low light mixes

    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 heterogeneo...

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...

  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....

    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 pre...

    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 F...

    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:...

  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 im...

  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 m...

    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. A...

    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...

  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...

    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...

    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, inspi...

    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...

  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 che...

    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 t...

  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 inspire...

    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 guid...

    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, lis...

    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...

    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 whe...

    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 - O...

  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...

  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 disco...

    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 &...