Rhythm of the Rails

This mix is a sort of follow up to the train mix of a couple of months ago.  I had a song or two that I hadn't used and then I stumbled upon the album "Simultonality" by Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society. The track, Sideways Fall, has this great repetitive train-like feel to it.  I knew immediately that I needed to make another train mix to fit with that tune.

That Joshua Abrams track is more jazz than ambient so I decided to keep that vibe throughout the mix. A few cuts, Steve Reich, Dan Deacon & Fieldhead, wander off the jazz track a bit but they keep the sense of forward motion.

The three 2017 releases in this mix are a few of my favorite discoveries this year.  Check them out.

Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society - Simultonality
Daniel Brandt - Eternal Something
Quatuor Ebene & Michel Portal - Eternal Stories


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    Chris Watson - Veracruz(El Tren Fantasma 2011)
• 00:35    Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society - Sideways Fall(Simultonality 2017)
• 08:00    Daniel Brandt - FSG(Eternal Something 2017)
• 11:30    The Winter Consort - The Little Train of Caipira(The Winter Consort 1968)
• 13:54    Ludovico Einaudi - Elements(Elements 2015)
• 19:35    Steve Reich - Different Trains-America Before the War(Works 1997)
• 25:30    Chris Watson - El Divisadero(El Tren Fantasma 2011)
• 27:35    Daniel Brandt - Kale Me(Eternal Something 2017)
• 32:35    Quatuor Ebene & Michel Portal - City Birds(Eternal Stories 2017)
• 38:25    Fieldhead - This Train is a Rainbow(They Shook Hands For Hours 2009)
• 41:42    Gerry Mulligan - K4 Pacific(The Age Of Steam 1971)
• 46:45    Alexandre Desplat - Night Train to Nebelsbad(Grand Budapest Hotel 2014)
• 48:25    Dan Deacon - USA Suite(America 2012)
• 58:23    end

Sunday Morning Music vol. 14 - Early Bird

I haven't done a Sunday morning mix in quite a while so volume 14 solves that problem. 

This follows the usual Sunday morning mix template of a few vocal tunes, some ambient tunes and a bit of jazz.  I was happy to finally use Shenandoah in a mix.  More than a year ago I was at a local high school spring concert and fell in love with the concert band version of this tune.  I know it may sound out of place in a Low Light mix but I think it's beauty fits well with the Sunday morning series.

In addition to Shenandoah there is new music from Hite, Grails, The Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society, Clocolan and fairly new music from Radiohead & Olafur Arnalds.  And a nice old classic from Max Roach & Clifford Brown.

Cheers!


[ s t r e a m ]   [ d o w n l o a d ]   [ i t u n e s ]

T R AC K L I S T :

• 00:00    Olafur Arnalds - Particles
• 03:48    Grails - Rebecca
• 07:10    Sarah Neufeld & Colin Stetson - And still they move
• 09:56    Frank Ticheli - Shenandoah
• 16:20    Dan Romer & Benh Zeitlin - Once there was a hushpuppy
• 22:48    Fripp & Eno - Evening Star(The Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society interpretation)
• 28:57    Clocolan - Obsolete Advancement
• 34:25    Orchestre National de Jazz - Révolution
• 43:20    Clifford Brown & Max Roach - Delilah
• 51:02    The Still - The Early Bird
• 58:42    Hite - Old Crow
• 62:15    Radiohead - True Love Waits
• 66:52    end

Mysterioso

I'm not sure where this mix began.  Possibly late at night, glass of whiskey on the table, slow jazz playing in the background.  Arve Henriksen probably came up & got me thinking about dark, atmospheric jazz.  Which sends me to Spotify to investigate more jazz noir, which leads to the discovery of Shadowdream & Dead Combo, which leads to a new mix.

As you've probably guessed by now this is a late night, atmospheric jazz set.  I knew when I started this mix that I'd have to include something from the Twin Peaks soundtrack because that is the first thing I think of when contemplating noir jazz.  The Angelo Badalamenti & David Lynch cut that I picked works nicely because also used it for the title of the mix.

I really like the mood and feel of this entire mix and I hope you do too.  Grab a scotch and give it a spin in the dark.

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    Angelo Badalamenti - Mysterioso 2
• 04:37    Arve Henriksen - The Sacristan
• 07:45    The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - Avian Lung
• 12:45    Triosk - Awake in the Deep
• 14:18    Harold Budd - Emboldened-My Dreams Perish
• 16:30    Shadowdream - The Obsession Begins Tomorrow
• 20:40    Daniel Lanois - Sketches
• 24:40    Dead Combo - After Peace Swim Twice
• 27:55    Povarovo - Methro Nome
• 31:03    Arms And Sleepers - Atelier
• 33:05    Cliff Martinez - Ask him why he killed my brother
• 35:04    Shaqdowdream - The Hour of the Wolf, Alfa and Omega
• 37:25    Bohren & Der Club Of Gore - Karin
• 40:50    Julien Neto - V Rivers
• 45:25    Arve Henriksen - Recording Angel
• 47:25    Pjusk - Dempet
• 50:10    Jon Hassell - Light on Water
• 57:40    Nick Cave - Magneto
• 62:45    end

2015 Jazz

This collection isn't necessarily a "best of 2015" , it's just some of my favorite jazz tunes from the past year.

It begins with one of my favorite albums of the year in any genre - The Thompson fields by The Maria Schneider Orchestra. The title track is remarkable.  The Jaga Jazzist album was a big surprise for me.  I've listen to them on and off for years but had lost interest for some reason.  The track in this mix is strange, futuristic electronic/jazz cut that I have listened to a ton this year.  The other two great discoveries were albums from Kamasi Washington and Kendrick Scott Oracle, definitely worth checking out.

Is there any jazz out there that really engaged you in 2015?  I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

Enjoy

[ 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 Maria Schneider Orchestra - The Thompson Fields
• 09:50 Jaga Jazzist - Oban
• 15:12 Kamasi Washington - The Magnificent 7
• 20:57 Andy Sheppard - Tipping Point
• 26:37 Kendrick Scott Oracle - we are the drum
• 32:00 food - this is not a miracle
• 36:00 Hidden Orchestra - the Revival
• 39:50 Chris Potter Underground Orchestra - Imaginary Cities(part 2)
• 48:12 Jakob Bro - Copenhagen
• 52:24 Giovanni Guidi Trio - The might it rained forever
• 59:10 Vijay Iyer Trio - Geese
• 63:45 Ben Monder - Zythum
• 70:10 Maria Schneider Orchestra - Walking by Flashlight
• 75:10 end

2015 Jazz by Low Light Mixes on Mixcloud

Slow Decay

A slowly developing amalgamation of mixed-genre madness, fusing ambient, experimental & jazz soundscapes into a mixture of quiet deconstruction.

"Slow Decay" is a collaborative mix from Low Light Mixes & Ambient Landscape.  We've each done mixes for each other but we thought it would be cool make a mix in which we both contributed alternating sections. 

Gene(ambient landscape) came up with the title and I started things off with a couple of cuts.  I sent it to Gene, he added a few more, sent it back to me, I added more tracks and so on and so on.  Until we had a fascinating 1 hour & 16 minute journey.

I love how things turned out. The combination of ecm-style jazz and ambient and experimental music worked perfectly.

Don't forget to check out Ambient Landscape here...

https://ambientlandscape.wordpress.com/

https://www.mixcloud.com/gab_labs/


Enjoy



[ 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    Signal Structure (w/treatments) - Positive Centre
• 03:12    Upon Contact Reworked - Jorge Haro (Bruno Sanfilippo)
• 07:10    The Squealing of Rats & the Squeaking of Boards - Marielle V Jakobsons (w/treatments)
• 08:45    Parallel Realities (excerpt) - Jack DeJohnette, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock
• 11:40    Dis Loops 1.1 - William Basinski - performed by The Wordless Music Orchestra
• 21:40    Upon the Break Arch - Benoit Pioulard
• 26:20    Structural Functions Of Prezens (excerpt) - David Torn, Tim Berne, Craig Taborn, Tom Rainey
• 30:25    Sluimer (excerpt) - FANTOOM (René Aquarius, Otto Kokke, Dirk Serries, Martina Verhoeven)
• 34:50    Passage D.E. - Jon Hassell
• 39:10    Solphaer - Alva Noto
• 44:05    Porch Swings - Cinchel
• 45:55    Arder De No Sentir Calor - Mauro Beltran
• 50:27    Night Peculiarities – Johan Troch
• 53:19    Tunis at Dawn - Anouar Brahem
• 59:44    Rosemarie - Trio3: Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille w/ Vijay Iyer
• 66:04    Setting Out - Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
• 67:50    The Wind in High Places: Above Sunset Pass - John Luther Adams
• 70:45    Tipping Point - Andy Sheppard Quartet
• 76:15    end

Slow Decay by Low Light Mixes on Mixcloud

Sunday Morning Music vol. 12 - September's Here Again

As usual with these mixes there is one song in particular that gets the ball rolling and in this case it's the title track from the album The Thompson Fields by the Maria Schneider Orchestra.  The whole album is wonderful collection open, airy jazz tracks and the title song is just stunning.  Definitely one of the most beautiful songs released this year, second only to Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell.

The rest of the mix is your standard Sunday morning mix.  Maybe a bit more jazz in this one.  Other than the Davis Sylvian tune most of the cuts are fairly new.

Enjoy

[ 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 David Sylvian - September
• 01:11 Maria Schneider Orchestra - The Thompson Fields
• 08:00 Bosques De Mi Mente - El amanecer reflejado en tus ojos
• 10:38 AXX - Interstellar Ambient
• 14:10       Patrick Watson - Love Songs for Robots
• 17:11       Kenny Reichert Band - Cascades
• 22:20 Bill Seaman - A Dark Thought
• 26:40 Ben Lukas Boysen - Sleeps Beat Theme
• 30:31 Anouar Brahem - Tunis at Dawn
• 37:03 Cliff Martinez - Placental Repair
• 39:11 Hidden Rivers - September Sun Memory
• 42:52 Olan Mill - Tallole
• 46:33 Maria Schneider Orchestra - Walking by Flashlight
• 51:33 end

Sunday Morning Music vol. 12 - September's Here Again by Low Light Mixes on Mixcloud

Sunday Morning Music Vol. 8 - slow mornings

Grab a cup of coffee and the paper with this mix as your Sunday soundtrack.

This iteration of the Sunday morning series uses mostly new music including a couple of great Bob Dylan covers from Sarah Jarosz and Phosphorescent.  I couldn't resist starting the mix with the wonderful "Morning" from Beck's new release.  I found this track on a mix by Bob Duskis over at Six Degrees Records.  Check out their excellent mix on Mixcloud here...SixDegreesRecords

From there we move on to a beautiful, jazzy track from Philémon Chante that I have been itching to use for a while.  That cut is from his album called Les Sessions Cubaines which you can find on Bandcamp here...Philémon Chante

There a couple soundtracks represented in the mix from two of the best films of 2013, "Her" and "Nebraska."  Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett collaborated for the "Her" soundtrack, with two cuts in this mix.  Mark Orton did the beautifully simple soundtrack for "Nebraska" and it shows up here in the track "The Old Compressor Escape."  I've got an Americana mix waiting in the wings which will have more from that soundtrack.

One of my other favs is the cut from Bill Callahan.  He remixed his 2013 album, "Dream River," as a dub album called "Have Fun With God."  It's fantastic!

Enjoy.


[ 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 Beck - Morning
• 05:12 M. Ostermeier - Sunlight on My Desk
• 07:55 Sam Prekop - A Cloud to the Back
• 11:30 Philémon Chante - J'arrive toujours un peu trop tard
• 15:40 Sarah Jarosz - Simple Twist of Fate
• 20:20 Mark Orton - The Old Compressor Escape
• 22:50 Thievery Corporation - le coeur (feat lou lou ghelichkhani)
• 25:45 Assia Cunego - Canto Ostinato Section 25-30
• 29:00 Segue - slow mornings
• 34:00 Bill Callahan - Small Dub
• 37:45 Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett - Dimensions
• 40:34 Darcy James Argue's Secret Society - An Invitation
• 43:08 Nick Cave - Into My Arms
• 47:17 Phosphorescent - Tomorrow is a Long Time
• 51:30 Paul Buchanan - Mid Air
• 53:45 Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett - We're All Leaving
• 56:17 end

Sunday Morning Music vol. 8 - slow mornings by Low Light Mixes on Mixcloud

Every day is like Sunday - Sunday morning music vol. 3

Sunday mornings in summer...put on some coffee even though the temps are already climbing.

Sunday mornings in summer...are spent on the deck with the paper & the birds.

Sunday mornings in summer...slow motion start to a slow motion day.

This is the third in my unplanned Sunday morning music series.  I hadn't intended to more than one of these mixes but the first was so popular on Mixcloud that I couldn't resist doing more.  I was amazed at how many listens it got and to be honest, I liked that popularity, so I became a bit of a ratings whore & went back to that same well again.


As with the others in this series, this mix is a collection of instrumentals, acoustic tunes, jazz & other oddballs.  I am happy to have squeezed in the tune, The Farther Away I Am, from Daryl Hall.  Yes that's Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates.  It's from a 1980 solo album he did that was produced by Robert Fripp, thereby assuring it would be a commercial bomb.  The album was kind hit & miss but I've always loved that song.


Other favs in the mix are the ones by Sun Kil Moon & Keola Beamer and of course the Colin Meloy cover which I stole as the title for volume 3 in this series. I know the Beamer tune borders on new age.  But I think this cut doesn't go over the edge into new age crap.  It just has this nice breezy feel which perfect for sitting on the deck with the sun on your face.

Enjoy.


[ 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    Daniel Lanois - Steamdog
• 02:00    Sun Kil Moon - Sunshine in Chicago
• 04:30    Keola Beamer - `Imi Au Io `Oe
• 07:27    Colin Meloy - Every day is  Like Sunday(Morrissey cover)
• 10:40    Brian Eno - Silver Morning
• 12:50    Foreign Fields - From the Lake to the Land
• 15:20    Daryl Hall - The Farther Away I Am
• 17:40    Sigur Ros - varðeldur
• 23:25    Bill Nelson - Your Morning Blessing
• 26:05    Wolfgang Voigt - Fresko 1
• 29:05    Nora Jones - Good Morning
• 32:10    Uakti - Japura River(philip glass cover)
• 36:41    Steve Tibbetts - kili-ki drok
• 37:45    Jeff Pearce - With the Morning Light
• 42:20    Jan Garbarek - Ov zarmanali
• 45:00    Chet Baker - Early Morning Mood
• 52:20    Steve Tibbetts - Drawing Down the Moon
• 57:05    Sufjan Stevens - The Lord God Bird(live on NPR)
• 1:00:37    end

Sunday morning music vol. 3 - Every day is like Sunday by Lowlight on Mixcloud

Sunday Morning Music Vol.2

On Sundays I don't do anything useful until noon.  I read the paper, listen to music, read a book, sort & catalog my mp3's, sit out on the deck, etc.

This mix is a soundtrack for Sunday mornings.  Some instrumental tunes, some vocal tracks.  All of it mellow & laid back.  Perfect for a lazy Sunday morning.

When I did my first Sunday morning mix I wasn't really sure if I even liked it.  Then it turned out to be the most listened to mix I've ever had at Mixcloud.  Go figure.

Vol. 2 starts with one of my favorite songs of all time, John Martyn's "Small Hours".  I think that was the tune that got me into John Martyn in the first place.  There are several covers in the mix.  The most unusual being Evan Chapman's percussion cover of Bon Iver's Holocene.  Evan has a bunch of videos up on his youtube channel that are worth watching.  One of my favorites is "Opening" by Philip Glass.  I'll definitely have to work some more Evan's covers into other mixes.

Speaking of Bon Iver, there's another cover in the mix with Peter Gabriel doing "Flume" and then Gabriel gets covered by Twin Shadows doing "Here Comes the Flood."  And we have another Bon Iver tune, this time done live by Justin Vernon & Sean Carey for 4AD sessions.

There are two other tracks also taken from live sessions, Daughter - In The Shallows from a Daytrotter session and Iron & Wine - Tree by the River from a 4AD session.  All three live tunes are cool because they are so organic & intimate.

Enjoy volume 2 in the Sunday morning music series.

 [ 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    John Martyn - Small Hours 
• 08:25    Brian Eno - and then so clear 
• 13:55    Evan Chapman - Holocene (Bon Iver cover) 
• 17:40    Iron & Wine - Tree by the River (4AD session) 
• 21:05    Bill Frisell - Arkansas (part 1) 
• 22:52    Sun Ra - Yesterdays 
• 26:48    Twin Shadows - Here Comes the Flood (Peter Gabriel cover) 
• 30:36    Vieo Abiungo - Drowsy Salted Mornings (Tokyo Bloodworm Remix) 
• 34:33    Daughter - In The Shallows (Daytotter session) 
• 40:10    JBM - Sunset Rocks 
• 42:00    David Holmes - The Ballad of Sarah & Jack 
• 46:18    Peter Gabriel - Flume (Bon Iver cover) 
• 49:05    Nils Frahm - For 
• 52:35    Bon Iver - Hinnom, TX(4AD/Jagjaguwar session) 
• 55:35    Vijay Iyer Trio - The Village of Virgins 
• 1:00:44    end

Sunday morning music vol. 2 by Lowlight on Mixcloud

sunday morning music

I absolutely love NPR music.  The host of their All Songs Considered podcast is Bob Boilen.  I've heard him describe music as "Sunday morning music."  I'm not exactly sure what that is but I think I know when I hear it.

I'd been thinking about doing a Sunday mix for some time and then I heard Wilco's song "One Sunday Morning" & immediately loved it & had to start a mix so I could use that tune in it.

This mix is a collection of both vocal & instrumental tunes, that hopefully will work well with sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee & reading the paper.  Sunday mornings always make me think of jazz so I included a couple of jazz tracks in the mix.

Time to go brew another pot.

[ 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    Chandanam - Silk
• 02:00    Bon Iver - Perth (the Polish Ambassador remix)
• 08:23    Wilco - One Sunday Morning
• 16:53    Daniel Lanois & the MDH Band - The First Time(reprise)
• 18:55    Nick Drake - From the Morning
• 21:17    Keith Jarrett & Jack DeJonette - Pastel Morning
• 23:12    Charlie Haden & Hank Jones - Going Home
• 27:12    Gem Club - Twins
• 31:20    Harmonia 76 - When Shade was Born
• 32:35    Harold Budd & Clive Wright - Sunday After the War
• 36:15    Marsen Jules - Lazy Sunday Funerals #3
• 38:12    Dizzy Gillespie - Come Sunday
• 41:00    Leonard Cohen - Going Home
• 44:10    S. Carey - Move
• 46:52    Seu Jorge - Life on Mars(Bowie Cover)
• 50:12    Charlie Haden & Hank Jones - Come Sunday
• 53:43    end

Sunday morning music by Lowlight on Mixcloud

shadows at midnight

The inspiration for this mix came from the new Jon Hassell album.  If you haven't picked it up yet, do so.  It's called "Last Night the Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes in the Street".  It's already in my best of 2009 folder.

It's very moody, very ambient, just a little jazzy.  Very much like the wonderful release from Arve Henriksen last year.  I wanted this mix to have a moody, melancholy, late-night jazz feel.  Although I have used some of these artists in other mixes this is the first jazz mix for Low Light mIxes.  I wasn't sure what to expect when I began but it turned out fairly well.  

It didn't take long to put together because it's not a sound collage like the last mix.  But I think the tunes flow nicely together.  Sometimes sitting around with a good scotch, you need soemthing with a jazzy flavor & I hope this works for that while remaining true to the Low Light feel.  Next up...an all Eno mix.

Download : 110mb 60:00min

shadows at midnight

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Arve Henriksen - Migration
• 05:21    The Necks - Black
• 10:35    Mort d'un Pourri - Valerie
• 13:50    Slowhill - Nikos Dream
• 17:59    boren & der club of gore - Midnight Walker
• 24:45    Jon Hassell - Courtais
• 29:40    Miles Davis - In a Silent Way
• 33:35    Nick B. Ronin - Modul 42
• 39:30    Duke Ellington - Melancholia
• 42:25    Arve Henriksen - Recording Angel
• 48:20    Jon Hassell - Last Night the Moon Came
• 58:17    Mort d'un Pourri - tout est tranquille
• 1:00:00    end