low light mixes

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: Stranger Flow | 2fel Eleven Fugues For Sodium Pentothal | Adam Wiltzie Dreamwalker | Akmuo | Space Of Variants Ultraviolet | Altus Alva Noto - Xerrox Vol. 5 | Noton Sunder | Benoît Pioulard & Offthesky | laaps Faint Structures | Circa Alto | Whitelabrecs Brödföda | Civilistjävel! Streams Of Consciousness Compiled | Dirk Serries | Projekt Records LIVE 2 | Eli Keszler 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 Contemplate | Innesti Live at Home | Jogging House 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 Dive 1: Refraction | Sumner James, Robert Chamberlain, Volcano Lazerbeam, & Saroon | Bathysphere Records Floes: Volumes I-IV | Tewksbury Horizons | The Green Kingdom | The Slow Music Movement Label VIII | v e n n 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 : 00:00   Pan American / Kramer - Floating Island (Reverberations of Non-Stop Traffic on Redding Road) 04:22   Maps and Diagrams - Hvar (Islands) 07:35   Jogging House - Live at Home pt. 1 (Live at Home) 13:15   Innesti - Astral Secrets (Contemplate) 16:14   Alva Noto - Xerrox Arc (Xerrox, Vol.5) 20:53   Hainbach - End of Work (The One Who Runs Away Is the Ghost Soundtrack) 22:45   Akmuo - Dreamwalker (Dreamwalker) 26:50   Sumner James, Robert Chamberlain, Volcano Lazerbeam, & Saroon - Euphotic (Dive 1: Refraction) 31:36   Benoît Pioulard & Offthesky - Fed On Lilies (Sunder) 35:48   Jonas Munk - Dawn Layer (Mirror Phase) 40:40   Polaroid Notes - The Night Returns Without A Sound (Quiet Rooms) 45:40   The Humble Bee & Offthesky - Space (Here In, Absence) 52:00   William Ryan Fritch - Gravitropic (Adhesion) 60:10   Adam Wiltzie - Mexican Helium (Eleven Fugues For Sodium Pentothal) 62:44   Max Richter - A Time Mirror(Biophony) (In A Landscape) 66:36   mastroKristo - Waves(Federico Mosconi Rework) (Passage) 73:40   Dirk Serries - the whispering scale (Streams Of Consciousness Compiled) 82:45   Tewksbury - Aperture (Floes Volumes I-IV) 94:23   end

    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 : 00:00   Hollie Kenniff - Over Ocean Waves (Anita Tatlow Remix) 02:08   Kazuma Okabayashi - Rainfall 04:55   Warmth - Receiver 07:40   Tangent Universes - An Elegant. Disinterested Trance (Field Collage) 10:32   Chihei Hatakayama - Sound of Air 13:54   Black Brunswicker - The World Passing By 16:17   Akira Kosemura - Dear Sunshine 18:10   Alanna Crouch - Repeating Events  21:18   Human Is Alive and Warmth - Spectrum 23:58   Felicia Atkinson - Shall I Return To You 26:46   Antarctic Wastelands - Mysteries 28:46   Hollie Kenniff - Surface 32:10   Jon Hopkins and Olafur Arnalds - Forever Held 34:31   Clariloops - Morning 38:55   Gollden - There Will Be Birds in September 42:36   Kilometre Club - Connect 44:42   Nala Sinephro - Continuum 3 48:33   Markus Guentner - Vanish (Feat. Joachim Spieth)  53:16   Chad Lawson - In Another Place (Helios Rework) 56:16   Ben Lukas Boysen - Alta Ripa

  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 : 00:00   Redshift - Redshift(excerpt) (Redshift, 1996) 09:20   Cosmic Hoffmann - Shiva Connection (Shiva Connection, 2000) 15:00   Free System Projekt - And Then There Were Two (Impulse (reissue), 2005) 29:00   Brendan Pollard - Aquarius (Expansion, 2005) 31:17   Ramp - Phasenverzerrung (Nodular, 1998)  42:50   Javi Canovas - North Of Circle (Impasse, 2005) 56:42   Arcane - Dystopian Fictions (Gather Darkness, 1999) 71:02   end

    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 : 00:00    Grouper - Thanksgiving Song 02:42    Ólafur Arnalds - Family Stroll 04:30    Massive Attack - Everybody's Got a Family 05:55    Matt Morton - A Special Thank You 08:00    anderegg - thanksgiving 10:14    lawrence - falling down a dam of mashed potatoes 13:33    Lullatone - An Awkward Dinner Conversation at a Family Gathering(piano version) 14:55    TSU! - Dear Stanley, Thank You 17:29    Richard Thompson - Family(guitar version) 20:13    Bill Frisell - Thankful 25:15    Carlos Niño & Friends - Togetherness feat. Jamael Dean & Devin Daniels 28:42    The Circular Ruins & Off The Sky - Giving to You 30:48    Tiny Isles - With Thanks, Petal 34:53    Cliff Martinez - my dad's famous potatoes 37:06    John Fahey - Give me cornbread when I'm hungry 40:13    Loren Connors - Why We Came  41:45    Peter Gregson - Gifts at Dinner 45:42    Hildur Guðnadóttir - Many Secrets in this Family 48:00    Endless Melancholy - Moments We Spent Together 51:51    Sven Laux - Thank You, Goodbye 54:44    Pat Metheny  - Last Train Home  59:18    end