I love me some ambient dub. I also love ambient tunes that remind me of the sea. Over the years I've made 7 dub style mixes & 6 sea themed mixes. This new mix combines those two obsessions. There's now much else to say about all the music here. other than I think all the tunes flow nicely & work well within this theme. Enjoy T R A C K L I S T : 00:00 Brother Blue - Summoning UFOs 05:55 Shaded Explorer - Sea Mist 10:33 Purl - Havets Sang 16:25 Kris Dubinsky & Warmth - Sammanväxta Tone...
May 29, 2016•1 hr 14 min
As with so many mixes this one started because of a great tune. In this mix that great tune is Existence in the Unfurling by Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith from her spectacular new album Ears. The track is a wonderful mixture of analog electronics, fluttering woodwinds and ethereal vocals. It's my favorite song of the year so far and I just had to share it in a mix. The other tracks are a combination of electronic tunes & some post-rock. All the music is new with the exception of the 3rd track. Enjoy...
Apr 30, 2016•55 min
I had not planned on doing another piano mix so soon after the last one in November 2015. Then Piano Day happened. On March 28th of this year a group founded by Nils Frahm celebrated the piano and everything around it. This was the second year for the event. In addition to music released for Piano Day and live events, the Piano Day website, pianoday.org , has this awesome random note generator. I highly recommend playing around with it. You can record your noodlings and play it back on the site....
Apr 24, 2016•1 hr 2 min
I believe I have professed my love for ambient guitar in previous posts here. So a mix like this is no surprise. Just as many of the artists collected in this mix are no surprise. Dirk Serries, Scott Solter, David Tagg, Windy & Carl, Kyle Bobby Dunn, Fripp & Eno - these are all artists that have appeared in many of my mixes over the years. The music here is fairly straightforward - ambient tunes where the guitar is the most prominent instrument. Some of the cuts are beautiful, others a b...
Mar 06, 2016•1 hr 55 min
As with so many of these mixes this one grew out of one particular recording. In this case it was The Revenant soundtrack by Ryuichi Sakamoto with Alva Noto. It's an absolutely gorgeous film score and I knew I needed to build a mix around it. This mix, as the title suggests, is fairly atmospheric in feel and sound. The tracks used are a combo of newer recordings & old ones too, with The Revenant making three appearances. That soundtrack is definitely going to be on my best of list at the end...
Feb 21, 2016•55 min
I've done many "sea" mixes over the years and I keep coming back to them because ambient music perfectly captures the impression of an undulating a sea or ocean. Enjoy T R A C K L I S T : 00:00 Rafael Anton Irisarri - Displacement 03:52 Loscil - Angel of List 10:00 Kane Ikin - Slow Waves 13:30 Budd & Eno - An Echo of Night 15:20 Diatonis - Moving in Silence 19:54 Wave Temples - Under the Crystal Waters 20:25 Wave Temples - Thru the narrow strait... 21:45 Benoit Pioulard - Stanza II, IX 26:36...
Jan 10, 2016•1 hr 3 min
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 yea...
Dec 27, 2015•1 hr 15 min
These year end lists are always difficult. But at least the top 3 spots this year were easy selections - Alva Noto - Xerrox, Vol. 3 Max Richter - Sleep Chris Walla - Tape Loops It doesn't really matter which one grabbed the top spot, I listened to these three over and over in 2015. Noto is known for his electronic minimalism but Vol. 3 is beautiful and lush. Max Richter's Sleep is a recording of epic proportion - 8 hours long, it amazes me each time I listen. Tape Loops by Chris Walla(drummer fo...
Dec 19, 2015•1 hr 7 min
As with all mixes this one had a specific starting point or inspiration - the incredible new album from Max Richter - Sleep. It's 8 hours long! 8 hours! Here's a link to purchase the full version... http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/us/cat/4795267 I'm a sucker for high concept projects so I was interested from the start. Add that to the fact that I am a fan of Richter's music and I knew I'd probably love it. And yup, I do. It's the perfect combination of Richter's classical style with an ambient...
Dec 06, 2015•58 min
After the attacks in Paris on November 13th, NPR music did a show about music for healing. You can find it here... http://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2015/11/17/456343231/music-for-healing Two cuts on their playlist are from two of my favorite albums this year, Goldmund - Sometimes and Nils Frahm - Solo. As I listened to those two tracks over & over I started to think about the piano as a healing instrument. The right song & circumstances can make just about any instrument a healing in...
Nov 21, 2015•1 hr 2 min
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, sen...
Nov 14, 2015•1 hr 16 min
My good friend, Gene over at Ambient Landscape , asked me to do a guest mix for him and this mix is the result. Ambient Landscape is a great source of ambient info and mixes. What got me started on this mix was an interesting video I found on YouTube by Wouter van Veldhoven called "two sad tape recorders." It's basically two portable reel to reel tape machines each playing their loops at the same time. Here's the video... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvvFdhNiMwM The sound of those two sad tap...
Oct 15, 2015•58 min
I use ambient mixes for sleeping almost every night. A long time ago a friend once mentioned that the best ambient tunes for sleeping are the ones that mimic the rhythm of breathing. Over the years I've found that to be very true. So this mix, like the other 'breathing' mixes before it, is a collection of tunes that ebb and flow, quietly mirroring your sleepy breathing patterns. Enjoy T R A C K L I S T : 00:00 The Dead Texan - The 6 Million Dollar Sandwich 02:55 Abstract Aprils - Breathing Sculp...
Oct 05, 2015•1 hr 4 min
I was planning on making a rain mix sometime this fall & I was planning on making a dub mix as well. Then I realized that those two theme as perfect for each other. So here is the appropriately titled mix "dubby & rainy." I love how a lot of ambient dub tunes already sound sort of "rainy." They make liberal use of white noise which is great for conjuring a rainy atmosphere. So many of these tracks already sound & feel "rainy" that I didn't have to add much rain fx. Enjoy T R A C K L ...
Sep 14, 2015•1 hr 26 min
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....
Sep 06, 2015•52 min
The pic above is of the hammock in my backyard. My kids got it for me for Father's Day and I love it. I can't figure out why I didn't have one before. On many nights this summer I grab my kindle and a beer and lay contentedly under our big birch tree. Of course as a true music obsessive I have speakers out on the deck that I control remotely. So whenever I head out to the hammock to read or just space out, I cue up some ambient, classical or jazz and just drift away. That's where I got the idea ...
Aug 21, 2015•1 hr 2 min
The title of this one pretty much says it all. So download the mix, grab some bourbon, a blanket and head outside to witness the 2015 version of the Perseid meteor shower. Enjoy T R A C K L I S T : 00:00 Moesko - Stargazer 03:55 Marconi Union - Still 07:35 36 - Sky Fire 11:11 Alio Die - nuvole di palissandro 12:25 Alva Noto - Solphaer 17:55 Julio Di Benedetto - Original Light 26:26 Robert Davies - Nightshade 35:20 Klowknfe - Gamma 42:30 Horizon Fire - Earthlight 44:55 Moesko - Cloudgazer 47:55 D...
Aug 13, 2015•57 min
At the end of May I posted an excellent mix from Mike G of the Ambient Music Guide . We agreed to do guest mixes for each other and that the starting point would be a title that each of us would give the other. We sent each other a few title ideas, we each chose one and got to work. Mike chose "Lapse into Reverie" and the result was his beautiful mix that you can find here... http://lowlightmixes.blogspot.com/2015/05/lapse-into-reverie-complied-mixed-by.html And here... https://www.mixcloud.com/...
Jul 08, 2015•56 min
Here's the latest Sunday Morning Music installment. The mix starts with cuts from two of my fav albums of 2015 by Aero Flynn & Sufjan Stevens. Aero Flynn is fronted by Josh Scott, a product of the same Eau Claire, Wisconsin music scene that gave us Justin Vernon(Bon Iver). Scott was in a band called Amateur Love that shared a couple of members with a band that Vernon was in, DeYarmond Edison. According to Chris Porterfield, who was in DeYarmond & would later form Field Report, Josh Scott...
Jun 28, 2015•56 min
I have a confession to make. Back in the 80s & early 90s I used to listen to a lot of New Age music. Stuff like Enya, Andreas Vollenweider, anything on Windham Hill, etc. Even though much of the general public thinks of ambient music as new age music, real ambient fans know the difference. It can be difficult to articulate that difference. I use a "I know it when I hear it" approach. I guess I'm still wary of the new age label so that's why I called the mix "Music for Meditation." Even thoug...
Jun 13, 2015•1 hr 5 min
This is a guest mix from Mike G of the fabulous Ambient Music Guide - http://www.ambientmusicguide.com/ https://www.mixcloud.com/mikeg68/ Mike & I agreed to do guest mixes for each other with each mix starting with just a title. We gave each other a title to build a mix on. In this case I gave Mike "Lapse into Reverie" and he took it from there. In this mix Mike includes some fav artists that I haven't listened to in a long time. Such as David Parsons, Michael Stearns & Mychael Danna, It...
May 31, 2015•1 hr 13 min
Benoît Pioulard has two new albums out & they are both wonderful. It was after hearing "Sonnet" that I decided to make a mix that featured the same sort of dusty, slightly noisy ambient tunes. You can find his album "Sonnet" on Amazon here... SONNET And his latest, "Stanza" here... https://pioulard.bandcamp.com/album/stanza Stanza is a companion piece to Sonnet. I didn't even know about it until I went looking for links for this post. I'm so glad that I found it but I wish I'd found it soone...
May 03, 2015•1 hr 1 min
Every mix has it's own unique starting point. And this mix definitely started in a unique place - my dishwasher. One day my dishwasher was making some weird noises, it kind of sounded like an alien playing a didgeridoo was trapped inside. So I recorded a little bit of the sound and then processed it using Paul's Extreme Sound Stretch. And whaddya know - it actually sounds pretty good. Dishwasher Drone - stretched version Dishwasher original sound I've used Paul's Extreme Sound Stretch in mixes b...
Apr 15, 2015•21 min
This mix was inspired by a playlist that i stumbled across on Spotify. It's called ENtro to Deep Space Rock. You can find it here... https://open.spotify.com/user/glennpmcdonald/playlist/7J19mbbwlbsxeWxSeBqTb1 I really enjoyed a lot of the instrumental cuts in the playlist. I've been a prog rock fan since the 70s but I rarely listen to anything that would be considered current prog rock. I've sampled a lot of prog recorded in the last 15 years but it's never really done much for me. Part of that...
Apr 10, 2015•1 hr 12 min
I have been planning on doing a stargazing mix for a long time and then a new EP by 36 came out and I knew I had to get cracking on a new mix. The new EP is called Sine Dust and it's excellent. All the tracks have a similar feel to them and that is by design. 36 artist, Dennis Huddleston, says "I wanted to make an EP that had a strictly defined sound and theme, which continued from beginning to end, using a limited array of instruments to tell the story." And it's a good story. The synths have a...
Apr 03, 2015•1 hr 6 min
Earlier this year I quickly threw together some tunes for a walk in Madison, WI. I liked the way it sounded so much that I made a few changes and made a proper mix out of it. Most of the music is fairly new, half are from last year, with the oldest cut being the Mojave 3 track from 2000. As usual, most of the tracks are laid back. Even a loud cut like JM by Strand of Oaks is slow. This is a mix that you can also find on my second Mixcloud profile, Elements of Sound , which I mentioned in a previ...
Mar 22, 2015•1 hr 2 min
This mix was started because of one new tune - "Witch Season" from the new Infraction release by Offthesky and Pleq. I love that track and what better way to tell people about it than a new mix. With that song as a starting point things fell into place very nicely. All the music in the mix is fairly recent. Most is from 2014 or 2015 with the exception of the cut from The New Honey Shade which is from 2011. The mix as a whole is pretty straight forward ambient. Straight forward but awesome ambien...
Mar 01, 2015•1 hr 7 min
Here's the latest in the Sunday Morning Music series. And as usual it follows a similar path to its predecessors - little bit of quiet vocals, little bit of jazz, little bit of classical, little bit of everything. The first track in the mix is from DeYarmond Edison, which is Justin Vernon's first band from 2005. Vernon is the man behind Bon Iver. He's a fellow Wisconsonite that hit the big time with his For Emma album back in 2007. I discovered the DeYarmond Edison album while doing some Bon Ive...
Feb 15, 2015•58 min
A couple of posts ago I mentioned a favorite new ambient blog - Ambient Landscape . I visit quite often, usually finding new music, interesting links and good mixes. I reached out to Gene, who runs the blog and asked if he would do a guest mix for Low Light and I'm happy to say that he agreed. The result is this Robert Fripp themed mix - "fripp_2015." I love listening to well done mixes where I'm not entirely familiar with all the tunes. That way everything just blends seamlessly, one track into...
Feb 01, 2015•1 hr 30 min
http://bloknayrb.deviantart.com/ a beginning an expedition is launched springs into being the journey begins This is a follow up to an earlier mix Leaving the Station, which had a train theme. I had several people ask if I was planning on a follow up and, well, here it is. My favorite track in this mix is El Divisadero by Chris Watson from his wonderful field recording album, El Tren Fantasma. I've used this track before but it's so awesome I just had to use it here. Another track in this mix th...
Jan 22, 2015•1 hr 8 min
