19 June 2007
Shpongle - “Tales of the Inexpressible”
I’ll start with a guarantee.
There is no album, anywhere in the world, like this one.
It’s magic. Shpongle, the child of Raja Ram and Simon Posford, simply creates the most infectious and stimulating music of this era.
When “Dorset Perception” (oh, how clever) starts, you might wonder what it is you’re in for--seeing as the Latin guitar work quickly gives way to gorgeous synth arpeggios, flashes of chant, Vienna-in-1780 basslines, psychedelic sound effects, and an increasingly-pervasive feeling that this might, in fact, be the most bizarre and intriguing thing you’ve ever heard. While one could define it as “psytrance”, it is so multi-hued and undefinable that even the act of labeling it is a sign that you haven’t heard it. Shpongle is liberation in the form of sound.
Most incredible about this work is the cohesion of the whole-- the way in which tracks seamlessly blend multiple themes, the mastery of leitmotif and musical metaphor (by which entire earlier tracks are recalled with a sub-second sample, somehow keeping them all quivering frantically in your by-now absurdly overexcited brain). The feeling of surrealistic awe definitely doesn’t go away. In fact, on tracks such as “My Head Feels Like a Frisbee”, where Raja Ram’s masterful flute work dances across spiraling throaty synth lines and truly deranged vocal samples (”my head feels like a football--but someone’s moved the goalpost”), I defy anyone to stop listening. It’s that good.
This album cries out for a song-by-song analysis, but to try and give each track justice would be a disservice to the raw experience of diving into this from start to finish. From “Star Shpongled Banner” to the stunning “Once Upon the Sea of Blissful Awareness” (in which the main vocal reminds us that, no matter what this moment holds for you, ’some laugh, some cry, some dance for joy’--what an Evolationary thought!), we are constantly in motion across cultures, eras and moods, and loving every second of it. There are no tracks. There is simply an experience.
Is this a dream? Is it a memory? Is it an acid trip? Does it matter?
Because this is the most alive you’ve ever felt; it’s the lover you always wanted; it’s a lifetime of hopes and dreams coming back to haunt you, tinged with a feverish intensity that would be scary if it wasn’t so beautiful. This is alive-- so radiant with movement and feeling that it literally leaps from your speakers and splatters like a sonic Pollock across your room. It’s candy for your mind--and it tastes soooo good.
The only track which can justifiably be given special attention is the eighth: “Around the World in a Tea Daze”. Not only is this perhaps the most sublime expression of what it means to be alive, on this planet, in this time, but I believe it to be the most masterful composition of electronic music that exists. From the classical-orchestral tone of the first “movement”, where Raja’s solo flute backflips off a string quartet, to the singing (in Latin, Tibetan and Hindi, no less) to roaring crowds and the plinks of truly breathtaking piano work, the entire track flows with such grace and beauty across the cultures of the world that it becomes literally consuming, a vehicle of such velocity one almost can’t take it in. The track concludes with the most awe-inspiring buildup of ancient and modern I can ever imagine existing--utlizing so many elements and ideas and instruments it’s beyond overwhelming. The crash into the album’s “outtro”, a 2-minute flute piece which carries you to a plateau of near-total peace, is among the most rewarding and relaxing experiences one could ask for in life.
Words cannot express the joy I have in recommending this album. It is my hope that others might be inspired by it, as I believe inspiration is almost inevitable. “Tales of the Inexpressible” is proof that there is still great music being produced, and that there is still (as always) more beauty in the universe than we can ever understand.
Runs one hour and nine minutes, and is available on Amazon (edit: out of print– what has the world come to?) and (thankfully), on
.
My Rating: 10 out of 10, and one of the great accomplishments of the human race. If you have any interest at all in expanding your horizons, please, BUY THIS ALBUM.
[…] could only include one as this carnival is pretty link-heavy already! So go check out his review of Shpongle’s Tales Of The Inexpressible. I’m interested….wonder where I can hear a […]