The annual Perseid meteor shower peaks tonight and tomorrow night, August 12th & 13th. I like to use the Perseids as an excuse to create a spacey, ambient mix for stargazing. So here it is. The first track I grabbed for this mix was Jeff Pearce - For The Perseids, from the Gemstones IV compilation. How could I not use that cut in a mix like this. So I decided to look for other tracks with names that would fit and it was fairly easy to find a bunch that worked. Again, how could I resist tunes...
Aug 12, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 356
I've been listening to the ECM record label since the 1970s. You can always count on ECM to put out interesting and sometimes great records. My favorite ECM release is Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians." It's not only my favorite ECM album, it's one of my top albums of all-time. A real desert island record for me. A few of my other favorite regular ECM artists are Steve Tibbetts, Eberhard Weber & Pat Metheny. We had a discussion about our favorite ECM recordings over on Mixcloud. You can...
Aug 06, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 355
I have said many times that I love hosting guest mixes. Whether it's from regular contributors Paul & Erwin or from artists in the ambient space, the mixes expose to new music and artists, and I delight in hearing how someone else approaches the creation of a coherent mix. This new guest mix comes from an ambient artist that I have admired for years - Benoît Pioulard(Tom Meluch). I love his brand of hazy, dreamy ambient music. He has an excellent new album out, which you can find here - http...
Jul 30, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 354
The king of berlin-school music returns with another stellar mix. Our friend, Erwin Boers, was nice enough to put together a follow up to his spring EM mix with this excellent summer update. Here what he says about this latest set: "For this summer update in the synth-cosmic-Berlin School-electronic-music scene, I faced the same problem as a few months ago with the spring update: a heterogeneous bunch of tracks in a wide variety of moods, rhythms and styles. This time, to produce a coherent mix,...
Jul 23, 2025•1 hr 59 min•Ep. 353
It's hot and muggy & I just want to sit on the deck with a Paloma or Michelada and listen to some cool music. That's what this mix provides - a soundtrack to hanging out and chilling out during these hot summer days. Cheers! T R A C K L I S T : 00:00 Yo La Tengo - Leaving Home (Old Joy 2025) 05:06 Mick Turner - Moth Part 3 (Moth 2002) 07:42 Hedvig Mollestad Trio - Lamament (Bees In The Bonnet 2025) 12:18 Jonny Nash - The Way Things Looked (Once Was Ours Forever 2025) 15:22 Los Days - The Lon...
Jul 16, 2025•59 min•Ep. 352
Without question one of the best ambient record labels in the world is Whitelabrecs . I've known label owner, Harry Towell, for a long time, going back to his netlabel days with Audio Gourmet . It's been grand to follow along as Harry has grown musically and the label has become a juggernaut. That's why I am beyond excited to present a guest mix from Harry. The bonus is it's an all vinyl mix. Here's a little blurb from Harry about his mix: "My name’s Harry and I make music as Glåsbird. I’m from ...
Jul 09, 2025•55 min•Ep. 351
I am a big fan of ambient dub music. Especially the more atmospheric stuff from DeepChord, Rod Modell, Variant, cv313, Shorelights and more. I've made ambient dub mixes in the past and they are some of my favorites. For this dubby mix I decided to focus on artists from the echospace [detroit] record label. Is echospace a label or an artist? I think it's both. And then there is Deepchord presents Echospace and Echospace [sounds] Presents, which confuses things even more. All I know is, I like the...
Jul 03, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 350
For some strange reason I have not been listening to as much pure ambient music as I normally do. I've been playing a lot of jazz lately. And I am still devouring a ton of electronic/berlin school music. So it's perfect timing that friend of the show, Erwin Broers, has come up with a pair of awesome mixes in the genre. I'll let Erwin tell you all about this new mix: "Here's a follow-up on my Fall 2024 mix "Back To The Roots Of Berlin School". As you recall it featured a collection of electronic ...
Jun 25, 2025•2 hr•Ep. 349
I've fallen behind a bit on creating and uploading mixes. But have no fear, it's Daniel Hawkins to the rescue! He's come up with a guest mix at just the right time. You'll remember Daniel form his previous mix, "Metallic Memories" - https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/metallic-memories/ For this set he takes us into the modern classical realm. Here's what Daniel has to say about this new mix: "I was thinking about some of the nice Neo-classical/crossover stuff I like and then got to thinking about...
Jun 03, 2025•57 min•Ep. 348
Oh man, this is a good one. Well, all the mixes here are good but for some reason this one resonates with me right now. Two years ago I posted a mix called "Walk Softly Upon This Earth" that featured the handpan as the main instrument - https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/walk-softly-upon-this-earth/ I love that mix and have always wanted to do a follow up. Then in April a new EP dropped that I immediately fell in love with and it prompter me to create this mix. The EP is called "Kalima" from Lab'...
May 15, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 347
This is straightforward ambient mix. Nothing fancy, just good music. The one unifying trait of this mix, other than all the tracks being awesome, is that everything is from this year. I started the set with a track from Alio Die. Every so often I need a reminder why I love an artist I've been listening to forever. And stumbling upon this new album definitely brought back why Alio Die is one of my all-time favs. LINKS TO ALL THER MUSIC USED IN THIS MIX: https://aliodie.bandcamp.com/album/the-inne...
May 06, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 346
More Berlin School goodness from Erwin Broers. There's not much I can say about this mix, other than being totally psyched for it, so I'll let Erwin give you the lowdown. "This mix is an overview of some of the interesting Berlin School Electronic releases of the current calendar year. There's a wide variety of styles, ranging from minimal and retro to loungy/chilled and bombastic/cinematic. Actually, this selection covers the whole spectrum of electronic music between ambient and synth pop. So ...
Apr 24, 2025•1 hr 48 min•Ep. 345
Seascape mixes are some of my favorite ambient mixes. The genre seems to perfectly suited to floating and drifting on an endless sea. Two of my favorite ambient tracks of all time are "sea" ambient - https://marsenjules.bandcamp.com/track/submarine-poetry https://infraction.bandcamp.com/track/the-most-beautiful-blue I absolutely love those two tracks! I'm always up for a new seascape mix and that's what we have here - a new collection of tracks mostly from 2023 & 2024, with one from 2020 and...
Apr 16, 2025•55 min•Ep. 344
Another electronic gem from Erwin Broers. He has become my go to guy for berlin-school music and I'm totally here for it. I've said many times that I like hosting guest mixes from artists and listeners because I always discover new music. And this set is a perfect example - other than Ron Boots, every artist in this mix is new to me. Here's what Erwin has to say about this mix: "The theme this time is "Electronic Gems From The Lowlands", the lowlands being Belgium and the Netherlands. Both count...
Apr 10, 2025•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 342
It's World Piano Day! I've made several mixes over the years for Piano Day and each time I wonder if I'll find enough tracks for an interesting mix. And every year it comes together and surprises me with how much I like the finished set. This mix starts with a tune everyone should be familiar with - Eno's Music For Airports 1/2. This recording is by Bruce Brubaker from his fine EP - Eno Piano 2. To make things interesting I played two tracks from it simultaneously and I think it worked pretty we...
Mar 29, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 343
Talk Talk is an interesting band. Their musical style evolved significantly over time, moving from synth-pop to a more experimental art rock and post-rock sound, particularly with the albums 'Spirit of Eden' and 'Laughing Stock'. I like every phase of their career but I especially love the album 'Spirit of Eden'. Those last two albums have grown in stature and influence over the decades, inspiring countless musicians with their innovative use of space, silence, and unconventional song structures...
Mar 19, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 341
Another stellar guest mix comes our way with this excellent set from longtime listener, Daniel Hawkins. He reached with an idea for a mix and once I heard the theme I was all in. Daniel curated a playlist of tracks & I put them together to create this new mix. Here's what Daniel has to say about Metallic Memories: "So I've loved world music since before that term existed, and always had an inordinate fondness for the metallophones - gamelan, vibraphone, glockenspiel, Tibetan bowls - should w...
Mar 12, 2025•53 min•Ep. 340
This is one of those mixes without a theme. It's just a way to highlight some new ambient tracks from the first two months of the year, although I cheated and used two from the end of 2024. I ended up using three tracks from the wonderful new label - Driftworks - https://driftworks.bandcamp.com/ I hadn't set out to highlight their new releases, but I'm glad I did because they are worth checking out. They are a sub-label from Whitelabrecs, a label whose artists I have featured in a lot of mixes o...
Mar 06, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 339
I like it when a mix discovers itself. I started grabbing a few tracks for a new ambient mix and two of the tunes I pulled had the word "lonely" in the title. That got me thinking about making the entire mix a "lonely" mix. And this is the result. It was fairly simple - I just searched for tracks with the word "lonely." and in no time at all I had enough for a mix. That's all there really is to say about it. Cheers! T R A C K L I S T : 00:00 Anthéne - this lonely path (the slow wave 2021) 03:35 ...
Feb 27, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 338
I have continued my recent bingeing of berlin-school electronic music. Devouring old and new music. So I was very excited when guest mixer Erwin Broers reached with a new berlin-school mix. Woo hoo! It's all new music, some of Erwin's favorites from 2024. I was familiar with about half of the artists some it was great to discover new music. I'll let Erwin tell you about the mix: "I was inspired by LLM end of the year mixes on ambient and jazz. I came up with the idea of doing something similar f...
Feb 19, 2025•1 hr 56 min•Ep. 337
This is the perfect time for a winter mix because we finally got a substantial snowfall today. I was worried that my snowblower wouldn't get a workout this year. I had already planned on a winter mix and then bang - 8" of snow. This past fall I made a mix for autumn that alternated between instrumental & vocal tunes and I really like the way it turned out. So this mix follows the same guidelines but with a winter theme. All the tracks have winter or snow or cold in the title and, like the au...
Feb 13, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 336
Back in the 70s I was a huge prog rock fan and an offshoot of that fandom was discovering jazz fusion. I think Jean-Luc Ponty was the first proper fusion record I ever owned. I believe I was a fusion fan before getting into jazz in general. I've been planning on creating a fusion mix for months but just haven't gotten around to it. Then last month I was sipping coffee on a cold morning, listening to a fusion playlist, when a couple of laid back tunes came up. I immediately started a new playlist...
Feb 05, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 335
We have a special treat for this mix - an upbeat collection with an ambient house music vibe. I have a folder on my hard drive that is labeled "gentle house music." It contains tracks that have a definite 4-on-the-floor style but aren't hardcore, fill-the-dance-floor tunes. Something like Kiasmos . I have avoided making a mix of these tune because, truthfully, I suck at beat matching. I don't use professional software that would do it for me and I don't have quite the musical ear to pull it off ...
Jan 29, 2025•55 min•Ep. 334
I did not do a Sunday Morning Music mix at all last year 😮 That's probably the first year since the series started in 2011 that I didn't post a Sunday mix. The Sunday Morning series is one of the reasons that Low Light Mixes blew up on Mixcloud. So you'd think I would be posting more of these mixes to feed the algorithm. But, no, there is no plan for curating these mixes, they just happen when they happen. With all that preamble, I'm excited to finally get a Sunday mix up & running. This fo...
Jan 26, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 333
I've said many times that I love guest mixes. And I especially love getting mixes from artists that I've been listening to for years. Such is the case with this new set from Robert Farrugia. I have several of Robert's albums and I always look forward to checking out his new material. Well, now he's got some new material definitely worth checking out. His new album is called "Natura Maltija - Official Soundtrack" and it just came out last week. You can find it here - https://robertfarrugia.bandca...
Jan 22, 2025•54 min•Ep. 332
This is one of those mixes where there's not much to say about it because there is no theme. It's just a nice collection of wonderful ambient tunes. Most of the tracks are fairly slow and drifty. A few of these I just discovered at the end of 2024 by browsing end-of-the-year lists. One of those is Gems III by Celer which as an absolutely beautiful record. Another one that was new to me is the closing track - "Il Mare Cancella, Di Notte(II)," a long, slow cut that I wish could go on forever. Here...
Jan 15, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 331
What a great way to start off the new year! Jumping right in with this excellent mix from friend of the show, Andy McNeill. Andy records as Maple Mountain Sunburst and he released a wonderful album last year - https://maplemountainsunburst.bandcamp.com/album/ecstatic He also did a guest mix for us last year which you can find here - Mixcloud & Low Light Mixes Blog . My favorite discovery in this mix is the third track, "My Dog's Eyes" by Zammuto. I am blown away each time I hear it. One of m...
Jan 03, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 330
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 ...
Dec 27, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 329
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 thi...
Dec 22, 2024•59 min•Ep. 328
Another year, another ton of releases to sift through. I could keep adding and subtracting albums for weeks and still not be entirely satisfied with the final list. But here it is - my Favorite Ambient Albums of 2024. As I was creating this part 1 mix, I kept questioning my choices. And then, when the mix was done and I listened to it, I was like "Wow, this turned out really well." I really like how the mix evolves with the first half being a bit more electronic and noisy and the second half lea...
Dec 19, 2024•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 327
