Saturday, December 13, 2008

Music for Stargazing Vol 2

Things have been really busy for me lately so I have not had much time to devote to the Hydrogen Cafe. But, I finally managed to finish a mix I started back in August. This mix is a follow-up to Music for Stargazing Vol 1 which people seemed to enjoy. Like Vol 1, Music for Stargazing Vol 2 is a quiet, drifting mix put together specifically to accompany a night of stargazing. What makes this music suited for stargazing? It’s hard to say specifically, but, like my other mixes, I like to put together music that evokes an emotional response of some kind in the listener. So, for this mix I chose music that sounds the way I feel when I look at a star-filled sky.

Every summer, my friend Dave, from Low Light Mixes, and I go to a cabin in the north woods of Wisconsin. There aren’t any big cities around so there are no lights to drown out the night sky. The stargazing is spectacular. We often see satellites and shooting stars with the naked eye. I made a version of Music for Stargazing Vol 2 for this year’s trip. But, after listening to it up there, I decided I didn’t like parts of the mix and decided to redo it. Well even with the best laid plans, weeks turned into months. But, vowing to finish this before the end of the year (lol), I finally got the mix to a point where I was satisfied with it.

So here it is after a very long delay. I hope you enjoy Music for Stargazing Vol 2. With this mix, I took the advice of some listeners and encoded the mix at a bitrate of 320k—hence the larger file size. I’d also like to give a special shout-out to my listeners in Russia. I’ve gotten quite a few e-mails from folks in Russia lately saying kind things about my mixes. A special thank to everyone in Russia and around the world. Happy holidays and best wishes for the coming year.

D O W N L O A D S (right click, save link as):

Music for Stargazing Vol 2 MP3 (68:57) (320k) (157 mb)


Cover Art & Score (539 kb zip)


Stream:


T R A C K L I S T I N G


1. Jean Francois Cavro - St Andeol de Clerguemort (field recording)

2. Laurent - Natural Night Sounds in Boquete (field recording)

3. Dave Michuda - Froggies (field recording)

4. Steve Roach - A Deeper Silence (excerpts)

5. Bitcrush - Prologue

6. David Tagg - Waist Deep Sea 1

7. Hammock - City in the Dust in My Window

8. David Helping - Loss of Words

9. Bersarin Quartett - Die Dinge Sind Nie So Wie Sie Sind

10. Cliff Martinez - Hi Energy Proton Accelerator

11. Steve Roach - See Things

12. Jasper Leyland - Charcoal Weir

13. Slowdive - Cello

14. Koda - Dark Secrets We Harbour

15. Talkingmakesnosense - Slow Grounding

16. Manual - Seleva

17. Deepspace - Slow Moving Lifeform 2

18. Stars of the Lid - Mulhlolland

19. Ashera - Temple Ritual

20. Steve Roach - Red Shore

21. Hammock - Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow


“We had the sky up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them and discuss about whether they were made or only just happened."

- Mark Twain


“If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I'll bet they'd live a lot differently.”

- Bill Watterson