PODCAST · music
Ambientblog Mixes
by Peter van Cooten for Ambientblog.net
A series of cinematic mixes/collages published on Ambientblog.net. Non-stop layered immersion created from fragments and samples of ambient/electronic/experimental (and related) music.
Episodes
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Winter Solstice 7
For the 7th year, the Dutch radio station Concertzender schedules an 8-hour ambient all-nighter on the night of the Winter Solstice (December 21, 2025). Compiled by four radio producers – Roel Janssen, Harrold Roeland, Bob Rusche, and myself – each of us presenting a two-hour selection. My...
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Opus
After publishing many ambient mix-collages (87 and counting!), I decided to challenge myself. What if I combined ambient soundscapes and classical music? Would that work out? This proved to be more difficult than I expected. It proved to be much easier to combine abstract atmospheric music than...
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Winter Solstice 6
The Winter Solstice Ambient Night on Concertzender Nederland has become a yearly tradition: this is the sixth edition already of the 8-hour ambient music night presented by four of their radio show hosts. Like in all previous editions, I'm honored to close the night with a two-hour collage. My...
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Winter Solstice 5
My 2-hour contribution to the fifth edition of the 8-hour Winter Solstice broadcast on Concertzender Nederland. 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...
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In Praise of the Saddest Chord
Could this be ‘the saddest mix of all time’? I don’t think so myself, I would rather call it melancholic – in a pleasant way. But it’s a fact that all of these tracks are in D minor (Dm), which is said to be ‘the saddest chord’:“The D minor chord (often written as Dm) is a chord that evokes a…
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Winter Solstice 4: “In C”
This is my contribution to the fourth ambient night on Concertzender Nederland, which is traditionally scheduled on or around midwinter solstice. It was broadcast from 5:00-7:00 AM on December 25, and closed the 8-hour night. As in all of my (Ambientblog) mixes, Winter Solstice 4 is a collage...
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Cloudwatching
Most (if not all) previous Ambientblog mixes always had some dark moments in them, they are never 'just' relaxing. You can only feel release if you also felt tension. This time, I wanted to avoid the darkness and create a 'lighter mood mix'. Not of the 'Ibiza Chillout Lounge' kind, but one that…
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Time To Listen
Apart from its opening sample - 'It is time to stop seeing. It is time to stop speaking. It is time to listen', from David Cronenberg's Crimes Of the Future - this mix has no central theme or story. It's up to you, the listener to take the time to listen and go with the flow. Let your fantasy…
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Winter Solstice 3
This mix is created for radio broadcast between 5-7 am, but it is not intended to induce sleep: it is way too 'active' for that. I created this with the intention to manipulate your dreams when you're asleep or half-awake at the time of the broadcast. In that case, it shouldn't be played too loud...
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Ambient Daydream
Just imagine yourself sitting in a local bar at the end of the day. A bit tired, your head full of thoughts. The murmuration of the people around you slowly gets blurry as you drift off. Your thoughts begin to wander, memories are mixed with fantasies and places you never even visited. Until now....
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SoundWave
This mix is simply named after the podcast itself: SoundWave. It is a happy coincidence that it literally starts with 'waves' - sonically manipulated by Jos Smolders - and ends with the same waves morphing into the sound of a cheering crowd. Different kinds of soundwaves are all around us, every...
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Winter Solstice 2
Music For Long Winter Nights This is my 2-hour contribution to the (7-hour) ambient music night on Concertzender Nederland radio, which was broadcast in the December 19-20 night. When compiling this set, I tried to keep in mind that this was intended to be listened to in the deepest and darkest…
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Upon Departure
When I first heard Christine Ott's Comma, I felt that this piece should be the starting point of a new mix. In the end, it became the final piece of the same mix - somewhat a movie's intro and end credits.I did not start this mix with a specific theme in mind. Its title only occurred to me after…
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Fragmented Dialogue
I'm very honoured to present this collaboration mix with Dave Michuda from Low Light Mixes, who has been a source of inspiration from the very beginning of Ambientblog.net. When we talked (or rather: mailed, since Wisconsin and Holland are not exactly near) about creating a mix together, we chose...
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Lockdown
If you listen back, most of my mixes have a rather dark edge to them. There's always a lot of 'tension/release' - but in this case, it seems there's a bit more 'tension' than 'release'. Sign of the times, probably…I tried to find another name (and image) for this mix, but it seems that only one...
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Winter Solstice
A two-hour mix for the longest night: Winter Solstice. To be played (and hopefully enjoyed) in the deepest darkness. "Dream All The Dark Away" ... --- originally published on Ambientblog --- December 21 is the longest night in the Northern hemisphere. It marks the start of Winter (even though it…
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Radical Candor
The mix title, Radical Candor, comes from the (management) philosophy that argues that feedback (on behaviour) is most effective if it is 'challenging' but at the same time shows that you 'care'. I felt there was a resemblance: the mix is 'caring' at times but can also be quite 'challenging' to…
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Delusional
"For me, personally, a mix has the most impact when it feels like I'm watching a movie. With ups, downs, some drama, sentiment, moment of joy, climax and anticlimax. And yes: tension and release." --- originally published on Ambientblog --- When I started working on this mix, its working title…
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James & Anne
Headphone Commute, Ambientblog and Slowcraft Records are proud to present a unique mix by a colleague and partner in crime, Peter van Cooten, of beautiful works from a beautiful couple: James Murray and Anne Garner --- originally published on Ambientblog --- The inspiration for this mix came…
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No Stars
"Follow me into a movie that you might want to see sometime... a movie that's happening in the back of your own head..." And remember: "use your ears, not your prejudices"... --- originally published on Ambientblog --- Playlist:(first time is the start time, time in brackets is the sample length)...
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Bipolar (HC-PvC)
A collaboration mix with Headphone Commute's Mike Lazarev, in which we take five minutes for each turn without knowing the others tracklist. The result: Bipolar! --- originally published on Ambientblog --- We had no clear concept for this mix when we started, other than 'each turn takes 5…
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Mind Awake, Body Asleep
The moment I heard Rami Malek whisper "Mind awake, body asleep" (Mr Robot, series 2) I knew this would be the inspiration for a new mix. A mix about half-sleep, lucid dreaming impressions... ungraspable images... and about "letting go". After all, Mr. Robot's tagline was "Control is an Illusion"....
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Perception Management
Your reality is manipulated. Your perception is managed. Your thoughts are not your own. Reality is imaginary. This mix is inspired by 'Hypernormalisation'. --- originally published on Ambientblog --- Playlist start time – sample length – Artist – TitleAlbum Title, Year, Label Details 00:00 01:52...
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Solace
"Life can only be remembered backwards, but it must be lived forwards." The central piece provides the title for this mix: Solace - "Comfort in sorrow, misfortune. Consolation." This Fovea Hex track literally breathes consolation in every single note, so it seemed a good starting point for this...
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Secret 41
Because of the drones, atmospheric field recordings and insect sounds, this mix will be labeled as an 'ambient' mix by most listeners. And of course it is.... but at the same time it isn't. It simply isn't 'unobtrusive' enough to be 'ambient'. An hour-long journey of scene changes, meandering...
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Anniversary Collection: “Rope To The Sky”
On October 26, 1985, Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown arrives in his flying DeLorean time machine and persuades Marty McFly and his girlfriend, Jennifer Parker, to come back to the future with him. They arrive on October 21, 2015 Only now we found out why they chose this date! --- originally published on...
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Entropic
.... slowly evolving to a state of inert uniformity .... retracing information that was lost from the message ... searching for the uniformity in what seems to be randomly disordered ... --- originally published on Ambientblog --- Playliststart time sample length Artist – TitleAlbum Title…
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Ghost Road Stroll
This mix is made to be published in the excellent series of mixes on the "Sounds of a Tired City", part of the larger website with the same name.Inspired by the site name, I decided I wanted to try to create a sonic 'walk' through a 'tired' city. A mix with a lot of scene changes... like walking...
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Jam Karet (Elastic Time)
"Jam Karet" is Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language) meaning "Elastic Time" (or "Rubber Hours"). To me, this concept also applies to mixes that include ambient and drone fragments... where the listener gets immersed in sound in such a way that all notion of time is lost; where music could last…
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Siren Song
This mix is built around mysterious vocals. Vocals that may guide you, or lure you, into distances unknown. Often, but not exclusively, female, and some of them not even human - like the beautiful flute-playing by Jean-Christophe Bonnafous, or the mysterious singing sound of the comet...
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Mental Health Hotline
"Mental Health Hotline" is the second 'collaborative dialogue' created together with Christophe 'Klankschap' Ywaska. (The first was "Both Were Moving", 2012). Each selection a reaction to the previous addition means the story may have some unexpected turns and views... especially with over 50...
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Synaptic Research
For this mix I aimed to create a dreamlike and timeless atmosphere - dark (but not too dark). It is calm, yet there are many shifting scenes, many passing landscapes and some conflicting emotions... When it ends, (I hope) it feels as if it was much longer than it actually was ... --- originally...
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Incidental Memories
If one of the criteria for 'ambient' music is that you can comfortably fall asleep to it, I guess you'd better skip this particular mix. Although it starts quiet and reassuring with soothing vocal chords from Silvestrov's "The Lord's Prayer", the mood disintegrates and sometimes can become rather...
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Tristesse D’Automne
"Autumn is here. Darkness slowly creeps up just a little bit earlier. Clouds get grayer and swell up with rain. Trees shed their colors and tighten their belts. And people begin to prepare for winter. But among all the shadows there’s a small ray of light. And with that glow comes the music… For...
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Parallax
"I'm not formed by things that are of myself alone" This is the key quote (taken from Stoker) for this mix, which is also 'not formed by things of itself alone'. Every detail, every short sample, has its origin in another context, another musical composition, from which it is taken to find a new...
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Rust
The title of this mix is taken from the beautiful soundtrack it heavily leans on: Alexandre Desplat's "Rust and Bone" ("De Rouille et D'Os"). "Rust" usually refers to 'decay', but in dutch "Rust" simply also means 'rest', ('tranquil - or 'repos' in french). But - as we say in Holland: "Rust…
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26 Shades of Darkness
The sheer volume of the Headphone Commute’s '…And Darkness Came' compilation – issued as a charity fundraising for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, and boasting 87 tracks (over 6 hours) of music – was also a kind of invitation to create a mix from it. --- originally published on Ambientblog ---...
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Broken Lines
If you have ever watched Stanley Kubrick's "2001 - Space Odyssey", you will definitely remember the impressive scene in which the memory modules are slowly taken away from HAL, the ship's main computer, because it started to disfunction and became a threat to the astronauts and their mission.…
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“Both Were Moving”
When Christophe Ywaska, creator of the weekly Klankschap radio shows on VillaBota webradio suggested working on a mix together, I knew we were in for a sonic treat. Klankschap mixes are never "just" ambient - or "just" any other genre for that matter. Their tracklistings are a display of a deep...
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Gathering Clouds
This must be one of the darkest mixes I have created until now. I recommend headphone listening for this mix, but also recommend to avoid late night listening - unless, of course, you know what to expect. The atmosphere is immediately set with the first notes, with a threatening (Boduf Songs)…
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Flowers and Bones
"We were playing Hide and Seek on a Cemetery Hill... ...quiet hiding in the flowers...among the Flowers and Bones..." Atmospheric drones slowly unfold into childhood memories ... Peaceful melancholic romanticism, but gradually overshadowed by fear of something out of control? Remember: all is…
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Solaris Mindset
Andrej Tarkovsky's 1972 movie "Solaris" inspired this mix-collage. This mix includes many different sources. Some parts of the originals Artemyev soundtrack are linked to fragments of the beautiful game soundtrack from Skyrim, by Jeremy Soule. The cinematic parts are alternated with various...
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Stillness
This mix obviously found its name from the lovely intro (and outtro) track by Nest. Inbetween, there are many moments of 'stillness', too... Moments you may slowly drift off into the drones, letting your mind wander ... to be pulled back again by some of the post-classical 'anchors' in this mix....
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November Thoughts
In the Northern Hemisphere, the November month is the month of Autumn: the month that summer is definitely over, when cold and darkness slowly creeps in. (In the Southern Hemisphere, November is a month of Spring - which means this mix will probably not fit your "November Thoughts" at all)....
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Teloorgang (Decay and Loss)
"Teloorgang" is a beautiful dutch word that can be best translated with "Loss" or "Decay". Some say there is beauty in decay....This may be true, but in fact only when watched from a safe distance - the 'decay' not regarding ourselves or our own environment.. It is, of course, tempting to relate...
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Discouraging Intruders
The main theme for this mix (as well as the title "Discouraging Intruders" ) came from the spoken word track by the Dwindlers: "What the Wolves Said": "No two of us on the same note, we sound bigger...our harmony discouraging intruders..." Although generally not sounding like a pack of howling...
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Amnesia
Although it was created in March, this mix shows little signs of "Spring". There was no intentional relation, but inevitably the devastating Japan Earthquake, and the frightening nuclear disaster following it, somehow found its way into this mix. The result: a rather dark overall atmosphere…
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Arno Peeters – The Peeters Principle
When I started working on this 'single artist mix' featuring music and sounds from Arno Peeters, I did not realise that creating a mix-collage based on soundscapes would be more difficult than one based on single tracks. A soundscape is a collage in itself - and using fragments from soundscapes…
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Fovea Hex – Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent
When I read that a new Fovea Hex album will be released in the "Very-Imminent-Future", this revived fond memories of their 2007 box set called "Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent". Two quotes may introduce this fascinating collection: Brian Eno thought these were "Some of the Most Extraordinary…
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Dawn Secrets
What exactly happens at the moment night changes back into day again, when darkness slowly retreats and light comes back in? Are we aware of what happens outside, at that time of day most of us are still sleeping? What sort of animals or creatures are hiding from the light, and what sort finally...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A series of cinematic mixes/collages published on Ambientblog.net. Non-stop layered immersion created from fragments and samples of ambient/electronic/experimental (and related) music.
HOSTED BY
Peter van Cooten for Ambientblog.net
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How many episodes does Ambientblog Mixes have?
Ambientblog Mixes currently has 87 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Ambientblog Mixes about?
A series of cinematic mixes/collages published on Ambientblog.net. Non-stop layered immersion created from fragments and samples of ambient/electronic/experimental (and related) music.
How often does Ambientblog Mixes release new episodes?
Ambientblog Mixes has 87 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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You can listen to Ambientblog Mixes on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Ambientblog Mixes?
Ambientblog Mixes is created and hosted by Peter van Cooten for Ambientblog.net.
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