ambient music mixes
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 this one as much I do.
You can find the full list of favorite ambient albums of 2024, and links to each album, in the post with Part 1 - https://lowlightmixes.blogspot.com/2024/12/2024-favorite-ambient-albums-part-1.html
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
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 leaning more orchestral.
Here's the list of my favorite ambient albums of 2024, in alphabetical order:
2fel - stranger flow
Adam Wiltzie - Eleven Fugues For Sodium Pentothal [Kranky]
Akmuo - Dreamwalker [Space of Variants]
Altus - Ultraviolet
Alva Noto - Xerrox, Vol.5 [Noton 2024]
Benoit Pioulard & Offthesky - Sunder [laaps 2024]
Circa Alto - Faint Structures (Whitelabrecs 2024]
Civilistjävel! - Brödföda [Felt 2024]
Dirk Serries - Streams Of Consciousness Compiled [Projekt]
Eli Keszler - LIVE 2 [LuckyMe]
Extraworld - Perihelion [Exosphere]
Hainbach - The One Who Runs Away Is the Ghost Soundtrack [Seil]
Heavenchord - Atmospheres & Soundscapes [Cold Tear]
Humble Bee & Offthesky - Here In, Absence [IIKKI]
Innesti - Contemplate
Jogging House - Live at home
Jonas Munk - Mirror Phase [Azure Vista]
Maps and Diagrams - if all will be lost [Quiet Details]
Maps and Diagrams - Islands [Handstitched]
Martin Stürtzer - Lander Modules [Echo Elberfeld]
mastroKristo - Passage [Lost Tribe Sound]
Max Richter - In A Landscape [Decca]
Michael A. Muller - Mirror Music [Deutsche Grammophon]
OdNu + Ümlaut - Abandoned Spaces [Audiobulb]
Pan American & Kramer - Reverberations of Non-Stop Traffic on Redding Road
Polaroid Notes - Quiet Rooms [Whitelabrecs]
Sumner James, Robert Chamberlain, Volcano Lazerbeam, Saroon - Dive 1- Refraction [Bathysphere Records]
Tewksbury - Floes Volumes I-IV (Tridek]
The Green Kingdom - Horizons [The Slow Music Movement]
Ulla & Ultrafog - It Means A Lot [Motion Ward]
v e n n - XIII
William Ryan Fritch - Adhesion [Lost Tribe Sound]
And here are links to each album:
Eleven Fugues For Sodium Pentothal | Adam Wiltzie
Dreamwalker | Akmuo | Space Of Variants
Alva Noto - Xerrox Vol. 5 | Noton
Sunder | Benoît Pioulard & Offthesky | laaps
Faint Structures | Circa Alto | Whitelabrecs
Streams Of Consciousness Compiled | Dirk Serries | Projekt Records
Perihelion | Extraworld | Exosphere
The One Who Runs Away Is the Ghost Soundtrack | Hainbach
Atmospheres & Soundscapes | Heavenchord | Cold Tear Records
Here In, Absence | The Humble Bee & Offthesky | IIKKI
Mirror Phase | Jonas Munk | Azure Vista
if all will be lost | Maps and Diagrams | quiet details
Islands | Maps & Diagrams | Handstitched
Lander Modules | Martin Stürtzer
Passage | mastroKristo | Lost Tribe Sound
In A Landscape | Max Richter | Decca
Mirror Music | Michael A. Muller | Deutsche Grammophon
Abandoned Spaces | OdNu + Ümlaut | Audiobulb
Reverberations of Non-Stop Traffic on Redding Road | Pan American & Kramer
Quiet Rooms | Polaroid Notes | Whitelabrecs
Floes: Volumes I-IV | Tewksbury
Horizons | The Green Kingdom | The Slow Music Movement Label
It Means A Lot | Ulla & Ultrafog | Motion Ward
Adhesion | William Ryan Fritch | Lost Tribe Sound
I hope you enjoy part 1. Part two is coming soon. Followed by a mix of jazz favorites from 2024.
What are some of your favorite ambient albums from the past year?
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
I have hosted more guest mixes than ever this year, which I love because it exposes me to new artists and new mix concepts. Many of these mixes have come through the fine folks at Nettwerk Music Group. It's appropriate then that this final guest mix of the year comes from one of their artists - Hollie Kenniff. I absolutely love the way this mix ebbs and flows, the tracks blend together perfectly.
Hollie just released her fourth album, For Forever, which is a lush, melodic ambient record that uses electronic and acoustic instrumentation to create an emotional, ethereal listening experience.
Here's what Hollie says about her music: “My hope is that my music encourages others to explore their inner landscapes and to inspire reflection. I want my music to be a musical backdrop for meaningful and transformative moments in other people's lives.” I'm a music mix dork who loves a good segue between songs and this beautiful mix from Hollie has a ton of them, an absolute joy to soak in. Cheers! T R A C K L I S T :At the beginning of September when I posted my "Sequencer City" mix, I said I'd been on a berlin school bender. Well, now three months later I'm still on that sequencer synth kick. At the end of October the analog synth itch was scratched by a stellar guest mix from Erwin Broers called "Capturing The Voice Of A Galaxy." It featured tracks from the Klaus Schulz label, "Innovative Communications.
Now we have have a follow up mix from Erwin called "Back to the Roots of Berlin School." Oh man, this is some good stuff! Erwin tells me that "there's a whole sub-category of "Berlin School" out there called "Retro Berlin School". In the mid 1990's "Berlin School" was revived by nostalgic electronic artists who benefited from technological innovations to make the iconic analog synths such as the Mellotron, the ARP 2600 and the big Moog Modular more playable. The result was a huge resurgence of mid 1970's style Berlin School EM which was dubbed "retro" to mark the difference with the classics such as Tangerine Dream's Stratosfear, Klaus Schulze's Timewind and Ashra's New Age Of Earth."
I hope my current obsession with this genre continues because I am loving every minute of it. Thanks for another great mix, Erwin.
Cheers!
T R A C K L S I S T :
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Just hanging out all day with family, eating and drinking. Perfect.
The songs in this mix were all chosen for the titles, which all fit the Thanksgiving theme. Besides the obvious titles with the word "thanks" my favorite track titles are "my dad's famous potatoes", "Give me cornbread when I'm hungry", and "An Awkward Conversation at a Family Gathering."
Play this in the background as you eat way too much food and hopefully not way too much beer.
Cheers & Happy Thanksgiving!
T R A C K L I S T :
I'm not exactly sure how this mix started. I think I was listening to the track, Outlook Remains Untouched, by |||||||||||||||||||| , yes that's the actual name the artist goes by. |||||||||||||||||||| on bandcamp I like the jazzy vibe the tune has. It reminds me of similar tracks from the heyday of glitch and idm that also have a jazz feel to them. Sort of Jazz-ish. So I grabbed some older tracks from 2001, 2002, 2006, and mixed them with new tunes to come up with this electronic mix that isn't really jazz...more like Jazz-ish.
Links to all the music used in this mix:
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
Thanks goodness election season is almost over. Election night can be a stressful time so here's a mix of new ambient tunes to help us all get through the night.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
Here's what Erwin says about this fantastic mix:
"I was in my teens when I got in touch with Electronic Music by means of well-known artists such as Jean-Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk and Vangelis. Searching for more similar music in the local library, I came across an LP with on its sleeve just a mysterious picture of a huge radio telescope. The album was Robert Schroeder's "Galaxie Cygnus-A" ! Liner notes on the back of the sleeve explained that the music was commissioned by the Austrian Broadcasting Service (ÖRF) and performed live at the 1982 ARS Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria. The idea behind the project consisted of capturing sound waves coming from the Cygnus-A galaxy with the help of the Effelsberg 100 meter radio telescope, the largest fully steerable radio telescope in the world at that time. Schroeder used those sound waves as basis and inspiration, and created a magical soundtrack for stargazing and floating in outer space. Needless to say, I was blown away by this album, and from then on I fanatically sought out other releases on the Innovative Communication label, which - by the way - was founded in 1978 by the late Klaus Schulze, one of the godfathers of Electronic Music.
To honour my memory of that exciting period, I chose to start this label retrospective with the first two tracks of this special album - including some of the white noise straight from space ! The mix is rather heterogeneous and gives a good impression of the kind of EM that was published on IC in its heydays, ie. the 80s. From the early 90s the label quickly became more commercial edging towards mellow new age and average electro-acoustic instrumental fusion (aka NAM)."
Thanks, Erwin, for this trip back in time.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
This mix is a continuation of a trend I noticed several years ago - the use of sax or other wind instruments in ambient music. I think I've done 3 other mixes that feature wind instruments.
This one came together fairly quickly as there is a lot to choose from. Most of the tracks are 2023 or 2024 with 4 of the 14 a bit older. I really like the flow of this set, one song bleeds right into the next with the beginnings and endings slightly obscured.
This also seems to work well as and autumn themed mix. I picture a cold, dreary autumn day like the one in the cover art. Speaking of the cover art, does anyone get the connection between the title and the cover?
Links to al the music used in this mix:
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
I fell in love with the music of Andy McNeill, who records as Maple Mountain Sunburst, back in 2010 with the release of the album The Maple Mountain Sunburst Triolian Orchestra. Combining a wide variety of instrumentation, electronics, loops and samples to create a unique album and listening experience. The album was one of my favorites of 2010.
When I found out that, after a long hiatus, there was new album this year, I was totally hyped. The new recording, Ecstatic, is everything I'd hoped for. Described by Andy as “Instrumental electronic ambient with loops and chopped samples, old keyboards, guitars, and found voices. The vibe is heartwarming, blissed-out, and euphoric; a balm for turbulent times.” You can find the album here - https://maplemountainsunburst.bandcamp.com/album/ecstatic
I was so excited by the new music that I asked Andy to create a mix. He graciously agreed and created multiple mixes. So awesome! This is the first one and it is excellent. I can't stop listening to it.
Here's what Andy says abut this mix:
"I could say this playlist is about transcendence and something about the physical and spiritual journeys we might take to get there. Or I could just say these are tracks that bring me joy. Some old favourites, some new. I’ve tried to weave my own material through here in a desperate but determined effort to rise to the level of wonder and beauty in these artists’ work."
Here links to all the music used in the mix:
Thanks, Andy, for your hard work on this set.
Cheers! T R A C K L I S T :I have a whiteboard on the wall outside my office at work where we compile random lists of things - "Best Pizza Topping", "Favorite Kitchen Utensil", "Best First Track of an Album", etc. Recently the category was "Songs for Fall/Autumn." I posted about the list on Mixcloud here - https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/posts/songs-about-fall-autumn-fall-colors/ So I grabbed a few tracks from the suggestions, some of my own favorites & some instrumentals to come up with this new Fall Colors mix. The set alternates between vocal tunes & instrumentals. Btw, the cover art pic is one of my own, taken ten years ago in my backyard. Cheers! T R A C K L I S T :
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