Low Light Mixes: piano

Showing posts with label piano. Show all posts

Saturday, March 29, 2025

Piano Day 2025

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 2. To make things interesting I played two tracks from it simultaneously and I think it worked pretty well.

While collecting tracks for the mix I was happy to find a piano album from Daniel Lanois. It's from 2022 and I had no idea it existed. I'm a big fan of the Necks so I was also excited to use one of their tracks for the first time. At least I think I've never used their music in a mix before.

LINKS TO ALL THE MUSIC USED IN THIS MIX:

I hope you enjoy this latest installment in celebration of the piano.

Cheers!

[ s t r e a m ] [ d o w n l o a d ] [ a p p l e _ p o d c a s t s ]

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Bruce Brubaker - Music For Airports 1/2 and 1/2 (Bows Version) played simultaneously (Eno Piano 2 2024)
06:28 Polaroid Notes - Invitation To A Ghost Seance (Quiet Rooms 2024)
10:53 Jon Hopkins - part viii - nothing is lost (Ritual 2024)
14:40 Tape Loop Orchestra - Voix Figées (PSALM019: Sabbat De Voix 2025)
20:10 Lawrence English - ETHKIBIII (Even The Horizon Knows Its Bounds 2025)
25:10 civic hall - II (the trembling line 2024)
28:12 H-M O - Full Circle (Bark up the Spirit Tree 2024)
33:12 Gallery Six & Lorenz Weber - Dialogue 1 (Distance 2024)
36:19 Duval Timothy - Go Without (Latency alla Villa Medici II 2024)
41:32 The Necks - Bleed (Bleed 2024)
46:25 Daniel Lanois - Sunday Asylum (Player, Piano 2022)
49:15 Ben Lukas Boysen - Prologue (Music for Falling Into Place OST 2024)
51:36 Oliver Patrice Weder - Into Pieces (The Shoe Factory 2024)
54:15 Thomas Lemmer - In The Glow Of Midnight (Dreamscapes 2025)
56:27 Max Richter - On the Nature of Daylight(Piano Ver.)(The Blue Notebooks 20 Year Edition 2025)
62:23 end

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Piano Day 2023

International Piano Day is March 29th and, as has been the case for the last five years, I've put together a new mix in celebration of ambient piano tunes. I don't do quite as many piano mixes as I once did but when I create these Piano Day sets I find I really enjoy the vibe.

There are a lot of new tracks in the mix, half of them from 2022 & 2023. But there are a few older tunes as well. I really like how this one turned out. I hope you enjoy the latest Piano Day excursion.

Cheers!

[ s t r e a m ] [ d o w n l o a d ] [ a p p l e _ p o d c a s t s ]

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 daniel.mp3 - green to blue (2022)
02:45 Hania Rani - The Beach(From I Never Cry) (Music for Film and Theatre 2021)
05:14 Ryuichi Sakamoto - 20211130 (12 2023)
10:02 h hunt - 11e (playing piano for dad 2016)
12:49 Arin Aksberg - In Memory (It Flows Between U 2023)
16:47 Olafur Arnalds - Still, Sound (A Sunrise Session 2021)
20:42 ANNA - Receiving(Jon Hopkins piano version) (2023)
25:15 Hania Rani - Whale's Song (Inner Symphonies 2021)
29:42 Ryuichi Sakamoto - 20211201 (12 2023)
34:37 Library Tapes - Safe Haven (Dusk 2021)
36:41 Bing and Ruth - We Are on the Side of Angels (Tomorrow Was The Golden Age 2014)
42:53 Milieu - Antique Sunlight (Smokebuilder's Woodshop 2008)
47:56 Nebel Lang - Past All Unknowing (Directions For Stopping 2022)
52:43 Lorenz Weber - as time goes by (only the wind 2022)
56:10 Purple Decades - Forest (Journey Test 2023)
59:10 end

Sunday, March 27, 2022

International Piano Day 2022

International Piano day takes place on the 88th day of the year, in honor of the number of keys on a piano keyboard. In 2022 that day is March 29th. So, as in years past, I have put together a mix of piano tracks to celebrate Piano Dat 2022.

This set starts off a bit different from those I've done before. Most are solo piano type mixes but this one starts off with 5 tracks that have more of an electronic vibe. After that we return to my normal nebulous, random note type of piano stuff. Then finishing off with a few more composed tracks.

Piano Day links:

Links to the albums used in this mix in the order in which they appear:

Cheers and Happy Piano Day!

[ s t r e a m ] [ d o w n l o a d ] [ i t u n e s ]

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Aukai - Distracted By Clouds(Ben Lukas Boysen Remix) (Branches Of Sun2017)
04:38 Mike Lazarev - All That Remains (Places for Peace 2022)
06:57 Arovane & Hior Chronik - The Return (Into My Own 2017)
09:46 Chris Hyson - Nocturne (Human Error 2017)
14:18 Jon Hopkins - A Drifting Up (Insides 2008)
18:25 Andrew Tasselmyer - Missing Pieces of Self (Limits 2022)
23:00 William Basinski & Janek Schaefer - on reflection (“ . . . on reflection " 2022)
29:55 unknown - generative pno
37:27 Nebel lang - Where Are You (Directions For Stopping 2022)
42:23 Spheruleus - Frozen (Frozen Quarters 2010)
44:30 Maps and Diagrams - Gehen (Marhofn 2022)
46:20 Jonathan Yandel - Impromptu No. 1 (Inner Ocean 2017)
53:38 Rob Simonsen - Argenté (Rêveries 2019)
57:40 grotta veterano - slaap (sleeplaboratory3.0 2022)
61:02 end

Sunday, February 28, 2021

snow on my piano

As I've said here before, solo piano is wonderfully evocative of falling snow. So this mix is a collection of piano tracks that remind me of snow.

All the tunes are new, being from 2020 or 2021. Including the opening track from a forthcoming album on Whitelabrecs, i=r by Lorenzo Masotto https://whitelabrecs.bandcamp.com/album/i-r

There's not much else to say other than enjoy this last snow mix of the year. We still have a lot of snow on the ground but it's melting and I can sense spring just around the corner. Of course by saying that I probably just guaranteed that we'll get hit with another 12" storm by the end of month. Ugh. I think I continue to live in a cold, snowy environment just for the musical inspiration. ;-)

Cheers!

[ s t r e a m ] [ d o w n l o a d ] [ i t u n e s ]

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Lorenzo Masotto - i=r(lake) (i=r 2021)
03:58 Echoflex - D aeolian (Echoflex VI: Piano Net 2020)
09:42 Snorri Hallgrímsson - Landbrot (Landbrot I EP 2020)
12:19 Jon Hopkins - Dawn Chorus (2020)
15:24 James Murray & Mike Lazarev - Animitta (Sunnata 2020)
17:45 Nebel lang - Sigh (Hand in mine 2021)
21:52 Polaroid Notes - Down By The Sea (Ennio's Muse 2021)
25:04 Elskavon & John Hayes - L'etoile (Du Nord 2020)
28:28 Julia Gjertsen & Nico Rosenberg - Proper Time (Distant Fields 2020)
35:15 Ólafur Arnalds - Still _ Sound (some kind of peace 2020)
37:42 Belly Full of Stars - Pattern 4 (Aura 2021)
39:24 Snorri Hallgrímsson - Haustar (Landbrot I EP 2020)
42:35 Ian Hawgood - Dear Trish (Ennio's Muse 2021)
45:02 Echoflex - C aeolian (Echoflex VI: Piano Net 2020)
52:11 Nebel lang - Inwards (Hand in mine 2021)
67:51 end

Saturday, March 28, 2020

Piano Day 2020

Today, March 28th, is International Piano Day. This is what the Piano Day website says about today:

“Why does the world need a Piano Day? For many reasons. But mostly, because it doesn’t hurt to celebrate the piano and everything around it: performers, composers, piano builders, tuners, movers and most important, the listener.” – Nils Frahm

Piano Day, an annual worldwide event founded by a group of likeminded people, takes place on the 88th day of the year – in 2020 it’s the 28th March – because of the number of keys on the instrument being celebrated.

The aim of the day is to create a platform for piano related projects in order to promote the development of musical dimensions and to continue sharing the centuries-old joy of playing the piano. Piano Day welcomes all kinds of piano lovers — young and old, amateur and professional, of any musical direction – to join in this year's festivities. It is intended to be the most joyful of all holidays!

Piano Day gives me an excuse to put together an all-piano mix. I really like the vibe of this year's version. Most of it is very stripped down and simple. I've also found it to be very therapeutic during these quarantine times.

Hang in there everybody!

[ s t r e a m ] [ d o w n l o a d ] [ i t u n e s ]

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Plïnkï Plønkï - Hiraeth
04:22 Mike Lazarev - Afflicted
07:00 Olga Wojciechowska - All I Have Not Seen
11:27 Innesti - Forgotten
14:18 Klangriket & Sjors Mans - Leidseplein
18:22 Nils Frahm - Some
22:20 Ben Lukas Boysen - Only in the Dark
25:35 Ólafur Arnalds - saman
27:39 Sjors Mans - With You
30:31 S.hel - Eia Popeia
34:38 Hania Rani - Warszawa
39:55 Infinite Scale - Across the Otherside
42:03 Julien Marchal - Insight XXXVIII
43:12 Roger Eno And Brian Eno - Blonde
47:05 Yosi Horikawa - Thalfang
50:50 Piano Day Website Remix
63:29 end

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Piano Day 2018

It's the 88th day of the year so that means it's Piano Day(88 keys on a piano)!

There's actually not much to say about the mix other than it contains some excellent piano music. Most of the tracks are fairly new with many being from 2017 & 2018. There's so much piano based music out there to choose from it's a bit overwhelming when first starting the mix. But as so often happens, once I start with a track or two the rest flows from there. I think the tunes fit pretty well together & I like how it turned out.

Don't forget to visit the piano day website - http://www.pianoday.org/ - where you can play around with the awesome random piano sounds app. Just click on the flip cards for your own cool, ambient piano tune.

Happy PNO Day!

[ s t r e a m ] [ d o w n l o a d ] [ i t u n e s ]

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Nicholas Britell - Little's Theme(2016)
00:45 Gigi Masin - The Word Love(2014)
07:14 Rafael Anton Irisarri - Für Alina(2009)
11:28 Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm - 20:17(2015)
16:25 Bing & Ruth - To All It(2017)
21:30 Hans-Joachim Roedelius & Arnold Kasar - Rolling(2017)
24:51 Jame Maloney - Blink(2017)
30:18 The Prairie Lines - Calm Landing(2017)
34:25 Max Richter - The Lord's Rough Ways(2018)
37:07 Taylor Deupree - Unearth(2018)
42:32 Alejandro Bento - Tonal(2017)
43:44 Kai Schumacher - The Fool(2017)
47:20 Panoptique Electrical - In Between Buildings(2017)
56:05 Just A Human - Johann Piano 1(2018)
57:56 Christian Loffler - Pigment(2016)
60:14 end

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Piano Moments

I had not planned on doing another piano mix so soon after the last one in November 2015. Then Piano Day happened. On March 28th of this year a group founded by Nils Frahm celebrated the piano and everything around it. This was the second year for the event.

In addition to music released for Piano Day and live events, the Piano Day website, pianoday.org, has this awesome random note generator. I highly recommend playing around with it. You can record your noodlings and play it back on the site. It works great with a tablet where you can hit several notes simultaneously.

The website piano player is what got me started on this mix. I made an audio recording of my random notes and then messed with it by mixing it with a backwards version and a slowed down version and adding a bit of reverb. The result is very listenable. Not an exact composition per se with now structure but it works pretty well as an ambient piano track.

That's a long winded way of saying that is where this mix started. Next I stumbled across an amazing recording on SoundCloud here... https://soundcloud.com/hey-exit/every-recording-of-gymnopedie-1

Brendan Landis, recording as Hey Exit, took every recording he could find of Satie's Gymnopedie #1 and played them all at the same time, layered on top of each other, timestretched to the length of the longest recording. The 60 plus recordings combine to create an ethereal, phasing shifting version the famous Gymnopedie #1. I knew immediately that I had to include this in any piano mix.

A couple of quick notes on other tracks...
The mix starts of with Fleeting Smile by Roger Eno. A cut that owes a lot to Satie's Gymnopedies but is still beautiful on it's own. It had been years since I listened to this track and after hearing it again I immediately added to a playlist I have called The Most Beautiful Recordings Ever.

There is another sort of random notes type of piece in the mix and it's from Akria Rabelais. The tracks full name is "Every Tone Is the Prism as Words, Any Unexpected Corners Must Be Slipped Away." It's a 42 minute piece with LOTS of dead air in between notes. I decided to remix it a bit by layering it to eliminate much of the silence. I know this goes totally against the original intent of the track but I was just experimenting with the randomness of rearranging the notes and ended up liking how it sounded.

I hope you enjoy these piano moments. Maybe next year I'll have a piano mix ready on Piano Day. In the meantime go visit the site... pianoday.org

Enjoy

[ s t r e a m ] [ d o w n l o a d ] [ i t u n e s ]

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Roger Eno - Fleeting Smile
02:24 Hey Exit - every recording of gymnopedie 1
06:50 Hey Exit - every rec of gymnoedie 1 slowly
08:23 pianoday.org + Low Light - Piano Day web player remix
15:15 Steve Roach & Robert Logan - Moments Notice
20:30 Akira Rabelais - every tone is the prism(layered remix)
28:30 Harold Budd - Templar
37:30 Roedelius - Roedelius plays piano part 11
40:05 Nils Frahm - Mi
43:54 Unknown - random pno
47:27 Mark Lyken & Emma Dove - fishing for rigs pt. 1
49:05 Howard Skempton - piano piece 1969
50:30 Roedelius - Roedelius plays piano part 1
52:33 Chris Walla - Introductions
60:14 Hey Exit - every recording of gymnopedie 1 slowly
62:20 end

Saturday, November 21, 2015

the healing piano

After the attacks in Paris on November 13th, NPR music did a show about music for healing. You can find it here... http://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2015/11/17/456343231/music-for-healing
Two cuts on their playlist are from two of my favorite albums this year, Goldmund - Sometimes and Nils Frahm - Solo.

As I listened to those two tracks over & over I started to think about the piano as a healing instrument. The right song & circumstances can make just about any instrument a healing instrument. But somehow the piano seems ideally suited for that role.

Most of the tunes used here are new. In addition to the Goldmund & Frahm cuts another 2015 favorite album included in the mix is Chris Walla - Tape Loops. Walla is the drummer for Death Cab for Cutie and he has put together a nice collection that reminds me of Music for Airports & Music for Films.

I hope this mix can act as a musical balm, soothing our psyches in these turbulent times.

Enjoy.

[ s t r e a m ] [ d o w n l o a d ] [ i t u n e s ]

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Goldmund - Sometimes
02:40 Chris Walla - Goodbye
08:00 Nils Frahm - Ode
12:10 Hior Chronik & Mikael Delta - Everything We Want to Feel
15:00 Max Richter - Cumulonimbus
20:20 Moon ate the dark - If Vanishing
24:25 Ocean in a Bottle - Circling Winter
25:50 Eskmo - Tamara
27:48 Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts II
30:55 Nils Frahm - 4'33"
32:40 Mette Henriette - .oOo.
35:55 Aphex Twin - Aisatsana
40:55 Chris Walla - flytoget
49:28 A Winged Victory for the Sullen - Atmos III
53:27 Stars of the Lid - Humectez La Mouture
57:45 Nils Frahm - merry
61:45 end

The healing piano by Low Light Mixes on Mixcloud

Sunday, December 18, 2011

I can hear the snow fall

For some reason,when I think of falling snow, the instrument that comes to mind is the piano. Maybe it's from years of listening to Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas album. So it's no surprise that there is a fair amount of piano music in this "snow" mix.

We didn't have any snow yet but I had been thinking about doing a "first snow" mix for awhile & decided to throw one together Friday night. Then I woke up Saturday morning to a light dusting of snow on the ground. Maybe next I should do a mix for winning the lottery. ;)

As I said there is a lot of piano music in here. Led by Nils Frahm, from his excellent Felt album. A release that will end up on my best of the year list & one which everyone needs to hear. I think this mix works well as an early season "snow" mix versus the more bleak mid winter drones that will show up later.

I expect to crank out at least one more mix before the end of the year. Plus I'll have a year-end top 20 list, so start thinking of your own lists if you'd like to contribute.

Enjoy.

[ s t r e a m ] | [ d o w n l o a d ] | [ i t u n e s ]

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Nils Frahm - less [erased tapes]
05:20 Bernocchi, Budd, Guthrie - Heavy Heart Some More [Rarenoise Records]
09:35 Deepspace - Whisper
12:50 The Humble Bee - Sky Litter [cotton goods]
15:22 Willamette - Echo Park [infraction]
18:10 Pleq + Lauki - II (antonymes remix) [somehow recordings]
24:44 Cliff Martinez - Wrong Floor [lakeshore records]
25:45 Max Richter - eternal flowers question stars [Metropolis Movie Music]
27:48 e and i - Pearls for Alma [cotton goods]
29:40 Isnaj Dui - Always Close [hibernate]
32:48 I've Lost - in this cold, empty place [future sequence]
36:35 Diatonis - Whiring Above Our Heads
40:00 Nils Frahm - Pause [erased tapes]
44:25 Cliff Martinez - He Had A Good Time [lakeshore records]
45:39 Harold Budd - Three-Fingered Jack [darla]
47:40 Maps & Diagrams - Groghe(fort) [nomadic kids republic]
51:00 S. Carey - Rothko Fields [jagjaguwar]
54:50 Part Timer - seed collection [mobeer]
58:20 Nils Frahm - Keep [erased tapes]

I can hear the snow fall by Lowlight on Mixcloud

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Piano Mix 2007

Of all the mixes I've posted here, the Piano Mix is the one offline mix that I get the most requests for. So I figured another piano-themed mix was in order.

Most of the music is fairly new, such as the cuts from Budd & Guthrie, Goldmund, On, Nest, Stars of the Lid and Fennesz & Sakamoto. There's not much else to say about this mix. It's just some excellent ambient-ish piano in a nice hour-long mix. I hope you enjoy it.

Download it here....

piano mix vol.2

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 - 03:15 Goldmund - Ouendake [2007]

03:15 - 09:05 Arvo Part - Alina #1 [2000]

09:05 - 13:15 Brian McBride - Piano ABC [2005]

13:15 - 16:25 Fennesz & Sakamoto - oto [2007]

16:25 - 17:20 Craig Armstrong - Diffuse [2004]

17:20 - 24:26 Budd & Guthrie - How Close Your Soul [2007]

24:26 - 26:10 Modern Institute - Two Hours Without Ego [2006]

26:10 - 28:07 Oblong - Sketches of Staines [2006]

28:07 - 30:40 Silencio - Tumbleweed [2005]

30:40 - 32:47 On - Afterward [2007]

32:47 - 35:37 William Basinski - The Garden of Brokenness [2005]

35:37 - 38:56 Nest - Charlotte [2007]

38:56 - 43:33 Clint Mansell - Together We Will Live Forever(The Fountain ost) [2006]

43:33 - 44:53 Craig Armstrong - Delay [2004]

44:53 - 49:39 Wes Willenbring - Sometimes [2007]

49:39 - 51:02 Goldmund - sumi - e [2006]

51:02 - 54:39 Harold Budd - Moss Landing [2007]

54:39 - 57:52 Eluvium - Untitled 1(for piano) [2007]

57:52 - 02:18 Stars of the Lid - Humectez La Mouture [2007]