Shpongle - Tales Of The Inexpressible

[Guest Beurkkkkk]

The Big shit of 2001. Just an advice: don't buy it, as i did... -5/20 for the

music. 15/20 FOR THE SOUND. But when I listen to music, I don't matter

technic. A good synthe won't never replace and inspirated musician.

[Guest astromelon]

Pretty sweer stuff indeed. More diverse in an ethnic and technical sense than

'Are you Shpongled?' I didn't unfortunately get a huge rush off of any of the

tracks like I did from '...and the day turned to night" which is probably

Simon's best track: 20 minutes of sustained brilliance. I have grown to

expect alot from Simon and probably so have 1000's of others and that is why

it is so easy to be critical of him. If this were a debut album you best

believe we all would be shitting our pants. 9/10

[Guest klata-koto-moto]

raja on the stage was like a fluro redneck from texas. most part of their

"live" in japan was played from playback. production? what? if you want to

hear guitar, drums, flute and... don't listen to shpongle! try to find some

other names NOT FROM PSYCHEDELIC SCENE! they are better then you can imagine!

most people involved in psychedelic scene don't know anything about diffrent

kinds of music. SO THEY LIKE SHPONGLE! new shpongle album is innovative only

in psychedelic scene!!! DON'T FORGET!! generaly sounds old and radiculous,

nothing new was said and production is AVERAGE!!!

please, listen to other kinds of music. is more fascinating then you can

imagine.

[Guest SuttoXXX]

I think this album is fustratingly average. This album has some high quality

tracks with superb and precise production, but the latin beats are

inexcusable. I thought Ricky Martin was gonna start singing in a few parts of

this disc. Latin beats do not belong in so-called ambient/chillout music.

PLEASE, NO MORE LATIN BEATS!! Once I finally got past them, the album is just

nowhere near Are you Shpongled?. 6/10 if I had never heard Are you

Shpongled?, 3/10 since I have.... NO THANKS, TRY AGAIN.

[Guest 'CiD]

Correct, this one one of the most psychedelic albums i've ever heard, nothing

compares to the lone deranger but my god... Is my body actually experiencing

this insane joy of emmotion and tingles that i recieve when i listen to this

album. The first 4 tracks, 6,7 are the best. To be shpongled it to be

smashed, kippered, destroyed, mmhmm mmhmm.. haha.. ya gotta love that. With

garbage effect and all... If you understand what i'm talking about.

chemicals... The waterfall is excellent as well. Excellent album, i dont

think it gets any better than this. Where's the new Hallucinogen album though

simon!? Ive been waiting way to long. 10/10

[Jon Cocco]

Okay, um... I don't think some people "get" this album. Let me just tell you

that if you drop acid and listen to this album, you will realize that this

album all makes sense. You will find this album so amazing, you will absolutly

love it, unless you love it already. This music is beautiful and trippy as

hell, and made better for tripping then almost any album on this planet. (next

to Twisted and I.M. of course) Listening to this changes the trip, it

literally makes you totally tranced! It is very friendly with acid and you

will likly be amazed what you feel and see, or think you see. It is also

beautiful without any use of drugs. Simon Postford is extremely talented.

Whoever worked on this album is also extremly talented. This opens your mind

and works your imagination. You will never forget it! The first Shpongle album

was classic, even though it seems to not have as much melody as this one. Both

are treasures that any person into goatrance, chill-out, should own. True

music does not need drugs to be enjoyed, but this music is made for Shpongling!

[Guest Phaedrus[at]austin.rr[dot]com]

I am somewhat middle of the road compared to the love it or hate it reviews of

the folks above. Some tracks are really great, very beautiful and

psychedelic. To me these are tracks 1, 2, 3 and most of track 5 (could have

done without the salsa, but its good for a laugh, i s'pose) and track 9.

Tracks 4 and 6 are OK, nothing spectacular and are a bit repetitive. Don't

care much for tracks 7 and 8, too much singing for me. Overall for me - good

but not great. Call it a 7/10 if you prefer the quantitative approach.

[Guest Candlejack]

Where's that original Shpongle feel??

I listened to this one expecting lovely melodies, flutes etc. Instead I got

these weird experimentations and even the occasional singing. If this is where

Simon is heading... Then he can fuck off for all I care. What happened to that

great musician that brought us great stuff like Angelic Particles and LSD?? I

wonder...

Simon, get your act back together again. I mean, this chill break was good for

a while (celtic cross and the first Shpongle album) but now it's getting

tedious and bad. I'm probably the only one that thinks the first album of

Shpongle was good and this one sucks, but so be it. I'm in search of quality

music and whether this is Simon Posford or not, it doesn't help the fact that

this is NOT good...!!!

[Guest bug[at]bugbread[dot]com]

To anyone who didn't like this album because they didn't like the

groove/melodies/structure: more power to you. Difference of opinion is the

source of creativity. To anyone who didn't like it because "this is not what

psy-trance should be like" or "chill music should not have Latin

rhythms/vocals/whathaveyou": Open your mind. NOBODY involved in this has

called it psy-trance. Not Simon, not Raja, not Michelle, no-one. If you

decide "It must be trance because it's Simon", remember that Simon was an

ambient artist BEFORE he did any Goa stuff (Purple Om anyone?). If you think

he did better work as Hallucinogen: maybe it's just that you prefer goa to

this type of music.

 

As for "Latin=Ricki Martin", nice way to shut out the world. I'm surprised

that you have enough of an open mind to listen to Goa, even, considering it

evolved in India.

 

For anyone considering purchasing this album (as any album): since it DOESN'T

sound like any other artist, you SHOULD listen to it before you buy it. Just

because you like Hallucinogen doesn't mean you will like this, and vice-versa.

Personally, I think it's absolutely fucking genius, but if it doesn't float

your boat, you'll regret the money you spent.

 

As for the Japanese gig: yes, there were taped sections. There were also all

live drums, guitar, bass, vocals, flute, and cello. Hell, to play this ALL

live would require a stage with 20 people, and that still doesn't explain how

you could insert all the samples and tweak all the effects live.

[Guest bug[at]bugbread[dot]com]

Quik addendum: Of the 22 bands listed on the "chill-out review" page, Simon is

in 5 of them. Almost 25%. So don't think of him so much as a Goa artist who

does ambient on the side, but a Goa & Ambient artist, or, if you're feeling

more extreme, an ambient artist who does a bit of (amazing) Goa.

[Guest Candlejack]

Hey Bug... you're right man. Simon IS good at ambient.

I won't argue otherwise. But this cd is downright sucky.

I don't know.. It just sounds bad. Simon is good at this stuff and Goa as well.

It's just that the first Shpongle was waaaay better than this one. Oh, and

Bug: don't fuck me with your open minded shit. I listen Ozric Tentacles (now

THAT's great stuff) and also metal, death metal, and even Pop music to some

degree. I don't despise music with vocals. But bad music is just bad music to

my ears and this (in my brain at least) registers as 'bad music'.

End of discussion. Oh yeah, wanna hear Goa with vocals that sound good? Try

Cass & Slide - Perception (vocal mix) ... Now that's combining the two!! Bye

bye ...!

[asura]

Totally agree with you, bug... Your review is constructive and open minded.

Although I don't like at all Shpongle (even if Simon is talentuous), above all

TOTI, there's no point in trashing some album or trax or artist, because it

doesn't fit with some genre. Even if our critics are negative, just give them

a sense...

[Guest dzsonee[at]goa[dot]hu]

Who says this album is no good, simply know nothing about music. I don't tell

that everyone has to love this album...Simply respect real musicians!

[Guest MG]

Brilliant Album, Different from the 1st, more commercial than the 1st but that

isn't a bad thing unless celine dion's on the next one (For the love of God

NOOOOO!)

[Guest lamprey]

i think candlejack is a closet Shpongle fan. Why would he be so obsessed with

bashing it? he is one of those guys who goes on fan groups and wastes his

and others time getting upset. well if you are one of those people you wont

like this album because it is partly a Happy Album. if you want to be

depressed, mad, angry, listen to something else. to each his own. i have

loved this album for many months, and wont stop because someone cant stop

whining about it.

[Guest de-fect]

7/10

[Guest clark_303]

After listening to this album for a couple of months, I have to say that it's

not as good as the first album. At first, this album gave a really good

impression(and then I couldn't decide if this is better than Are You

Shpongled?), lots of changes in the songs and really well mastered and even

some very original melodies. But now it seems to me that although this is a

good album, it doesn't really take you where the first album did...This is

still a good album but something more alike the first album would have been

better for me, I miss those nice dubby sounds and atmosphere. -Clargoa

[soem aeld]

I'm not sure I like this.. the latino stuff is, well too common,... nothing

really special about it at all. But the first minutes of Sphongleyes and

Around the world... are very nice. The only track that deserves a 9/10 is Once

Upon The Sea Of Blissful Awareness! This album gets 6/10 from me.. But it's a

very phat production..

[Anoebis]

Simply 1 word: FANTASTIC!! This is simply thé best cd I have!! I'm listening to

it every day for about 2 months and it's still growing on me, when I listen to

this while I'm waking up I always realise that this CD can make you happy for

the rest of the day! ;-)

Best songs: 1,2,5,7,8,9 10/10!!!

Bom Shankar

[Guest AtomikElf]

the best cd on the planet!! for those who don't get it, i guess u never will.

my rating: 15623461356 / 10

[Guest [Anonymous]]

This is my favorite album of all time.......... until Simon comes out with

something new (hopefully it will top this - don't know how........ but.. I can

hope). I'd recommend this album to ANYBODY! A 4-year-old and my 86-year-old

Grandfather enjoyed this CD (he SAID he did, he was tappin his feet), so it's

got "range" -=- Matt/Strumpling -=-

[Guest ChrisdeeACiD]

I can only laugh while listening to this.... This is by faaaar the best album

ever made on this planet.. When I hear this and I come to think of other

psyartists, I realize that Simon probably is the only one who ever will be

able to produce this kind of music.. MAN! 10/10

[Guest sunconscious]

After enjoying this every day since it came out... the only conclusion I can

make is that it is the best album ever made. 10/10

[Guest goa tacks]

This is the best CD indeed...

Raja Ram and Simon is the best artist on the planet.

Especially I like to hear the time of Sun rise.. this is whole story of

Universe in one CD...

[Setsuko]

the cery best album out in the stores... before i knew psutrance i was very

fond of FSOL and Banco de Gaia ... but now, i'm shpongled... this album has

everything... lots of feeling... sometimes when i listen to this cd i get

trears in my eyes... the rhythems are awesome... perfect ... a beautifull

picture painted in colours of emotionly filled audio effects. a stream of pure

magic ... get this ! psychedelic rating 10/10 this cd is perfect ? it

brings back the universal 'goa'-feeling...