It has become some kind of tradition: on the Winter Solstice night (December 21-22 in the Northern hemisphere), the Dutch radio station Concertzender Nederland presents the fifth all-night 8-hour ambient night from 23:00 until 07:00 (CET). Four radio hosts create a 2-hour set each – I am honored to contribute the final part.
For those who can’t stay awake all night: the full 8 hours will stay available for on-demand streaming afterward!
Thís page here on Ambientblog presents my contribution to this night, a mix that you can enjoy and/or download if you wish. Additionally, I have also made a surround version which you can find on the Surround page.
(And if you want to check out the previous 4 contributions: be my guest!)
For this fifth Winter Solstice mix, I chose fragments (most of them heavily edited) that are all more or less in the same key. In the first hour all tracks are in B-minor, in the second hour the tracks are in F-minor (first half) and A-minor (closing half). These chords define the overall atmosphere: from ‘solitary, melancholic’ to ‘obscure, funereal’, and finally ‘tender, soothing’.
At least, that’s what the theory says. In the end, it’s the listener that associates his emotions with the soundscapes. But one thing is clear: these two hours definitely fit the darkest and longest of nights.
TRACKLIST:
Start time Sample length Artist – Title
Album Title, Year, Label
- 00:00 2:25 Svartsinn – Traces Of Nothingness (Kammarheit Mix)
Elegies For The End, 2009, Cyclic Law - 01:12 5:42 Max Richter – Movement Study
Voices 2, 2021, Decca - 07:41 3:15 Keosz – Trust No One
Neven OST, 2023, Cryo Chamber - 08:28 2:35 Illuminine – Dualismus 3
3, 2018, Ferryhouse Productions - 10:38 2:14 David Cordero – All Your Silences
Among Pale Trees, 2023, Lontano Series - 12:21 2:29 The Broken Cradle – The Oracle
Gilead, 2021, self-released - 14:29 1:16 Cliff Martinez – See You In Four
Drive (OST), 2011, Invada - 14:59 2:35 Sleepingdog – Kitten Plays The Harmony Rocket
With Our Heads In The Clouds & Our Hearts In The Fields, 2011, Zealrecords - 17:17 2:19 Dean Hurley – Eastern European Symphonic Mood No. 1
Anthology Resource Vol. 1, 2017, Sacred Bones Records - 18:36 2:43 Underwater Sleep Orchestra – Abandon
Insomnolence, 2023, Cryo Chamber - 20:49 5:39 Ian Hawgood, Stijn Hüwels, James Murray – Day Falls
Day Falls, 2021, Home Normal - 24:45 2:23 A Winged Victory For The Sullen – A Minor Fifth Is Made Of Phantoms
The Undivided Five, 2019, Ninja Tune - 26:25 3:42 Oren Ambarchi – The Strouhal Number
Intermission 2000-2008, 2009, Touch - 29:25 1:54 Elisa Luu – Piano
Underwater Noises, 2010, Ephre Imprint - 30:36 3:17 Michel Banabila – Des Traces Retrouvées 2 – II
Trespassing/Marilli, 2017, Séance Centre - 33:24 3:30 Michel Redolfi – Nocturnal
Sonic Waters, Underwater Music 1979-1987, 2021, Sub Rosa - 36:16 4:21 Loscil – City Hospital
City Hospital,2012, Wist Rec - 39:18 2:43 Kate Carr – Shy, Typically Alone Or In pairs
A Field Guide To Phantasmic Birds, 2023, Room40 - 40:46 3:41 Galya Bisengalieva – Moynaq
Aralkum, 2020, One Little Independent Records - 44:08 1:40 Freya Arde – Shimmer
String Layers II, 2022, 7K! - 45:26 1:15 Hammock – Elsewhere
Elsewhere, 2021, Hammock Music - 46:28 2:18 Benedicte Maurseth – Snø Over Sysendalen
Hárr, 2022, Hubro - 48:32 3:27 Erik Wøllo – Echotides No. 2
Echotides, 2015, Projekt - 51:32 1:51 Marielle V Jakobsons – Shale Hollows
Glass Canyon, 2012, Students Of Decay - 52:22 2:08 Mahsa Vahdat, Kronos Quartet, Marjan Vahdat – My Tresses In the Wind
Placeless, 2019, Kirkelig Kulturverksted - 54:08 3:00 Michaelsberg – Refugio #8
Refugio, 2020, self-released - 55:33 4:17 James Murray – Found
Eiléan 100, 2019, Eiléan Records - 59:16 4:28 Aleksi Myllykoski ft. Tapani Rinne – Signature Dark
Silent Chaos, 2023, Signature Dark - 62:47 2:40 A-Sun Amissa – Plucking Feathers From A Swan Song
Black Rain, 2020, Gizeh Records - 65:07 3:00 Arve Henriksen – Le Cimetière Marin
Places Of Worship, 2013, Rune Grammofon - 67:55 2:55 Selaxon Lutberg – Untitled
Simboli Accidentali, 2013, Denovali - 70:08 2:30 Ruairi O’Baoighill – Veil
The Faceless One, 2014, Cursed Monk Records - 71:40 3:33 S.E.T.I. – Primordial Bonds
Sleep Environments For Interplanetary Travel, 2018, Power & Steel - 74:03 4:59 Yui Onodera – Ray 11 ft. Robert Lippok
Ray, 2020, Serein - 78:34 3:24 Kyle Bobby Dunn – Empty Gazing
A Young Person’s Guide To …, 2010, Low Point - 81:18 5.23 Clarice Jensen – Love
Esthesis, 2022, 130701 - 84:15 4:59 BJ Nilsen – Alpe Djouan
Massif Trophies, 2017, Editions Mego - 86:44 5:21 Jan M. Iversen – Harmegas
Standalones, 2010, TIBprod - 90:23 4:17 LLyn Y Cwyn – Doppler Current Profiler
Sargo/Posidonia, 2023, Cold Spring - 93:33 3:02 Jari Pitkänen – Nemesia
Numiana, 2010, Enough Records - 95:30 4:01 Underwater Sleep Orchestra – Counting Poisoned Sheep
Insomnolence, 2023, Cryo Chamber - 97:45 4:01 Sarah Davachi – Composition Of Flowers (Excerpt)
Selected Works II, 2023, Late Music - 99:59 2:32 Christina Giannone – Zone 1
Zone 7, 2022, Room40 - 102:06 2:17 Paweł Kuczyński – Anticipatry Grief
Biosignatures, 2023, Pointless Geometry - 102:58 3:42 Antonymes – Coming Into Silence
The Gramophone Suite, 2023, Les Disques de L’Accalmie - 106:01 5:15 Savaran – The Forest
Resonances, 2011, Feedback Loop Label - 109:26 3:27 Machinefabriek – Stillness #6 (Lemaire Channel, Antarctica)
Stillness Soundtracks II, 2019, Glacial Movements Records - 112:38 2:49 A Winged Victory For The Sullen – The Divided City
Invisible Cities, 2021, Artificial Pine Arch Manufacturing - 115:23 4:32 Aret Madilian – Sirius
The Abbey Project, 2022, self-released
OR: Listen on Mixcloud, Spotify or iTunes:
A deep atmosphere! Thanks!
Otro año mas, es una delicia escuchar su seleccion obras para elaborar tan ecelente mix, muchas gracias por su trabajo.
Saluos desde España, donde muchos celebramos no el solsticio, si no la navidad
FELICES FIESTAS Y PROSPERO AÑO NUEVO.
Thank you!