Instrumental Mix

In the past, I stayed away from rock instrumental music. Partly because I associated it with the pretentious, bloated, drum-solo-filled schlock that bands like Led Zeppelin and Emerson Lake and Palmer used to pad out their albums and shows, and partly because songs never seemed complete without words. (Although, to be fair, my opinion of most rock lyrics is pretty low.)
Recently, however, there seems to have been a huge jump in the amount of great instrumental music forcing its way into my consciousness. It started with Explosions In the Sky, the Texas band who did the soundtrack for the film "Friday Night Lights," but has expanded as my explorations into dance and its associated genres has expanded - a lot of the instrumental music I have been discovering comes from dance music composers, who seem to be increasingly influenced by the music of composers like Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Terry Reilly, Charlemagne Palestine, and Glenn Branca.
25 years ago, I would listen to Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians" as a way of relaxing. Maybe I - and the world - just need more "relaxing" music more often these days.

This mix started as a list of songs I put together for one of the editors with whom I worked, who needed something "big" to cut to. I liked it so much I turned it into a mix.
Instrumental Mix 1

Playlist:
Clear Light - Lanterna
Looking Down a Hill - Epic45
Wishwash - Saraswa
Future Warriors - Windsurf
A Paw in My Face - The Field
Misty's Reflection - All Systems Ghost
Broken Monitors - B. Fleischman
Waltz for a Little Bird - Rainstick Orchestra
Welcome, Ghosts - Explosions in the Sky
Frozen Twilight - God is an Astronaut
The Boat - Saraswa

Sunday Morning Mix

Here's another mix. It's kind of down tempo, what used to be called chillout, with a couple of Swedish Italo disco songs mixed in. Here's the playlist:
1. Kissing - Mandalay
2. Full Circle Song - Gene Clark
3. Reason to Believe - Tim Hardin
4. Irene Wilde - Alejandro Escovedo
5. Where's the Playground, Susie? - Scud Mountain Boys
6. Jesus Walk with Me - Club 8
7. I'll Be by Your Side - Sally Shapiro
8. Karibien - Air France
9. Hold Me Now - Thompson Twins
10. Misty's Reflection - All System's Ghost
11. The Boat - Saraswa
12. Dance Til the Morning Light - Starflower

Sunday Morning Mix

Soft Rock Mix

I apologise for the scarcity of posts recently. A combination of a heavy workload, a lack of much to post about and an intense education in new technolgy has prevented me from posting as regularly as I would like to.
However my explorations in new (for me) technology has resulted in my obtaining the knowledge to create mixes with crossfades, and I am posting one here. It's soft rock, a term that meant something horrid 25 or 30 years ago and still has some ugly connotations. However, in my opinion, there is a bunch of music from that period that was unfairly dismissed by being classified as such. I have provided a couple of example in this mix, as well as some current music that very proudly calls itself soft rock.
Soft Rock Mix
Tracklist:
1. Quicksilver Girl - Steve Miller Band
2. The Sun in California - The Autumn Defense
3. Gauzy Dress in the Sun - Richard Buckner
4. Joe Purdy - Can't Get It Right Today
5. Windsurf - Windsurf
6. Any Major Dude - Steely Dan
7. Popsicle Orange - The Sorcerer
8. Starsong...What Became of Us - Sylvie Lewis
9. Dancing in the Moonlight - King Harvest
10. Begin Again - California Snow Story
11. It' s a Beautiful Day Today - Moby Grape
Notice I don't attempt to define soft rock. You'll know it when you hear it.