#nimbudala

[trevlad-sounds]

New #mixcloud episode up

[burlveneer-music]

Nimbudala - Peace Rock - four longform meditative electro-acoustic jams (Inner Islands)

“Peace Rock” is Steve Targo’s second outing as Nimbudala, following last year’s “Universal Compassion”. He carries on with the intentions that inspired the Nimbudala project: looking less towards the natural world and more toward the human experience, widening the instrumental palette, and embracing a more diverse array of sonic influences. This work comes from a love and appreciation of Jazz, Kosmiche, Psychedelic, and New Age musics. And while one can hear those touchstones, these pieces still manage to sound like no other work besides the endeavors of Steve Targo. These tracks diverge from those on “Universal Compassion” in that they are much looser and less cyclical. They have a meandering and dynamic quality that is enhanced by their duration, allowing the listener to settle in and become absorbed in these meditations and freak outs. The album opens with the relatively mellow ebbs and flows of “Radical Expansions of Love”, setting the scene and inviting us into the space: an ever-growing fanfare of percussion playing call and response with spaced out synth melodies. “Peace Rock I” takes us to the other end of the spectrum with an insistent groove, layers of weaving synths, and a constant shimmer of bells, which all cohere into an ecstatic blend. “Peace Rock II” finds itself resting upon more relaxed rhythms with adventurous interpretations of repeating melodic figures, bending and warping around the beat for a hazy ride. “Nan Midol” closes the album with fiery drumming that steadily calms into a more sedate rhythm against an assemblage of interlocking synth lines to gently guide us to the conclusion of the journey. creditsreleased September 23, 2022 All music by Steve Targo. Artwork by Sean Conrad.

[thegentleways]

Nimbudala - “Peace Rock”

[cinenthusiast]

another batch of new-to-me albums, 2024

criola - denis mpunga & paul k. (2017) estudando o samba - tom zé (1976) peace rock - nimbudala (2022) i survived, it's over - rich ruth (2022) bird & diz - charlie parker and dizzy gillespie (1950/1952) sonny side up - sonny rollins (1957/1959) ella & louis - ella fitzgerald and louis armstrong (1956) ellington uptown - duke ellington (1953) endlessness - nala sinephro (2024) in a silent way - miles davis (1969) afro - dizzy gillespie (1954) caravan - art blakey and the jazz messengers (1963) gillespiana - dizzy gillespie (1960) blues-ette - curtis fuller quintet (1959) money jungle - ellington, mingus, roach (1963) in the land of hi-fi - sarah vaughan (1955) soul of things - tomasz stańko quartet (2001) time of the last persecution - bill fay (1970) slapp happy - slapp happy (1974) clifford brown and max roach at basin street - clifford brown-max roach quintet (1956) sea shells - peggy lee (1958) let freedom ring - jackie mclean (1963) jazz giant - bud powell (1950) wild god - nick cave and the bad seeds (2024) first narrows - loscil (2004) here in the pity - jessica pratt (2024) perceive its beauty, acknowledge its grace - shabaka (2024) good morning kisses - michael farneti (1976) clifford brown & max roach - the clifford brown-max roach quintet (1954) a night in tunisia - art blakey & the jazz messengers (1958) royal flush - donald byrd (1962)

[inner--islands]

Nimbudala "Peace Rock" Cassette / Digital II086 (2022) Bandcamp / Stream

[inner-islands]

Nimbudala - Peace Rock

“Peace Rock” is Steve Targo’s second outing as Nimbudala, following last year’s “Universal Compassion”. He carries on with the intentions that inspired the Nimbudala project: looking less towards the natural world and more toward the human experience, widening the instrumental palette, and embracing a more diverse array of sonic influences. This work comes from a love and appreciation of Jazz, Kosmiche, Psychedelic, and New Age musics. And while one can hear those touchstones, these pieces still manage to sound like no other work besides the endeavors of Steve Targo. These tracks diverge from those on “Universal Compassion” in that they are much looser and less cyclical. They have a meandering and dynamic quality that is enhanced by their duration, allowing the listener to settle in and become absorbed in these meditations and freak outs. The album opens with the relatively mellow ebbs and flows of “Radical Expansions of Love”, setting the scene and inviting us into the space: an ever-growing fanfare of percussion playing call and response with spaced out synth melodies. “Peace Rock I” takes us to the other end of the spectrum with an insistent groove, layers of weaving synths, and a constant shimmer of bells, which all cohere into an ecstatic blend. “Peace Rock II” finds itself resting upon more relaxed rhythms with adventurous interpretations of repeating melodic figures, bending and warping around the beat for a hazy ride. “Nan Midol” closes the album with fiery drumming that steadily calms into a more sedate rhythm against an assemblage of interlocking synth lines to gently guide us to the conclusion of the journey.

[seanconrad]

Album artwork and cassette layout for “Peace Rock” by Nimbudala (Inner Islands, 2022)

[trevlad-sounds]

Misunderstood Dawn

15 April 2023

Lionmilk - IGWT222

Nimbudala - A Prayer At Dawn

Binaural Space - Helena

Jilk - Misunderstood Minotaur

Blak Saagan - Convergenze Parallele

Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein - Journalistic Instinct

C418 - click

Trevlad - Three Chamber Dub

Sonic Gap - Dawn

There Is Another System - Les Machines

Sensations' Fix - Cold Nose Part 3, Movement 2

Tomer Baruch - Hermit Crabs (intro)

Nimbudala - Exaltation

robot - Bloom

Fossilize Me - Hatching

Binaural Space - Manuscript

Fulgeance - Onaka

[inner--islands]

Interview with Channelers (December 2021)

Steve Targo, of Nimbudala, interviewed Sean Conrad about his latest Channelers albums on Inner Islands. The interview was conducted in a Q&A format over email.

1. What made you decide to pick up the guitar again? Was it the desire to learn finger picking?

It was really a matter of working with my limitations at the time. At the time I had a rehearsal space that I could get loud in (where I recorded a lot of Isles Beyond), but it was shut down because of the lockdown. And my apartment is a very small one bedroom that I share with my partner, Rosa, so it’s usually a bit of a hassle to set up my gear and then tear it down every time I want to play. So acoustic guitar is pretty much the only instrument that’s compact enough to leave out, that I can casually just pick up and play for a little bit. I was inspired to try fingerpicking with my whole right hand (as opposed to the two-finger method I used to employ) while reading the book Dazzling Stranger, about Bert Jansch and the ‘60s folk revival. More fingers means more possibilities!

2. How come you stopped playing for a while? It seems that guitar was prominent in your early music as Ashan & gkfoes vjgoaf.

I kind of phased out of playing as much guitar around 2013 when I got my dulcimer. That really satisfied a lot of my acoustic desires and was a new sound to play with. I also got much more into making electronic music. At this point I’m less interested in electronic pursuits and just want to play tactile instruments.

3. Despite the gentle, soothing nature of Another Entrance, you sound re-invigorated in your playing. Was it because of the guitar or was it more from being inspired by 60s British folk music?

It’s probably a combination of things. I’ve been listening to a lot less atmospheric and ambient music and more to folk, rock, pop, and other more attention-centric musics. Also, I composed the majority of the pieces on AE before recording them (except the two piano pieces) and spent a long time practicing them. I feel like I was able to bring a lot more energy and confidence to the performances when it came time to lay them down on tape.

4. What is it about that scene, that music, that inspired you?

I love that so much of that music has these threads which trace back into antiquity. There is such a rich heritage to that folk music. It has always been in flux: people changing lyrics, changing tunes, and passing those along (most orally/aurally) for generations. It’s constantly in evolution and there is no such thing as a definitive version of any of those pieces. When people started collecting those songs in the late 1800s and writing them down and recording them on wax cylinders and such, people were in a preservationist mindset. Those tunes kind of stagnated for decades and decades and in the 1960s musicians were decidedly much more free with their interpretations of that work and breathed a new life into it and wrote new music in the spirit of those tunes. I think it’s that new breath in confluence with a lot of other things that were happening at the time.

5. Really, you released two Channelers albums on 10/22. Were the songs on Messages From One of Deeper Within recorded the same time as those on Another Entrance? How did you decide which song appeared on which album?

Side A of “Messages” was recorded at the same time. Side B is a track from the “Isles Beyond” sessions and a track from the “Faces of Love” sessions. I made a lot of different playlists for possible versions of AE, which all told different narratives. The narrative I went with was the one that I felt most dialogued with the album cover. There were a lot of other pieces from those sessions still to choose from for “Messages” and I just picked tracks that were mostly focused on the performance of a solo instrument.

6. You have developed a unique & captivating style in your role as artist. How do you create the illustrations you use for album art? Is it 100% digital? If so, why & what program(s) do you use?

I use Adobe Photoshop and sometimes Illustrator. Yeah, it’s all digital. My laptop has a touchscreen, so I’m also able to use a stylus for some human touch.

7. What projects are you working on now?

I’m wrapping up a collaborative album with Rosa. Hopefully it will be out early next year! I’m finishing another collaboration with Matt and Ash from Flower Room. And I’m always working on new material with Michael Henning for our Skyminds project. We get together every week and work on tracks. We have about six hours of unreleased material at the moment and we’re hoping to release some of it soon! I’m also beginning to work on another Channelers album.

8. Let’s talk about Inner Islands, which is 11 years old now! What keeps you going in your role as head of the label? What does the future hold for Inner Islands?

It’s kinda wild how long it’s been going now! And I’ve been running it for 8 of those years, which sounds way longer than it’s felt. I feel like Inner Islands is my musical home; it’s this sacred and deeply comfortable space for me. And what Inner Islands “is” is both this unchanging thing, this field that Braden established at the outset, and yet the manifestations of that are always changing and developing. I get a lot of joy out of teasing out that thread! The future holds a further unraveling of that musical journey.

9. What inspires you right now?

Moving my body every day! I’ve also seen a lot of heart-centric TV shows this year, which has been enlivening: Star Trek (Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager), Ted Lasso, and Pose, among others. Musically, I just went through a deep phase with King Crimson and related projects. The McDonald and Giles album was a revelation. My friend, Noah Klein, has also been a part of setting up the FLOATING outdoor show series in Los Angeles and I got to play and attend a couple of those in October. They were fantastic! I hope to see more music outdoors soon.

10. What words of wisdom do you like to recall in times of need?

I am the creator of my own experience. I always find that to be an empowering idea.

Channelers is the work of Sean Conrad. He recently released Another Entrance and Messages From One of Deeper Within on Inner Islands on October 22nd on vinyl, cassette, and digital formats. The albums are available from our Bandcamp page.

[inner--islands]

Interview with Nimbudala (November 2021)

1. What are some recent inspirations?

Playing percussion has really inspired me. And I have fallen in love with the ukulele. I spend more time these days playing drums and ukulele than I do on my synthesizers. Lately, I’ve been listening to lots of Pink Floyd, Don Cherry, The Cosmic Jokers, Pharoah Sanders, John & Alice Coltrane, stuff from the Inner Islands and Flower Room labels, Psychedelic Source Records, Sun Ra, Jimi Hendrix. But Hendrix isn’t a recent inspiration. He was probably my first. I’ve been listening to him since I was 12. I always go back to his music. I remember when I first heard “Are You Experienced?” About halfway through “Manic Depression,” I knew I would never be the same. Here are some albums I cannot live without right now: “Future Days,” Can “Big Fun,” Miles Davis “Hawkwind,” Hawkwind “Paêbirú,” Lula Côrtes e Zé Ramalho “Heaven,” Arica “A Meditation Mass,” Yatha Sidhra “Astral Traveling,” Lonnie Liston Smith “Lord Krishna Von Goloka,” Sergius Golowin

2. Will “Life On Bird Mountain” remain the final Inner Travels release? Or can you see continuing to work on Inner Travels material going forward in addition to Nimbudala?

If I make more quiet, inward-looking music, I suppose it could be under the Inner Travels name. I have no plans right now to make a new Inner Travels album. Then again, I try to avoid plans as much as possible when it comes to making music. I like surprises. There is a finished album that bears the Inner Travels name. It’s a collaboration with Endurance, where he created these field recordings from another planet on his modular synth, then I played keyboards over them. We’re just looking for a label to release it.

3. You were working on “Universal Compassion” over the last few years — how did you feel that these pieces stood apart from your work as Inner Travels during that time?

It may not sound that much different to the listener who is familiar with Inner Travels. But to me, “Universal Compassion” has a broader spectrum than most of the Inner Travels stuff — except for “Yonder,” which I think is the direct predecessor to this album. “Yonder” had some cosmic sounds but also an earth spirit. There was a balance. “Universal Compassion” also has it, but with more depth and focus. I felt like this album and what I do now as Nimbudala really evolved out of Inner Travels, much in the same way Inner Travels had evolved from Riot Meadows, my first recording project. I think in making “Universal Compassion” I gave myself different roles. I started to think of myself more as each different band member, the part they would play in the song, and I started to think more like a producer. I immersed myself in each role. Then I grew the songs, lived with them for a longer time than usual. I believe all that improved my focus. Also, at the time I was making the album, I was reading books by Thich Nhat Hanh, whose work certainly influenced the album title. This music really helped me get into the idea of a universe where everyone showed compassion for each other.

4. I know you are working on new Nimbudala material. Has your creative process changed at all since you officially started working under the new moniker?

I think it has. I feel like I am learning to be my own band, if that makes any sense. But the Nimbudala sound has changed since “Universal Compassion,” plus I have some new gear. Anytime there’s new gear, the process changes.

5. What is your process for figuring out if a track is finished?

I listen to it a lot. Much of the time spent on “Universal Compassion” was listening to the songs. For this album, I spent a few years listening to about half the songs on it. But I don’t think it will take that long for the next one. Once I no longer feel the urge to change a track, I know it’s finished. Then again, a song is never really finished, is it? I would like to re-record some of the “Universal Compassion” songs. But if I did that now, I would probably lose focus on my current projects. Maybe someday down the road I’ll re-record those songs.

6. When did you first play a synthesizer and what was that experience like? Did you know pretty quickly that it was something you wanted to get deeper into?

Ah, thanks for asking me this! It takes me back to when I was a kid. I grew up in the 80s, when synths were everywhere — on the radio, in music videos, in stores. As far back as I can remember, I always wanted a synthesizer. The first time I ever played one, I’m sure it was in a department store or a mall somewhere. I can recall waiting to play them when there were no employees around. Most times, the people working in the stores wouldn’t let you play them very long. They probably didn’t want some 10- or 12-year-old gunking up the keys or whatever. Surely they knew I wouldn’t be buying one at that age. But if I could get away with it, I would spend as much time as I could on them, tweaking sounds or just exploring how a piano keyboard works. Then my mom would come find me, her face red from running all over Sears or wherever, and she’d be like, “Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?” I’d be like, “Well, if you bought me one of these, you wouldn’t have to go looking for me.” Of course, synthesizers were very expensive back then. I never got one until I was in high school, and what I got was a Yamaha Portasound PSS-380. Hardly the industry standard, but it’s a great starter piece. I still have it. I used it a lot on the first Inner Travels tapes.

7. Do you feel like self-expression is a part of your work? Or is the work more about serving a particular purpose or functionality?

I think it’s both. Music is a form of communication. We use it to convey ideas, elicit a response. It helps us feel and imagine things. When we communicate, we have a message that we deliver, each in our own special way. We also express ourselves through the act of communication. We can’t help but express ourselves. We don’t even have to think about it.

8. What excites you about releasing music into the world these days?

The prospect of giving someone a wonderful experience by doing the thing I love most. I hope to make an album or a piece of music that inspires the listener to do something great.

9. What is your primary mode of listening to music? How do you think that affects your experience of what you listen to?

Quite honestly, I probably listen to most music on my phone. With a phone, I can listen to music whenever I want. But I prefer listening to music on my stereo system. Listening to a stereo can be like warming your feet by the fire at the end of a long day. Even on an average setup, which is probably what mine is. I still buy CDs, tapes, vinyl — not as much vinyl as I did 10 years ago. I buy CDs the most. Recently, I had a conversation with someone about the difference between streaming music and CD or vinyl. Listening to a song on CD or vinyl, or even tape sometimes, is like seeing the Mona Lisa up close and in person. Streaming is like looking at a Xerox image of the Mona Lisa. You have an idea of what it looks like, but not the tactile sensation. You lose the depth. Recently, I got my first SHM CD — Pharoah Sanders’ “Live at the East.” I streamed it a lot before it arrived, and I enjoyed that because I could hear it anytime I want. But man, once it arrived and I pressed play on that CD, it was like the band was performing right in front of me. Cliche, I know, but it’s true. My listening experience was enhanced so greatly by that CD.

10. Words of wisdom you like to recall in times of need?

There was something a stranger told me a couple months ago. I was buying something at a store that cost $1.06. I had just a $1 bill and a $20 bill. The cashier couldn’t make change for the $20. Some man I never met, who was almost out of the store — like he was out the door, but he heard us talking — he walked back inside, approached us and fished in his pocket for some change. He wanted to pay the 6 cents. I tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted. “We got to take care of each other,” he said. I have heard and read this bit of true wisdom before but it is easy to forget, given the way things are today.

Nimbudala is the work of Steve Targo. He recently released Universal Compassion on Inner Islands on October 22nd on cassette and digital formats. The album is available from our Bandcamp page.

[inner--islands]

Nimbudala "Universal Compassion" Cassette / Digital II079 (2021) Bandcamp / Stream

[inner-islands]

Nimbudala - “Universal Compassion”

"Universal Compassion" is Steve Targo’s first offering under the name of Nimbudala. A composite of “nimbu” — lemon in English — and “mandala,” Targo says lemons have cleansing properties and can be healthy. “A mandala can represent a spiritual journey. Why I chose to put those two words together I leave for you to decide.” Targo previously recorded as Inner Travels, establishing a discography of 16 releases under that banner since 2014. He notes on the change, “despite the similarities [between the projects] this is not Inner Travels music. I hear a more communal sound in Nimbudala. The music of Inner Travels came from a more solitary place.” Indeed, it is easy to notice some of the same touchstones in the sound, from the uniquely melodic yet sprawling synthscapes, to the openhearted tone of the compositions. But Nimbudala takes some decidedly different approaches, roping in a wider variety of inspirations from jazz to folk and psychedelia, to Indian classical and beyond. The pieces on "Universal Compassion" utilize an expanded palette of sounds, including flutes, drums, xylophone, kalimba, and singing bowls in addition to Targo’s impressive collection of keyboards and synthesizers. It’s easy to feel this work as having a more collectivist and humanist spirit. Targo reflects, “I have and will always find artistic inspiration in nature, but now I am looking more toward the human spirit and beyond the electronic for sounds that bring peace.” The album took over four years to complete. On that process, Targo says, “A lot happened in that span of time — personally, spiritually, artistically. A lot of that time was spent simply listening to the music & living with it. These songs demanded careful consideration. I had to help them grow.” And thanks to that long period of maturation, we are gifted with one of Targo’s strongest collections to date and the promise of more sounds on this new path.

[inner-islands]

Channelers - “Another Entrance” 12″ LP

Golden Brown - “Gems and Minerals” cassette

Nimbudala - “Universal Compassion” cassette

Pre-orders are now available. Albums are officially out on October 22!

[inner-islands]

Interview with Nimbudala

Nimbudala is the work of Steve Targo. He recently released Universal Compassion on Inner Islands on October 22nd on cassette and digital formats. The album is available from our Bandcamp page.

[seanconrad]

Album artwork and cassette layout for “Universal Compassion” by Nimbudala (Inner Islands, 2021)

[trevlad-sounds]

1-Binaural Space-Break Of Day

2-Aqeel Aadam-Rang Like a Bell

3-CHUNKY JUNKET-IMMORTAL DOODLE

4-BALTHVS-Turkish Coffee

5-Woo-A Complex Art

6-Nick Ingman-Tense Preparation

7-The Rugged Nuggets-Yo Todo Tu Yo

8-Jay Chakravorty-Grid Cells

9-John Carroll Kirby-Swallow Tail

10-Lovelock-Seduction

11-Fleet Foxes-The Cascades

12-Pulselovers-Brodsworth

13-Uncle Fido-They Play Cowboys

14-Boards of Canada-Transmisiones Ferox

15-Nimbudala-A Heart Can Move Mountains

16-Maston-Fling

17-Alex Tyson-AQUARADIO

18-melodysheep-Our Place in the Cosmos

19-The Pattern Forms-Dreamways

20-Gimmik-Im Sommer

21-Helios-Coast Off

22-The New Honey Shade-System 100

23-Bobby Oroza, Cold Diamond & Mink-Soon Everyone Will Know (Instrumental)

24-Khruangbin-Mr. White

New #mixcloud episode up