We've had a nice run of guest mixes lately here at Low Light Mixes world headquarters. And that streak continues will a wonderful new set from Daniel Hawkins. Here his two previous guest mixes:

https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/dark-woods-by-daniel-hawkins/

https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/metallic-memories/

This mix has a perfect fall vibe. Here's what Daniel says about this collection of tracks:

"As I was saving some of the songs that I liked over the past few weeks, I noticed a bunch of them were guitar pieces - so I figured that was as good a reason as any to do a themed mix.  For me the hardest part of doing the mixes is I end up with a lot of good music and have to make tough choices about what to cut from the final mix.  There are just so many great musicians out there now doing superb work.  So I just go slow and make changes - I think this is a cohesive mix with a nice flow - you be the judge."

Thanks, Daniel, for another excellent mix.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

The king of Berlin School EM music, Erwin Broers, is back with a fantastic update to his regular series. This fall update just may the best yet. I listened to this while biking home from work, unsure whether it would fit the activity. Oh man, it was perfect! It kept me pedaling and focused while exposing me to fresh electronic sounds.

Here's what Erwin has to say about this set:

"Another look at what's been happening on the Electronic/Berlin School/Synth Music spectrum over the last months. 

As might be expected, a variety of styles and vibes, so listen to the whole mix and I guarantee you'll find at least a few tracks to your liking.

All music is from 2025 and from a wide variety of countries including Germany, England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, the USA, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Poland and even Argentina! 

Click on the links below for more information on the artists and please consider purchasing the music you like!"

More than 8 years ago, Paul Asbury Seaman came to me with an idea for a mix. He would provide the theme and tracklist, and I would man the faders and knobs to create his first guest mix. Of course that first mix was a train-themed set.

Now, after 9 railway mixes & many hours traveling on the audio tracks, Paul brings us his tenth train-themed mix. This one is a b it different than the others so I'll let Paul tell you about it:

"To celebrate my tenth train mix for Low Light Mixes I’m doing a collection of vocal tracks. There are way too many great train songs to call this set a “Best Of,” thus the qualified title. (I have five CD-length train song mixes for my own use.) These are some of my favorites. And here’s several more to start your own playlists, that didn’t make the cut only because of time limitations: “People Get Ready” (several good versions), “City of New Orleans” (Arlo Guthrie), “Locomotive Breath” (Jethro Tull), “Long Train Runnin’” (Doobie Brothers), “The Midnight Special” (CCR), “Downtown Lights” (Annie Lennox version) and of course “Hear My Train a Comin’” by Jimi Hendrix (from the Winterland LIVE box set)."

Thanks, Paul, for another thoughtful collection of songs. Here's to 10 more excursions on the rails.

LINKS TO PAUL'S OTHER TRAIN MIXES:

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

This mix is pretty straightforward - all ambient, all new. It can be hard to keep up with new releases so I decided to put together a nice collection of new 2025 tracks. Turned out pretty darn good if I do say so.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

I really didn't intend to follow an 80s themed mix with another mix with an 80s vibe. But I couldn't help myself because of the brand new album from Crows Labyrinth - Neon Scenes II: Echoes of Then https://crowslabyrinth.bandcamp.com/album/neon-scenes-ii-echoes-of-then 

The album is a follow-up to an album called "Neon Scenes I: Granular Dreams." Both albums are longform generative drone ambient pieces that have this great Blade Runner vibe. I used the first album as the jumping off point for my last Blade Runner themed mix in March 2023 - https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/replicant-memories/  Upon hearing this new Crows Labyrinth album I just knew I had to create some more Blade Runner ambiance.

Links to all the music used in this mix:

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

This mix started via a Spotify playlist with the same name - "You're in an 80s Film Driving at Night." I really liked the synth vibes so I created my own folder at home and began collecting tracks.

The mix has a great retro vibe even though many of the tracks are from the last 10 years. But, of course, I had to include some cuts from the time period with songs from Tangerine Dream, John Carpenter & Vangelis.

Hop in your Delorean and head back to the 1980s for some retro electronic goodness.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

The annual Perseid meteor shower peaks tonight and tomorrow night, August 12th & 13th. I like to use the Perseids as an excuse to create a spacey, ambient mix for stargazing. So here it is.

The first track I grabbed for this mix was Jeff Pearce - For The Perseids, from the Gemstones IV compilation. How could I not use that cut in a mix like this. So I decided to look for other tracks with names that would fit and it was fairly easy to find a bunch that worked. Again, how could I resist tunes called "Luminous Dust Trails" and "Night Drifters" and "Comet Tails."

Get outside and scan the skies.

LINKS TO ALL THE MUSIC USED IN THIS MIX:

I've been listening to the ECM record label since the 1970s. You can always count on ECM to put out interesting and sometimes great records.

My favorite ECM release is Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians." It's not only my favorite ECM album, it's one of my top albums of all-time. A real desert island record for me. A few of my other favorite regular ECM artists are Steve Tibbetts, Eberhard Weber & Pat Metheny. 

We had a discussion about our favorite ECM recordings over on Mixcloud. You can read or join in the thread here - https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/posts/favorite-ecm-albums/

I decided it wouyld be cool to make a mix of my top ten favorite ECM albums. I put it together in chronological order, starting with Ralph Towner & a fantastic version of Icarus. And ending with a 2017 album from Björn Meyer.

Please leave a comment with some of your favorites in the comments and enjoy this little journey through ECM.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

I have said many times that I love hosting guest mixes. Whether it's from regular contributors Paul & Erwin or from artists in the ambient space, the mixes expose to new music and artists, and I delight in hearing how someone else approaches the creation of a coherent mix.

This new guest mix comes from an ambient artist that I have admired for years - Benoît Pioulard(Tom Meluch). I love his brand of hazy, dreamy ambient music. He has an excellent new album out, which you can find here - https://pioulard.bandcamp.com/album/stanza-iv It's one of my favorite ambient albums of the year so far.

The title of this mix is Pluvial Scansion, about which Tom says - "It’s been a rainy spring and summer here, so I think that’s affected some of the overall mood." Here's what he has to say about putting together this mix:

"For this mix, I wanted to highlight the work of some very talented friends, and some mellower releases from the past year or so that I've enjoyed during various moments of transit or deep focus.  Every track has some form of ambient washiness, and I tried to cover as much of a sonic range as possible within that framework.  My latest release is Stanza IV, a limited LP complemented by a collection of reworks by Markus Guentner, James Devane, MJ Guider, arovane, Clarice Jensen, and Viul. 

Here, I've included an abridged version of one of the album tracks, along with the arovane piece, but you can hear the whole thing at pioulard.bandcamp.com, and subscribe for a ton of exclusive work plus new stuff every month, at pioulard.bandcamp.com/subscribe .. and, if you're in Tokyo on August 18th, come see me perform with Satomimagae!  Hope you'll enjoy the playlist <3

Thanks for this well-crafted collection.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :