inner travels – phases of a forest moon

inner travels ~ phases of a forest moon (otherworldly mystics, 2015)

Summertime suits very well for ambient music, especially, if this is Inner Travels new cassette! Humidity and warmness, but at the same time - kind chill, generous invitation to the world of imagination. What Steve Targo actually do with these sounds can be called therapy, but not in the old-fashioned new-agey way. It's a very gentle kind of therapy, not a treatment - but just a reminder of what we all have inside. Recent Steve's work called Nourish was some kind of tribute to "plant music" - as I thought at first, but listening to this album, I've realised that this music has much more to do with human heart and soul. If you nourish your soul, it grows and blooms - so, yes, we should treat ourselves as diligent gardeners. Ego always grows easily, like harmful weed, but it's not so easy to grow a fruitful soul. And this music certainly helps!

"Phases of a forest moon" is a nocturne. It has magical dimension, hidden from the surface. Little less naive than very first Inner Travels recordings, but still keeping that childish admiration of Nature, quiet celebration of every moment of life. Virtue, not so common these days. Ordinary emotions under the microscope of ongoing beautifulness, multiplied by careful selections of melodies and timbres. When the moonlight goes down from the sky, we do not say it came. It just is. And it was even when we didn't saw it. Same thing with Inner Travels' music - it seems that Steve just captures it from the air, condensing dissoluted beauty, creating simple forms, as easy as pie. There are many projects making music that comes from mind: calculated, pre-programmed, well-designed. This one is something very different. Intuitive continuation of nature lines and spaces, deep exploration of imagination capabilities...

listen ~ buy

inner travels

  inner travels ~ first light (twin springs tapes, 2014) 

"I recently discovered Lawrence Jordan’s “Winter Light,” and now I think that might have been a better title for the Inner Travels debut. But I chose “First Light” because it means dawn, which is my favorite time of day. Also, it’s the first of what I hope to be many albums of “light” music. Jordan’s 1983 short film, with its sweeping camera movements and hazy, colorful images of nature, evoke the same responses I have to the music of “First Light” ~ warmth, peace, discovery. This is not the kind of winter we have here in Wisconsin, which oscillates from snowfall to subzero chills on a weekly basis. But both winters have their own beauty. The cover image may look like mountains, but it's actually the towering snow banks along Illinois Route 47.   I played keyboards and ran tape loops through outboard effects boxes, twiddling knobs in the hopes that these machines would take me someplace warmer, more tranquil and relaxing, like Jordan’s winter. I hope this album takes all who listen to it there, too." steve targo 

"be transported to realms within, and listen as your innermost being dissolves into pure light: the First Light. this radiant energy flows from the eternal essence of Being, and breathes life & harmony into all things ~ it is the very soul of the universe. see that you are the cosmos becoming aware of itself. breathe in, let go. allow Inner Travels to guide you on a journey of deep contemplation and serene revelation immersed in sound tranquility. Enter the Light..." twin springs tapes

estoy abrumada...la cantidad de discos preciosos que se han ido acumulando estos meses es tal que reconozco que a veces me generan hasta ansiedad, pero también me motivan, me inspiran, me dan alegría. ojalá pudiera abarcarlos todos, recomendarlos todos, dedicarles a todos las palabras bonitas que sin duda se merecen. pero soy consciente de que al final la realidad es que no hay tiempo suficiente, ni palabras suficientes. en fin, he aquí uno de ellos: Inner Travels, el nuevo proyecto, para mí soñado, de Steve Targo de Riot Meadows. un vuelco al corazón a la altura de Tim Robertson. un flechazo. 'first light' parece uno de esos tesoros largamente escondidos con los que Sounds of the Dawn nos deleita y nos sorprende de vez en cuando (los detalles, el sonido, la intención, incluso la tipografía), pero tiene el espíritu de las cosas nuevas, estimulantes, la frescura de las cintas grabadas en casa, en la cocina, en el porche al amanecer, o al atardecer. la prueba más elocuente de que hasta imitando a los músicos más inimitables se puede crear un estilo propio. diez canciones como diez soles que duran un suspiro y suenan como clásicos de hace tres décadas, de hecho la número tres, o la preciosísima numero cuatro,  me recuerdan a 'clouds' y 'crystals' de Craig Kupka. tanta es la magia.  'first light', que está inspirado en 'winter light', un corto de 1983 de Lawrence Jordan, posee el encanto, y el asombro, y esa sensación de flotar en el espacio de los viejos discos de new age. sé que corre el riesgo de acabar traspapelado entre la avalancha de cintas que, día tras día, hace del ambient y el new age un socorrido e hiperpoblado lugar común, y de verdad que sería una pena...el cariño a los discos así de bonitos y con tan buenas influencias no se le puede perder. pero no insisto más, no vaya a ser que de tanto elogio se os quiten las ganas de escucharlo.

listen ~ buy

riot meadows

os dejo con 'garden inside her soul', preciosa canción inédita, pajaritos, flautas, de riot meadows que steve ha querido compartir con el blog. "exclusive track for microphones in the trees", todo un honor, de verdad que sí. imperdonable habernos olvidado de incluir temporal drift tape, disco circular donde los haya que invita a escucharlo una y otra vez  y que siempre me teletransporta a un día de lluvia y viento en la playa, en la lista de discos favoritos del dosmildoce. aunque siempre estaremos a tiempo de incluir 'garden inside her soul' y 'brush walk' en la lista de mejores canciones, o de hacer trampa y colarlo en la de mejores discos...'fine tunning sunrise' o 'let the wind carry you' son también demasiado bonitas como para no hacerlo

 riot meadows ~ garden inside her soul

"This is the sound of how a very special person in my life makes me feel. The recording began a couple weeks ago as a sonic experiment with bird sounds, a Korg Monotron & delay pedals. Nearly every time I added something to this ~ including my own attempts at playing the flute ~ it seemed to fit perfectly. Not sure if this will be on the next release, which I'm still recording, so I thought I'd share it now. Hope you enjoy it." steve targo/riot meadows

photo collage: steve targo

riot meadows

riot meadows ~ temporal drift tape (self~released, 2012)

"the new transient luminous phenomena runs close to the skin. majestic satellites that look like bushy pillars of greenery can be found sailing 20 feet above water. succulent green pods appeared to respond to a light being switched on and off, to a verbal or radio message, and even to an unspoken thought in the mind. a fetal mountainscape of letters, computer printouts and inter-departmental memos emerged from the red-brown metamorphic rock and blue-black mutations of old volcanic waste. the barren country, gilded by evening light as people raise monuments along a thin white line fading into darkness." steve targo aka riot meadows

"Riot Meadows is the handle for a 39-year-old journalist in a Southeastern Wisconsin tourist town who sculpts sonic environments and creates photo collages. 'temporal drift tape' is Riot Meadows's debut, recorded over a period of seven years."

steve nos pidió que dejásemos un link a 'temporal drift tape' y nosotros encantados, su música no puede ser más bonita, drones y sonidos orgánicos de naturaleza acuática, aves tropicales, lluvia y olas rompiendo en la orilla, un festín de texturas que nos recuerdan a venn rain, the aloha spirit, meadowlands,...

listen/buy ~  let the wind carry you

collage: sarah eisenlohr