Joshua Tree BY Palm Reading

 

Joshua Tree

BY

Palm Reading

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

I must admit, this is one album that I have been eager to write about, I am indeed an admirer of the works of Skooby Laposky and Charles Copley, a collective known as Palm Reading, they have manifested some of the finest works of ambient music currently in the genre with the release of Joshua Tree.

We will visit four locations on this creative and artistic collection where we start at Mojave Yucca - Bighorn Pass. Creative ambience is truly hard to manifest, but Palm Reading have done so with such style and tranquillity and all the while, giving plant life a voice too. Here is a blissfully peace filled opener that sets the scene perfectly, with synthesized electronic music generated by biodata recorded from plants using a biodata sonification device, as well as ambient field recordings and original acoustic guitar accompaniment.

Music such as this I could listen to on repeat for days and not notice that time had actually passed, you are so very in the moment with the manifestations of calm from Palm Reading. Listen to the short form magic of Beavertail Cactus - Bighorn Pass Interlude, an echo point of ambient brilliance that leads us into our last in current locational creations entitled Desert Parsley - Bighorn Pass, the harmonic convergence obtained here is so serene and flowing, this calming vibrational sanctuary is something one has to feel as well as listen to, and I’m right there, in the field of bliss created.

We now move to another location and spend time with Creosote Bush - Utah Trail River Bed, the natural sounds and hovering synths make a magical moment of meditative happiness on this piece for me, such a gentle and loving guitar adds a light and tender touch, but the almost ethereal electronic energies drift and swirl in a symbiotic dance with a soothing summer wind.

Our brief stay in Utah is done and we now move forever onward, and to visit the Blue Palo Verde - Cottonwood Spring Oasis. Here is a quiet moment of resonance and peace, one only has to wonder why there is always so much strife and fear in the world, when there is so much natural beauty and simplicity of life in abundance all around us, and the performance on this track highlights that aforementioned statement beautifully.

Our second locality at this current setting gifts us a moment to spend time under Goodding's Willow - Cottonwood Spring Oasis. There is a slight elevated vibration here that is so appealing and the rhythmic guitar equally so, but the attention to the mood of the moment stays with us, as calm mood of a oneness drifts from one branch to the other in a truly idyllic performance.

The final location for us to visit vicariously through the tracks of this new release from Palm Reading is a gift indeed as we stand next to the Joshua Tree - Pinto Basin at Sunset Part 1. One has to marvel at this artistic moment of brilliance, there is an almost reverence here that is so palpable and enticing, this is an offering with true depth and Palm Reading not only describe in music the energies of nature, but the entire wide and vast locational scene itself, a true ambient master piece can therefore be found here.

Joshua Tree - Pinto Basin at Sunset Interlude is our penultimate offering, and is the perfect continuation that will be our musical gateway to our final offering entitled Joshua Tree - Pinto Basin at Sunset Part 2. We can almost feel the heartbeat of Gaia within this last piece and is a fine conclusion to this serene and blissful state of locational ambience, where tenderness of touch and a mindful approach to tone can all be found on this most radiant of compositions.

Joshua Tree by Palm Reading has to be the most creative collection of artistic musical creations I have heard for many a year. Not like an album that is a collective collection of differing musical journeys and themes, the locations visited by Palm Reading have given us, an idea of just what nature actually sounds like, and the result of their work is utterly outstanding, I would urge everyone to have a copy of Joshua Tree by Palm Reading in their collections of choice, for this is one musical sanctuary you are never going to want to leave.