low light mixes

  It's that time of year - time for a mix of autumnal music to go with falling leaves and shorter days. The last time I made one of these I used songs that had fall-like terms in the title - color, seasons, fall, leaves, etc. This time I just went for tunes that have an autumn vibe.  Most of the tracks feature acoustic guitar because that seems to fit perfectly. The track list alternates between v...

    The Berlin-schoolification of my brain continues. A few years ago I came back to sequencer based Berlin-school music thanks to friend of the feed, Paul Asbury Seaman. The exact artist or moment has been lost in the mists of my mind (hmm, possible mix title "Mists of My Mind"?). But it was Paul who turned me on to the scene of modern sequencer driven music. Paul has consistently provided us wit...

This is another fairly straightforward mix theme. It dives back into tribal ambient featuring hypnotic, repetitive drums, electronics, traditional percussion, and field recordings. I've done several of these mixes over the years and it's always nice to revisit this style.  I first got into this subgenre back in the 90s with the Steve Roach & Robert Rich album, "Strata." Like many musical phase...

  My shortwave mixes go back a long way. My first one was posted almost 20 years ago in April of 2007. Yikes! I love the sound of these mixes and I love creating them. I collect tracks that sound like they'd fit the theme and when I have enough to make a mix I get cracking. Here are all the previous shortwave mixes: https://lowlightmixes.blogspot.com/2007/04/drift-on-signal.html https://lowlightmi...

  I'm not sure how this mix started. It was probably just a case of me stumbling across a tune that made me think of a dystopian sci-fi movie and from there I collected tracks over a few years. From what I can tell, I started gathering songs 6 years ago.  I wasn't sure what the mix would sound like when I started laying down the tracks. As it began to take shape I realized it kind of sounded like...

    I've said many times here that one reason I like hosting guest mixes is because they bring a diversity of styles and choices different from my regular offerings. This latest set from Roquen Lómë accomplishes that beautifully. This mix is lush and gorgeous in a way many of mixes are not. Playing this mix is like a breath of fresh air. Roquen Lómë says: "My last mix was so long in the making tha...

  This mix is pretty straightforward - it's a collection of Berlin-school style tracks where the arpeggio is relatively slow. I don't know what the actual BPMs are but these tracks are not the driving sequences usually associated with Berlin-school music. They unfold at a more languid, chill pace. I was very happy to be able to include the track "Wenn der Südwind weht" by Roedelius in this mix as...

  The annual Perseid Meteor shower is a great excuse to create a mix of spacey ambient music that is perfect for stargazing. The best viewing nights will be August 12 & 13. I believe there will be a new moon this year so we should have nice, dark skies for viewing.   I've done several of these in the past which you can find here: https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/music-for-the-perseid-meteor-s...

  The summer of guest mixes continues with an awesome set from friend of the show, Daniel Hawkins. He has created several mixes for us in the past and you can find them here: https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/amiably-ambient-by-daniel-hawkins/ https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/the-silence-between-by-daniel-hawkins/ https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/wabi-sabi-by-daniel-hawkins/ https://www.mixcloud...

  I have been a fan of Seabuckthorn for a long time. I think I have around a dozen or so releases. So when Andy Cartwright, who records as Seabuckthorn, offered to create a guest mix I was psyched. Andy did an excellent guest mix for LLM back in November of 2022 which you can find here: https://lowlightmixes.blogspot.com/2022/11/seabuckthorn-transcendental-freq.html  or here: https://www.mixcloud....

  Most mixes posted here are around one hour in length. There needs to be a good reason to go well beyond that time. Well, this guest mix is a good reason to go long. This set comes to us from Faru - https://faru.bandcamp.com/music  He has done a bunch of mixes over the years including for the Deep Breakfast series & Silent Season's Campfire Stories. You can find those mixes here -  https://so...

    It's been hot as hell here lately thanks to what the meteorologists are calling a "heat dome." Add in some smoke drifting in from Canadian wildfires and it makes being outdoors no fun. I wondered about hot weather music and thought slightly twangy, acoustic and electric guitar fits the mood. There's just something about these tracks that feels right for an oppressively hot day. I like this col...

    Most mixes posted here are around one hour in length. There needs to be a good reason to go well beyond that time. Well, this guest mix is a good reason to go long. This set comes to us from Faru -  https://faru.bandcamp.com/music  He has done a bunch of mixes over the years including for the Deep Breakfast series & Silent Season's Campfire Stories. You can find those mixes here -  https:/...

    Recently I was messaging with LLM guest mixer, Roquen Lómë, about Type records - an experimental record label that was active from 2003 to 2013. Founded by John Twells & Stefan Lewandowski in the U.K., Type released some creative music in those ten years ranging from delicate piano to sculptured noise to glitchy electronica to ambient to psych folk. I thought it would be fun to create a mi...

Another train mix? Another Berlin-school mix? Yes and hell yes! I've been struggling to keep up with creating new mixes and then, like a train pulling into the station right on time, Paul comes to me with a new mix. Perfect timing! This one has tunes that are all fairly recent so it was fun to hear new stuff or discover new artists. I'm always up for new Berlin-school music and this set from Paul...

  A little over a year ago I posted a mix of quiet fusion jazz tunes which I really enjoyed curating. So it was only a matter of time before I made another and here it is. This mix has some of the same artists as the first one - Mile Davis, Soft Machine, Gong, Jean-Luc Ponty, Brand X, along with new additions. Not surprisingly, most of the tracks are from the 1970s, a few from the 80s and one new...

  I've been super busy lately so it's perfect timing for another wonderful guest mix from friend of the feed, Daniel Hawkins. Daniel has done 4 mixes for LLM, each of them a great ambient journey. You can find them here: Amiably Ambient The Silence Between Dark Woods Metallic Memories   "This one takes some thoughtful curating to come up with such a cohesive set. Here what Daniel has to say about...

  I am listening to this guest mix as I type this and I am loving this set. Curated by Roquen Lómë, this is a wonderful collection of tracks for slowing down, for introspection. You can find some of his stuff on Mixcloud -  https://www.mixcloud.com/roguenlome/ Here's what he has to say about the mix: "There's something magical about listening to music late at night. You can dim the lights or turn...

  We've had a few guest mixes recently with a couple more on the way so I figured we needed a straightforward ambient mix in between all the guest sets. This mix features all music from 2026, except the track by Slow Dancing Society & zakè which is from 2025. This also features some of my favorite ambient albums of the year so far: >  Six Missing - drift, sway >  James Murray - Solitude...

  We are in for a real treat with this latest guest mix from Paul Asbury Seaman. Paul has done a bunch of "train" mixes over the years. He has also done several Berlin-School mixes. This one could be my favorite combo of the two themes.    This wonderful mix plays right into my current obsession with the Berlin-School subgenre. I can't say enough about how much I love this mix. As I have stated he...

  To finish the first quarter of the year we get another excellent berlin-school mix from EM master, Erwin Broers. Just like his ECM mix posted last month, Erwin sent me this mix last year but I spaced out and forgot I had until this year. Luckily for historical mixes like this one, the post is evergreen and can be appreciated anytime. I'll repost what he said about volume 1: "Here's a follow-up o...

    I was listening to some U2 tunes recently and in the song "In God's Country" there's a line - "Sleep comes like a drug in God's country." I liked the "sleep comes like a drug" part and thought it would make a good title for a sleep mix. So I got right to work and found some great, recent tracks that are perfect for sleeping. Cue up the mix, climb into bed, and drift off to sleep.   LINKS TO AL...

  Whoa nelly we are in for a treat with this guest mix! This new set comes from John McFadden who records as Fragile X. John has done two other mixes for us that you can find here: https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/aquadream-by-fragile-x/ https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/being-human-by-fragile-x/ I'm kind of jealous of this mix as there are bunch of tracks that I would love to have used in my rec...

  This mix is the perfect combo of two of my favorite mix themes - sea/ocean motif and ambient dub. I wanted to make an ambient dub mix and while searching for tunes I ran across several that had that great ocean vibe that some ambient dub can have. Then a few more had this odd sort of alien quality to them so I decided on a mix of deep ambient dub that sounds like it should be played in the ocean...

I know two things that are true - Erwin Broers is a great contributor to Low Light Mixes and I'm an airhead. 🤪 Last year after I posted a mix of my favorite albums from ECM records, Erwin did his own version. He sent it to me in September and I totally spaced out and forgot about it until this week. But it works out in the end because I've been busy lately so a guest mix is just what I needed. He...