PATH OF THE SUN “Path of the Sun” C40 (Inner Islands)

 

It’s sort of not fair, is it? Daniel Guillén (Lunaria) and Steve Targo (Inner Travels) uniting under one moniker for forty minutes of cosmic drift? And yet they do, as Path of the Sun, perhaps the most aptly named collaboration in existence. What do you think, in your mind, the sun sounds like as it hurtles through space, part of the Milky Way galaxy, ever pressed outward as a result of the Big Bang? I’ll give you a hint: press play on this baby.
 
It’s not fair because you’re powerless against it, much like anything in the sun’s way on its celestial path is powerless against it, plowed through or over, or sucked into orbit, or simply obliterated, matter and molecules blasted this way and that by the energy of an actual bloody star. Sounds daunting! But wait, take a step back a minute – remember that everything’s relative? OK, with that in mind, observe the sun from a great distance. Doesn’t look like it’s moving very much, does it? Planets don’t seem to be either. More like hovering. Peaceful. Intense. Soundtracked by synthesizers.
 
That’s the Path of the Sun experience. That’s how it makes you feel. That’s how Daniel Guillén and Steve Targo work their magic, their alchemy, their science. It’s weight and release all at once, gravity and freedom. The push and pull is incredibly gratifying.
 
https://lunariamusic.bandcamp.com/
 
https://innertravels.bandcamp.com/
 
https://innerislands.bandcamp.com/
 
--Ryan

INNER TRAVELS “Nature Spirit” C40 (Inner Islands)

In just over a half-decades’s time, and over a dozen and a half releases, Wisconsin’s Inner Travels has trekked across many (if not all) of New Age’s sub-sub-strains, and, with “Nature Spirit”, out on Inner Islands, it may be safe to say that Steve Targo has dreamt up his most centering, beatific release to date.

Across three tracks, IT* calmly guides our mind’s ear through confidences of crisply executed field recordings** that stretch well into our subconscious as Halpernian anti-riff after eye-surrendering anti-riff of reverb-drenched glockenspiel/chime runs and sunshine-doused synth-pad washes each take turns un-hooking us from any semblance of movement or melody, untethering us from any likeness of compositional scaffold and expectation…and, ultimately, anxiety.

This is capital-H “HEALING” stuff, and is truly, absolutely perfect for unwinding after a very long day/life.

https://innerislands.bandcamp.com/album/nature-spirit

and/or

https://innertravels.bandcamp.com/

—Jacob An Kittenplan

*the exact antonym for that scary clown, in fact!

**that would be well worth listening on their own!

INNER TRAVELS “Sea of Leaves” (Inner Islands)

It does look like a sea of leaves from up here, the forest spreading out into the distance, foliage rippling in the wind like waves, just dusk enough in the evening that the deep green isn’t so easy to make out against the shadows, mimicking the opaque depths of a vast body of water. From a height, atop a mountain or other scenic point, imagination takes over as the sunlight fades, is replaced by the trickier illumination of the moon, and the mysteries of your vision deepen. Steve Targo, our maestro, our guide, reflects through synthesizer on the “splendor of nature,” internalizing the landscape that he’s witnessed (Celestion, Pell Lake, Wisconsin, Fall 2015 to Fall 2016). This is New Age for a new age, a desperate grasp at inner peace before the peace can be directed outward and shared with those who need it most. Targo’s nailed it, understood that “desperate grasp” and “inner peace” need not be mutually exclusive when confronted with intentionality. Through natural beauty and connection with the earth, Targo is inspired to share the paths to personal wholeness. His gentle meditations penetrate your mind and your body and remove you from daily stresses that only serve to poison your outlook and thereby your relationships. Once again the Inner Islands way prevails, with “Sea of Leaves” yet another guidance system to a better life.

Inner Travels
Inner Islands


--Ryan Masteller

INNER TRAVELS “Clear Seeing” (Inner Islands)

Is it weird that Inner Travels hasn’t recorded for Inner Islands yet? I mean, these two are perfect for each other. Look at those names, for goodness’ sake! S. Targo, the Inner Travels guru, is as good an ambassador as any for the current crop of New Age visionaries, and you all know Sean Conrad at Inner Islands because of this excellent interview. They’re peas in a pod, and you can begin sentences with, “Inners Travels and Islands…” – look at the linguistic possibilities! Look also at the possibility of confusion – I’m not gonna lie, I’ve already caught myself mixing up the two names in this very paragraph.  Fortunately, because of my superior editing skills, I’ve got everything as it should be.

So let’s talk turkey, and by “turkey” I mean vibrant vistas of glittering synthesizers, where sparkling glissandos mimic through sound the “Radiant Sunrise” or ripple like refracted light through liquid “Luminescence.” That’s the Inner Travels way, and indeed Clear Seeing is Targo’s attempt to base his compositions on actual images. Obviously, he succeeds, as these meditative passages all “clearly” replicate their titular subjects. You can focus on any of them and be immediately transported through your mind to their magical locales. Targo accomplishes his loving renditions of both actual and theoretical visions, both in the tangible world and through the “mind’s eye.” These visions are useful for personal reflection, hence the “inner” everyone is talking about with the travels and the islands and the whatnot. You can get lost in this stuff if you’re not careful. And that’s OK – you’re only going to find inner peace anyway. Hey, another “inner”!

                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Inner Islands

Inner Travels

--Ryan Masteller