Various Artists - Someplace You Cannot See (2024)

This is a mix that I made when I was really, really going through it, probably in late April of last year. Unlike the last mix I posted, this one I really put some time into, piecing it all together into two suite-style, 46-minute sequences in Garageband over the course of a few days. It's pretty depressing, obviously, but I was in desperate need of an outlet, and it's definitely one of the best mixes I've ever made. There's a ton that I could write about why I chose each track on here, but y'all have already heard enough about my grief, so I'll just let you enjoy it however you like.

(To be clear: this is two 46-minute tracks.)

Safely floating away

My lantern dim

With a wick I didn't light

I never even asked for light

Includes songs from:

Michael Stearns - Floating Whispers (1987)

Andy Partridge & Harold Budd - Through the Hill (1994)

David Torn - What Means Solid, Traveller? (1996)

Lullaby for the Working Class - I Never Even Asked for Light (1997)

Songs of Green Pheasant - Songs of Green Pheasant (2005)

Growing - His Return (2005)

Asva - What You Don't Know Is Frontier (2007)

Snowman - Absence (2011)

Mark Isham - Mark Isham (1990)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Mark Isham - Castalia (1988)
Mark Isham - Tibet (1989)

More artful, ambient jazz from trumpeter Mark Isham. Some songs -- particularly the ones featuring the simmering vocals of Tanita Takiram -- lean heavier into adult-contempo, and land in similarly evocative, nocturnal territory as The Blue Nile, circa Hats. Also features the glistening, fluid guitar stylings of David Torn.

Track listing:
1. Honeymoon Nights
2. I Will Never Know
3. Marionette
4. An Eye on the World
5. Blue Moon
6. Ashes and Diamonds
7. Toward the Infinite White
8. Songs of the Flying Fish
9. Turkish Delight

To forget for a moment

If you like this, listen to:

Manfred Schoof & Rainer Brüninghaus -
Shadows & Smiles (1989)

John Taylor, Norma Winston,
& Kenny Wheeler - Azimuth (1977)

Bruford Levin Upper Extremities - Bruford Levin Upper Extremities (1998)

Related:
Bill Bruford - One of a Kind (1979)
David Torn - Cloud About Mercury (1987)
David Torn, Mick Karn, & Terry Bozzio - Polytown (1994)
David Torn - What Means Solid, Traveller? (1996)
Vernon Reid, Elliot Sharp, & David Torn - GTR OBLQ (1998)

Atmospheric but hard-hitting fusion/prog from four insanely talented musicians. Pretty much anything David Torn touches turns to gold, and this is no exception, even though it's definitely ponytail-core.

Track listing:
1. Cerulean Sea
2. Original Sin
3. Etude Revisited
4. A Palace of Pearls (On a Blade of Grass)
5. Fin de Siecle
6. DrumBass
7. Cracking the Midnight Glass
8. Torn DrumBass
9. Thick with Thin Air
10. Cobalt Canyons
11. Deeper Blue
12. Presidents Day

And, well, I found no bottom

You should also check out:

Cam Newton -
Welcome Aliens (1980)

Arcana -
The Last Wave (1995)

Vernon Reid, Elliott Sharp, David Torn - GTR OBLQ (1998)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
David Torn - Cloud About Mercury (1987)
David Torn, Mick Karn, & Terry Bozzio - Polytown (1994)
David Torn - What Means Solid, Traveller? (1996)

Abstract, experimental fusion from a group of highly accomplished guitarists. Sonically varied and texturally rich, with some glitchy programmed drums and full-on shredding pyrotechnics.

Track listing:
1. The Sentinel
2. Achrono Mites
3. Slightly East
4. Reflections Of
5. Vidya & Itch
6. Xenomorph
7. Valse Oblique

Applause

You might also like:

Steve Tibbetts -
The Fall of Us All (1994)

Tunnels -
Painted Rock (1999)

David Torn, Mick Karn, & Terry Bozzio - Polytown (1994)

Related:
David Torn - Cloud About Mercury (1987)
Alesini & Adreoni - Marco Polo (1995)
David Torn - What Means Solid, Traveler? (1996)

Abstract, dynamic fusion with a cloudy, psychedelic atmosphere. Overdriven peaks, barely-there ambient valleys, and everything in between. Another record that I've been meaning to post for years.

Track listing:
1. Honey Sweating
2. Palms for Lester
3. Open Letter to the Heart of Diaphora
4. Bandaged by Dreams
5. Warrior Horsemen of the Spirit Thundering Over the Hill
6. Snail Hair Dune
7. This Is the Abduction Scene
8. Red Sleep
9. Res Majuko
10. City of the Dead

In the fifth dimension

More along these lines:

Mark Isham -
Castalia (1988)

Steve Tibbetts -
The Fall of Us All (1994)

Alesini & Andreoni - Marco Polo (1995)

Marco Pollo defies easy categorization, so it's not an ideal candidate for one of my half-assed write-ups, but it certainly encompasses a great deal of what this blog is about; there's a bit of new age-y synth ambience, some quasi-tribal drumming, spaced-out sax solos, hints of 90's electronica, even a touch of smokey Twin Peaks jazz. Plus, featured on the album are three of my absolute favorite musicians: Harold Budd, David Sylvian, and David Torn. If only they'd somehow managed to work some black metal in there, then it'd pretty much be Opium Hum: The Album.

Track listing:
1. Come Morning
2. Quinsal La Citta' del Cielo
3. Yangchow
4. The Golden Way
5. Sumatra
6. M. Polo
7. Il Libro Dell' Incessante Accordo Con Il Cielo
8. Maya
9. Buchara
10. Kubilay Khan
11. Samarca
12. The Valley of Pamir
13. Maya (Nocturne Version) [bonus]

Lost in the marketplace
As if half-born

You should also hear:

Michael Shrieve & Steve Roach -
The Leaving Time (1988)

Steve Tibbetts -
The Fall of Us All (1994)

David Torn - What Means Solid, Traveller? (1996)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
David Torn - Cloud About Mercury (1987)

Experimental fusion from guitarist David Torn. Torn always reminds me of Steve Tibbetts, and it's not just their penchant for tribal drumming and other 'exotic' forms of instrumentation; they're both undeniably dexterous players who nonetheless emphasize texture and atmosphere over chops. One of his most satisfying solo records, What Means Solid, Traveller? starts in a gnarled, dissonant place, and ends in ethereal, ambient nirvana.

Track listing:
1. Spell Breaks with the Weather
2. What Means "Solid", Traveller?
3. Such Little Mirrors
4. Tiny Burns a Bridge
5. Gidya Hana
6. Each Prince, to His Kingdom, Must Labor to Go
7. Particle Bugs @ Purulia Station
8. I Will Not Be Free...
9. ... 'Til You Are Free
10. Elsewhere, Now Than Waving

Specific unbalance

You might also like:

The Gary Burton Quintet - Ring (1974)

Arcana - The Last Wave (1995)

David Torn - Cloud About Mercury (1987)

Related:
Mark Isham - Castalia (1988)
Michael Shrieve - Stiletto (1989)

One of my top-ten ECM records, easy. Pulsing synths, exotic instrumentation, soaring guitars, tribal percussion, and other things that the old me would have hated, but present-day me goes apeshit for. Speaking of me, I'm going camping, so bye.

Track listing:
1. Suyafhu Skin... Snapping the Hollow Reed
2. The Mercury Grid
3. Three Minutes of Pure Entertainment
4. Previous Man
5. Network of Sparks, a) The Delicate Code
6. Network of Sparks, b) Egg Learns to Walk... Suyafhu Seal

Warrior horsemen of the spirit thundering over hills of doubt to a place of hope

Mark Isham - Castalia (1988)

Atmospheric jazz fusion led by trumpeter and synth-enthusiast Mark Isham, with the help of a bunch of contributing musicians, including guitarist David Torn and Mick Karn, bassist for Japan. Pillowy production and some gorgeous, ambient/new age pieces, such as personal favorite "In the Warmth of Your Night".

Track listing:
1. The Grand Parade
2. Tales from the Maiden
3. In the Warmth of Your Night
4. My Wife with Champagne Shoulders
5. A Meeting with the Parabolist
6. A Dream of Three Acrobats
7. The Gracious Core

Sweet circle

Michael Shrieve - Stiletto (1989)

Previously on OPIUM HUM
Stomu Yamashta, Steve Winwood, & Michael Shrieve - Go (1976)
Michael Shrieve & David Beal - The Big Picture (1988)
Michael Shrieve & Steve Roach - The Leaving Time (1989)

Stiletto is a first-rate album, led by drummer Michael Shrieve, of icy, atmospheric jazz that would have sounded right at home on ECM. Fans of Terje Rypdal will appreciate the shimmering, swelling guitar work of David Torn, an incredible guitarist whose work I really should have posted on here by now. Also, if you haven't already, I highly recommend checking out The Leaving Time, Shrieve's collaboration with Steve Roach, which I have linked above.

Track listing:
1. Scratch
2. Moon Over You
3. Las Vegas Tango
4. Gauguin's Regret
5. Stiletto
6. Four Winds
7. Bella Coola

The invisible architect