    Laurie Anderson - Walking and Falling
• 54:20    John Martyn - Small Hours(instrumental version)
• 1:04:10    end

Ambient by non-ambient artists by Lowlight on Mixcloud

Looking for songs

I don't know if I've ever posted a request for song ideas before.  But I am now.

I want to do a mix of ambient songs by non-ambient artists.  My perfect example of this is "Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats" by Genesis.  I've used in mixes in the past and I'd like to find other songs that fit the criteria.  Something like Radiohead - Treefingers would work too.  There are probably strange little cuts buried on albums over the years that only real fans know about(like the Genesis tune).

So if anyone has any ideas please either leave them in the comments or email me.  Hopefully I can cobble together a mix of these tunes in the next few weeks.

Thanks!