The Music Of Shpongle
Shpongle certainly are a British based electronic ambient band that features the duo of trance music pioneer Simon Posford and DJ,Producer Raja Ram. The group also utilizes the input of external musicians to supply accompanying sounds buy dmt online . Their music is better described as psychedelic ambient and is frequently grouped into niche electronic music genres such as for example psychill, psybient and psyamb.
In The Begining
Simon Posford's musical career began as a teenager, when he had the decision of either going to Oxford to review botany, or going to work on Virgin recording studios. Your decision to visit Virgin was a smart choice, especially since it provided the chance to learn the ropes alongside such luminaries as Spike Stent. For a time, Simon moved round the many Virgin studios but the life span of making tea and coping with fevered egos couldn't go on indefinitely. Things came to a mind with the UK indies band James, who had recently finished touring but were still in tour mentality. Posford found the ability a nightmare and began to check elsewhere for work.
Stent suggested to Simon he should contact Martin Glover at Butterfly Studios. It had been here that Simon found the freedom to work on his own ideas. He quickly produced a series of groundbreaking goa trance singles culminating in the now classic album "Twisted" under his trance moniker "Hallucinogen ".Currently Raja Ram had been involved in a group called the "Infinity Project" which Simon also done from time to time. In many ways the Infinity Project sound paved the way for what can later evolve into Shpongle. 1 day, while watching a solar eclipse in India, both decided to see if they might capture the ability of what they'd just witnessed into sound. The result was the track "...And the Day Turned Into Night ".Shpongle was born.
The Shpongle Sound
To describe the sound of Shpongle is similar to trying to explain the phrase Shpongle itself. Some what undefinable. The band describe their sound as an odd hybrid of electronic manipulation and shamanic midgets with frozen digits squeezing the envelope and crawling through the doors of perception. See what I am talking about? At its core the sound is full of swirling psychedelic layers of synthesizer melodies, bubbling dub like basslines, walls of delay, an ocean of effects and samples in addition to acoustic instruments such as for example guitars and flutes. The flute work of Raja Ram, a huge section of his early musical career in the UK Prog/Folk band Quintessence, features heavily on some of their more well known tunes.
Releases
Shpongle has 4 studio albums released to date. Their 1998 debut CD "Have you been Shpongled?" was published in 1995 at the same time once the psychedelic ambient ( psychill ) genre was still in its infancy and locating a market. "Have you been Shpongled?" was an instantaneous hit and the duo began touring their new psychedelic ambient sound almost immediately, finding they were in much demand on the psychedelic trance and music festival circuit worldwide. This was partly because of the uniqueness of the sound they'd created. There to be real nothing quite want it at the time. A genuine musical landmark that is still regarded as the best psychill album ever created.
Though much in demand the pair had saturated their group of followers somewhat and needed seriously to expand their sound to find new fans. A risky step if you should not wish to alienate the people who had come to love their debut. With this in your mind Shpongle decided for his or her second album "Tales Of The Inexpressible" in 2001 should include more natural instruments, relying less on the samples and synthesizers of their successful debut release. The resulting album was met with mixed reviews. To the uninitiated it absolutely was an amazing release full of creativity and wonder. To the die hard fans it absolutely was viewed as a bit of a disappointment. Interesting though, after many a listen, these fans began to alter their thinking and the CD was largely seen on equal par and in a few people's mind exceeding the first album when it comes to production quality and imagination.
It would be four years prior to the release of the 3rd album "Nothing Lasts... But Nothing Is Lost" in 2005. The intervening years had seen speculation concerning if the group had decided to call it a day. The title of the new album also hinted at this possibility. The album saw a return to the heady electronic sounds of "Have you been Shpongled?" perhaps as an a reaction to some of the negative feedback received from the last album and its use of acoustic and natural instruments. In addition, it made use of track mixing on all tracks so that every track flowed into one another providing for a long psychedelic sonic journey. It had been widely praised in the musical media. Also quite evident in the album was how a tunes had evolved into something that might easily support a live show with full backing band and dancers.
The fourth studio album from Shpongle "Ineffable Mysteries From Shpongle Land" was published in 2009 and continued were the 3rd album left off. While still quite brilliantly psychedelic, the music seemed perfect for a live experience. As a result some listeners were only a little disappointed with the release. I believe the situation was that the psychedelic ambient music scene was now awash with Shpongle like artists who had spent the final 10 years hearing Shpongle, wanting to emulate their unique sounds. Personally I found it to be my personal favorite release since their debut. The album was ranked at #7 on Sputnik's Best Of 2009 list and #1 on the PsyAmb list.
