I found this 1959 guidebook at an antique shop and decided to use the art as inspiration for a space themed tape. Like Prairie Gold, I added snippets from broadcasts, films, and commercials found digging through the Internet Archive. The result is a mix of ambient, field recordings, post rock, folktronica, indie rock, and dream pop that leans instrumental. This is The Sky Observer’s Guide.
My vision for this tape was hard to pin down. I didn’t want to just do space ambient or swirly dream pop songs in the vein of Space Song by Beach House because I have done that before on other tapes and playlists. I also was not interested in compiling a batch of songs with strictly space themed titles. Lately, I have been interested in dreamy but earthy field recording music that is rooted in folk. A good example of this is From by Hana Stretton and if you follow my yearly brackets, you’ll likely be seeing this song on there. The feeling this song gives me reminds me of the scene in Interstellar where Cooper gives Dr. Romilly nature sounds to help with his intergalactic cabin fever. This sense of being in space but missing Earth was the biggest driver of the progression of this mix. There is also a sense of regret and themes of time and aliens and delusions of grandeur. If it sounds like I’m crafting a story in my head to pass the time, it’s because I was. It all makes sense to me, if you don’t get it thats on you.
The tape starts with the nostalgic outro refrain of Yesterday by Noname and glides through an instrumental sequence that feels like a launch. Vogt Dig For Kloppervok is a brain-scratchy, sample heavy, folktronica song that maintains the dreamy but earthy vibe I am looking for. I love the whimsy the tremolo vocals bring in the back half. Next is a one-two alt-R&B punch from Dijon and Sampha and their buttery crooning. This first batch of tracks really shows how indecisive I was with what genres I wanted to focus on. Despite that, I am stoked about the glitchy thread that connects them.
The following section dips into time, mistakes, religion, and introduces the feeling of wanting to go home (or wake up maybe it’s all in this character’s head that i made up in my head). During this section there is an abridged version of Patrick Shiroishi’s Researching/rehearsing the Ancestors. It felt a little sacrilegious to cut down one of my favorite ambient compositions but it had to be done in the interest of time. I highly recommend checking out Shiroishi’s ambient stuff and ambient leaning jazz work with Fuubutsushi.
Side B kicks off with two spacey heavy hitters the dreamy, cathartic waltz Doppler and the sprawling twelve and a half minute shoegaze centerpiece Stargazer. This is as spacey as the mix gets, as it then introduces the snippet from Interstellar romanticizing Earth and slides towards a journey home. The quote “Our return to Earth begins“ ushers us into Mac Miller’s pensive Come Back to Earth looking for a way out of his head. The tape finishes off with a similar melodramatic folktronica and space rock mix that it started with. The spanish vocal snippet that begins the final song, Todo salió bien (Carta para un amigo), exclaims “I have decided to face reality!”. A very fitting happy accident, as I did not do that on purpose.
Internet Archive digging for this mix was a trip. I found myself accidentally getting sucked into these archaic space themed movies and broadcasts from the 1950s and mindlessly watching them instead of searching for good snippets.
The list of non-music additions is below:
The Phantom Planet (1961) post-takeoff scene [Side A, 5:56 to 6:26]
"TIME AND ETERNITY" 1955 MOODY SCIENCE INSTITUTE FILM HIGH SPEED PHOTOGRAPHY [Side A, 14:41 to 14:54 and 17:27 to 19:07]
The Case of the UFOs (1984) [Side A, 34:00 to 35:10 and 38:19 to 38:30]
Intersteller (2014) solo yachtsman scene [Side B, 17:23 to 18:11]
View From Space by McGraw-Hill Book Co. (1969) [Side A, 19:08 to 19:19 30:03 to 30:05 and SideB, 22:30 to 22:32 and 24:37 to 25:13)
See below for the full list of songs used:
Side A
Outro of Yesterday by Noname (2016)
Just by claire rousay (2025)
Back half of Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home by Mogwai (1997)
Vogt Dig For Kloppervok by The Books (2005)
Did You See It? by Dijon (2021)
Re-Entry by Sampha (2024)
Heaven’s Gate by Oh, Yoko (2013)
Patchwork by Westside Cowboy (2026)
Back half of Researching/rehearsing the Ancestors by Patrick Shiroishi (2024)
A Dream Goes On Forever by Vegyn (2024)
Angel on a Satellite by Magdalena Bay (2014)
Lilac Twilight by Nabiha Iqbal (2023)
Nosedive by Man/Woman/Chainsaw (2026)
Space 7 by Nala Sinephro (2021)
Side B
ドップラー [Doppler] by Trooper Salute (2026)
Stargazer by honeydip (2000)
From by Hana Stretton (2026)
Us (Tower of Love) by Slauson Malone 1 (2023)
Come Back to Earth by Mac Miller (2018)
Wind Tempos by Porter Robinson (2021)
First half of Dream II: 저울 by Della Zyr (2022)
Todo salió bien (Carta para un amigo) by sueter7 (2026)