Music Review: “Tales of the Inexpressible” by Shpongle
December 30, 2008 • written by John Thayer
Listening to Shpongle is like embarking on a trip. You put on your headphones and turn on your ipod, and the music hits your mind. Your trip has begun. There is no turning back now.
The array of sounds shatters your mind allowing your consciousness to expand so that it may encompass the infinite. As the last song begins to fade, and your consciousness begins to contract, you pick up the shards of your mind that you want and leave behind the rest. Afterwards, you will be a different person with a new mind, and you will realize that what you have just experienced was inexpressible.
Shpongle is the product of Simon Posford and Raja Ram, both of whom are from the U.K. Shpongle is part of the record label Twisted, which is based in the U.K. “Shpongle,” is not recognized by the dictionary, and has never been given a definition. Rumor has it that the name Shpongle came from Raja Ram’s response when asked, at a party, how he was feeling. “Vapour Rumors”, Shpongle’s first track, was released in 1996 on a compilation album. Since then, Shpongle has released three albums – Are You Shpongled?, Tales of the Inexpressible, and Nothing Lasts… But Nothing is Lost. Rumor has it that a forth album is due to be released January of 09.
Tales of the Inexpressible’s eclecticism makes it a truly unique piece of music; it sits in a genre created entirely by Shpongle. The music is an electronic and ambient mix with a strong tribal and psychedelic flavor. The songs are deep and contain layers upon layers of music. They incorporate a broad variety of sounds such as the flamenco guitar, African drums, and Raja’s flute. All of the songs are able to stand-alone well; but it is when the album is listened to as a whole that the magic of this album truly expresses itself. Because the songs flow together perfectly, it is very easy to get lost in the music.
I had always had a negative bias towards anything sounding remotely electronic; but because of the song title’s allusions to the psychedelic culture and experience, I decided to give it a try. I listened to it, and I was dumbfounded. I had never heard anything like it before. It instantly demolished my negative bias towards electronic music opening up a whole new world of music for me. For that, I am truly grateful. If you do listen to this album go into it with an open mind, and listen to it in its entirety before making any judgments. You will not regret it.
As of today, I have listened to this album, in its entirety, thirty-two times, and it has not gotten old yet. Partly, because I hear something new every time I listen, and partly, because it is just that good. I do not dislike any songs on this album. I enjoy all of them as a whole- one giant song. Tales of the Inexpressible will forever stand out in my music library as a truly novel piece of music.
What are you waiting for? Expand you musical horizon, and check this album out!
One final note- do not buy this album on Itunes. Itunes only sells this album at a bit rate of 128 kbps. To fully enjoy the array of sounds you must make sure that you get it with a bit rate higher than 256 kbp
Track list:
1. “Dorset Perception”
2. “Star Shpongled Banner”
3. “A New Way to Say Hooray!”
4. “Room 23″ – 5:05
5. “My Head Feels Like a Frisbee”
6. “Shpongleyes” – 8:56
7. “Once Upon the Sea of Blissful Awareness”
8. “Around the World in a Tea Daze”
9. “Flute Fruit”
By John Thayer
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