I’m starting to wonder if I should have re-named this blog Life in the Cassette Lane given how many cassette releases I seem to be writing about these days. This is driven primarily by my interest in dungeon synth, as cassette is, to a great extent, the preferred format in that genre. This includes my own release as Abandoned Graves, which also came out in an edition of 50 tapes (some copies still available, so email me if interested! <– Shameless plug).
ANYWAY, I came across Travellers Rest, who hail from just a few hours south of me in Portland, Oregon (keep it weird, Portland) thanks to a post on Instagram. Once on their Bandcamp page I found not one but two 2024 cassette releases, both coming in pouches with assorted goodies, so you know I couldn’t send my money fast enough.
A Nighttime Ramble came out in January, eight tracks that take you on, well, a nighttime ramble around the fictional town of Thornbury-Upon-Severn. The J-card even includes a map of the town showing the route as each track takes you from place to place, starting at the Travellers Rest Inn before proceeding to destinations like “Rivers Edge”, “Abandoned Church”, and “Meandering Moonlit Trail” before ending back at “Return to the Inn… Time For An Ale”. Footfalls on a gravel path separate the songs adding to the sensation of taking, well, a nighttime ramble. The tracks are short – all but one of the eight destinations lasting less than three minutes, but your ears are treated to a variety of synthy flavors and moods, some upbeat, others sombre, but all conveying a sense of evening, when the world has slowed down a bit and the air is crisper.
The physical release is comes in a black felt pouch with a Travellers Rest logo heat-sealed upon it. Inside are the cassette (the same eight tracks play on each side), a sticker, a beer coaster and, most uniquely, a small pouch of “Olden Oak Blend” pipe tobacco. Alas, I no longer have a pipe with which to enjoy the tobacco, but it’s still a fun addition.
Journey To Raven Isle was released only five months after A Nighttime Ramble, but Travellers Rest’s sound is already more mature. The instrumentation is more varied, simple strings and dulcimers taking on more prominence and providing more of a Medieval flavor. The chords maintain a simple elegance – nothing is overly fancy or complex, making it ideal for relaxing. It’s definitely one of the chillest albums I’ve heard in 2024 and will be a contender to make my annual Top 5 list. Mrs. Life in the Vinyl Lane said of side A, “It’s like the soundtrack to a Medieval film,” which is, in many ways, the essence of dungeon synth.
The physical release of Journey To Raven Isle is packaged in a burlap-style pouch and contains even more extras than its predecessor – a mini poster, a button, four stickers, and a wood card. I love the attention to detail, and for $1w I have to assume Travellers Rest is probably losing money on these, but is instead focused on capturing his vision.
Check out the Travellers Rest Bandcamp page HERE for streaming and digital copies. As of the time of this post there were still physical copies of Journey To Raven Isle, and at only $12 you simply can’t go wrong so get one while you can. I for one will have the page bookmarked and set up to alert me for future releases.