Ambientblog Mixes

For the 7th year, the Dutch radio station Concertzender schedules an 8-hour ambient all-nighter on the night of the Winter Solstice (December 21, 2025). Compiled by four radio producers – Roel Janssen, Harrold Roeland, Bob Rusche, and myself – each of us presenting a two-hour selection. My contribution is closing the night, between 5am and 7 am. I’m not sure how many listeners wi...

After publishing many ambient mix-collages (87 and counting!), I decided to challenge myself. What if I combined ambient soundscapes and classical music? Would that work out? This proved to be more difficult than I expected. It proved to be much easier to combine abstract atmospheric music than ambient music with 'program music' like classical. It proved even more difficult when choosing from 'cla...

The Winter Solstice Ambient Night on Concertzender Nederland has become a yearly tradition: this is the sixth edition already of the 8-hour ambient music night presented by four of their radio show hosts. Like in all previous editions, I'm honored to close the night with a two-hour collage. My contribution is presented here, but for those interested, the complete night will remain available on dem...

My 2-hour contribution to the fifth edition of the 8-hour Winter Solstice broadcast on Concertzender Nederland. For this fifth Winter Solstice mix, I chose fragments (most of them heavily edited) that are all more or less in the same key. In the first hour all tracks are in B-minor, in the second hour the tracks are in F-minor (first half) and A-minor (closing half). These chords define the overal...

Could this be ‘the saddest mix of all time’? I don’t think so myself, I would rather call it melancholic – in a pleasant way. But it’s a fact that all of these tracks are in D minor (Dm), which is said to be ‘the saddest chord’: “The D minor chord (often written as Dm) is a chord that evokes a sense of melancholy and contemplation on the negative side of situations. Like many other minor chords, D...

This is my contribution to the fourth ambient night on  Concertzender Nederland , which is traditionally scheduled on or around midwinter solstice. It was broadcast from 5:00-7:00 AM on December 25, and closed the 8-hour night. As in all of my (Ambientblog) mixes, Winter Solstice 4 is a collage created from (short) fragments - hence the extended tracklist below. This time, I used a different...

Most (if not all) previous Ambientblog mixes always had some dark moments in them, they are never 'just' relaxing. You can only feel release if you also felt tension . This time, I wanted to avoid the darkness and create a 'lighter mood mix'. Not of the 'Ibiza Chillout Lounge' kind, but one that can be played in the background and is still exciting enough to listen to. I hope I succeeded, but of c...

Apart from its opening sample - 'It is time to stop seeing. It is time to stop speaking. It is time to listen', from David Cronenberg's Crimes Of the Future - this mix has no central theme or story. It's up to you, the listener to take the time to listen and go with the flow. Let your fantasy tell you the story. And, after you did, I'd love to hear what you heard. Tracklist Start time Sample Lengt...

This mix is created for radio broadcast between 5-7 am, but it is not intended to induce sleep: it is way too 'active' for that. I created this with the intention to manipulate your dreams when you're asleep or half-awake at the time of the broadcast. In that case, it shouldn't be played too loud or you'll probably not be able to sleep at all. When listening on-demand, at different times, sleep is...

Just imagine yourself sitting in a local bar at the end of the day. A bit tired, your head full of thoughts. The murmuration of the people around you slowly gets blurry as you drift off. Your thoughts begin to wander, memories are mixed with fantasies and places you never even visited. Until now. Ambient Daydream tells a story created with myNoise.net generators. I hope that it serves as an introd...

This mix is simply named after the podcast itself: SoundWave . It is a happy coincidence that it literally starts with 'waves' - sonically manipulated by Jos Smolders - and ends with the same waves morphing into the sound of a cheering crowd. Different kinds of soundwaves are all around us, every moment. Sometimes we're aware, most of the time we are not. This mix (hopefully) shows that it can be...

Music For Long Winter Nights This is my 2-hour contribution to the (7-hour) ambient music night on Concertzender Nederland radio, which was broadcast in the December 19-20 night. When compiling this set, I tried to keep in mind that this was intended to be listened to in the deepest and darkest of the night. But it is not a 'sleep set', due to the variety of moods and atmospheres. It's a celebrati...

When I first heard Christine Ott's Comma , I felt that this piece should be the starting point of a new mix. In the end, it became the final piece of the same mix - somewhat a movie's intro and end credits. I did not start this mix with a specific theme in mind. Its title only occurred to me after it was completed because it reflected its mood: a somewhat melancholy journey that fits the end of th...

I'm very honoured to present this collaboration mix with Dave Michuda from Low Light Mixes , who has been a source of inspiration from the very beginning of Ambientblog.net. When we talked (or rather: mailed, since Wisconsin and Holland are not exactly near) about creating a mix together, we chose not to go for a 'simple' back-to-back exchange but gave ourselves an objective without knowing where...

If you listen back, most of my mixes have a rather dark edge to them. There's always a lot of 'tension/release' - but in this case, it seems there's a bit more 'tension' than 'release'. Sign of the times, probably…I tried to find another name (and image) for this mix, but it seems that only one title remained appropriate at this time. I'm very proud that this mix is also published on Dave Michuda'...

A two-hour mix for the longest night: Winter Solstice. To be played (and hopefully enjoyed) in the deepest darkness. "Dream All The Dark Away" ... --- originally published on Ambientblog --- December 21 is the longest night in the Northern hemisphere. It marks the start of Winter (even though it is also called "Midwinter"), but gradually the nights will slowly get shorter as to indicate spring wil...

The mix title, Radical Candor, comes from the (management) philosophy that argues that feedback (on behaviour) is most effective if it is 'challenging' but at the same time shows that you 'care'. I felt there was a resemblance: the mix is 'caring' at times but can also be quite 'challenging' to the listener. At least, that was my intention. Now you decide. --- originally published on Ambientblog -...

"For me, personally, a mix has the most impact when it feels like I'm watching a movie. With ups, downs, some drama, sentiment, moment of joy, climax and anticlimax. And yes: tension and release." --- originally published on Ambientblog --- When I started working on this mix, its working title was Wonderlust, simply because I liked that word: a variation on wanderlust ('a desire to travel') which...

Headphone Commute, Ambientblog and Slowcraft Records are proud to present a unique mix by a colleague and partner in crime, Peter van Cooten, of beautiful works from a beautiful couple: James Murray and Anne Garner --- originally published on Ambientblog --- The inspiration for this mix came after attending separate performances of  James Murray  and  Anne Garner . The music they pe...

"Follow me into a movie that you might want to see sometime... a movie that's happening in the back of your own head..." And remember: "use your ears, not your prejudices"... --- originally published on Ambientblog --- Playlist: (first time is the start time, time in brackets is the sample length) 00:00 (01:33) Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet - Dreams Landfall, 2018, Nonesuch 7559-79338-9 01:...

A collaboration mix with Headphone Commute's Mike Lazarev, in which we take five minutes for each turn without knowing the others tracklist. The result: Bipolar! --- originally published on Ambientblog --- We had no clear concept for this mix when we started, other than 'each turn takes 5 minutes, we'll stop at 60, and we'll see where it gets us' . We were unaware of each other's tracklist (apart...

The moment I heard Rami Malek whisper "Mind awake, body asleep" (Mr Robot, series 2) I knew this would be the inspiration for a new mix. A mix about half-sleep, lucid dreaming impressions... ungraspable images... and about "letting go". After all, Mr. Robot's tagline was "Control is an Illusion". Control proved to be an illusion indeed, with these different, unrelated, fragments coming together li...

Your reality is manipulated. Your perception is managed. Your thoughts are not your own. Reality is imaginary. This mix is inspired by 'Hypernormalisation'. --- originally published on Ambientblog --- Playlist start time – sample length – Artist – Title Album Title, Year, Label Details 00:00 01:52 Amon Tobin - Lost & Found (Machinefabriek Deconstruction) Wendingen (Selected Remixes 2005-2015),...

"Life can only be remembered backwards, but it must be lived forwards." The central piece provides the title for this mix: Solace - "Comfort in sorrow, misfortune. Consolation." This Fovea Hex track literally breathes consolation in every single note, so it seemed a good starting point for this mix. It is also one of the few tracks in the mix that are included in its full length. Even though there...

Because of the drones, atmospheric field recordings and insect sounds, this mix will be labeled as an 'ambient' mix by most listeners. And of course it is.... but at the same time it isn't. It simply isn't 'unobtrusive' enough to be 'ambient'. An hour-long journey of scene changes, meandering between *Kitsch* and *Kult* - a bit more 'psychedelic' than 'ambient', in fact. --- originally published o...