Not that long ago I was feeling down, so I did
what any sane person feeling down is apt to do: pull out every Inner Islands
release on the shelf and systematically listen to each one of them, one by one,
until I attain enlightenment. Or something. The point, of course, is to heal
thyself. And, as listener of said recordings, I did heal thyself. Myself.
Whatever.
Sean Conrad curates his label with this in
mind, and as Ashan he contributes his own work to the corpus. He’s done this
before – thirteen times as Ashan alone – and the results are never less than
stunning. But for Conrad, “stunning” doesn’t refer to “in your face,” or indeed
an overwhelming sensation in any way. “Stunning” here is the sense of cosmic
peacefulness one attains while listening to an Ashan (or, broadly, Inner
Islands) release. “Stunning” refers to how “stunningly” peaceful I feel while I’m
awash in Ashan sounds.
Sacred
Spring is the third in Conrad’s Drifters Series, following Far Drift Afield and Transfigurations – incidentally two of
the releases that helped calm and center me in my time of distress. It too
promises and utterly delivers a majestic quiet, a solitude where thoughts merge
with the rest of the body, where deep peace is achieved among the flow of the infinite.
The concept of forever contained in a hidden mountain spring is too tempting to
not reach for it whenever possible. I think Sacred
Spring is going to make a welcome addition to my emergency Inner Islands
stash.
https://ashan.bandcamp.com/
https://innerislands.bandcamp.com/
--Ryan
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