This mix opens with the very first thing that got me into any sort of ambient music. I’m a huge admirer of VANGELIS ever since I borrowed (stole) his album Ignacio/Entends-Tu Les Chiens Aboyer. The first side (half of which is in the mix) is like a lullaby. I had the worst experience of my life at that point, and this album was played every day. VANGELIS, to me, is something of a modern classical composer more than an electronic musician. Other releases from him that I highly recommend are Heaven and Hell, Mask, Soil Festivities, The Blade Runner Soundtrack, Mythodea, Rhapsodies (w/Irene Papas), and L’Apocalypse Des Animaux (I know it’s a lot, but I’m a big fan!).

The next song comes from the album 76:14 (the duration of the album) by GLOBAL COMMUNICATION. HERE’S the Wikipedia page on the album, there are some interesting facts about it worth reading. Their other release (Pentamerous Metamorphosis) is also great, and I’ll do a mix with some stuff from that at some point.

One thing that I love about STARS OF THE LID is that they use a real guitar (!). They, like Paul Avgerinos, are a thinking man’s ambient. Their music for me is not so easily ignored. I can’t unconsciously listen to them, they draw me it with their organic amalgamation. I like this particular song because of the violins and the warm analog sound of the entire thing.

Once again, I have to use the opportunity to inject some PAUL AVGERINOS (of course). Not too much to elaborate on, this one is also from Words Touch. This piece is very compositional (Paul holds a degree from Peabody Conservatory and plays bass. I actually got all of my stuff of his from MAGNATUNE, which is a great (and affordable) source for independent music.

BIOSPHERE (real name: Geir Jennsen) is an artist from Norway that considers his music to be ‘arctic ambient’. He sometimes uses field recordings in his works. Like most of my favorites, he definitely has his own compositional style. There is another song from this same release that will be on the next mix.

Okay, I put in a thunderstorm to break things up a bit, sorry!

The last track on here is another VANGELIS tune from the Blade Runner Soundtrack played on an out of tune piano (or maybe is just an effect, hard to say). Very beautiful composition, if somewhat sad.

Okay, thanks for listening/downloading!

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