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Isaiah Toran makes music designed to inspire calm and tranquility in the listener, music to help you reach that place where you can just be yourself and you don't have to worry about the world around you. Music for meditation, for inner contemplation, for personal reflection. With his latest release "Into Stillness", Toran succeeds wonderfully in creating the right atmospheres and environments to help the listener do all of those things, music that connects on a very significant emotional level.

The subtle tones of "Forgotten" open the disc, drifting through the senses, creating a feeling of calm and tranquility that lends itself well to the ideas of meditation and relaxation as mentioned above. It's a beautiful feeling, something we don't take seriously enough in our day to day lives. Listening to this track I can't help but realize how wrong we are in doing that, and how we should all take some time to nurture ourselves both physically and mentally.

Track two, "Looking Down at the Stars", does an excellent job of capturing the sounds of the cosmos and their unheard music. Sounds slowly morph from one note to the next, taking on new shapes and forms while drones slowly pass through the soundfield, a subtle shift that is hardly noticable while it's happening, but very apparent when it's done. It's a masterful track, something very special and delightful.

"Incorporeal" follows, a piece that pairs sparse, minimal melodies with a steady drone. It's a lovely example of oblique motion, and a lovely example of the beauty of simplicity. You can easily lose yourself in this track, easily find yourself drifting away to another place.

The fourth track, "Stillness - Beyond Us" employs sparse melodies that pass through the soundfield, surrounding the listener, enveloping them in it's warmth. It's quite a sensation and a wonderful testimony to Toran's mastery of his musical environments.

"That Which is Unspoken" makes use of a deep bass-y drone that resonates inside the listener, eventually giving way to a rich blend of tones that fill the entire soundfield. A wonderful collection of sounds deceptively unrelated in terms of melody or shape, but upon closer reflection create a latticework of sound that can be studied in whole or in parts as the mood strikes. A truly sublime work.

"Maya's Twilight" closes the disc, a long form track that allows Toran to really envelop the listener, really surround them in a completely immersive environment for an extended period. It's quite an art to sustain a mood or a space like this for so long, but Toran succeeds admirably, gradually reshaping the sound, creating new spaces within the track while still maintaining the general feeling of the music. Very impressive.

Needless to say, I wholeheartedly commend Isaiah Toran for creating a disc that resonates so deeply inside the psyche. He has successfully created spaces and environments well suited for inner thought, for those moments of stillness that twenty-first century living makes so difficult to find. He's made something wonderful here, and I think you owe it to yourself to take the time to experience it. Highly recommended.

rik maclean - ping things