Listened to this album for the first time while smoking small amounts of dmt throughout. Towards the end, I took two big hits and blasted off. I ended up breaking through and had this incredibly profound understanding of sound and sight. It was slight worrisome at times as I thought it was the end of my life. Ended up seeing alternate realities and outcomes of my life. One of which was if I closed my eyes for too long, I would cease to exist. The other was if I stayed awake and aware, then where I was at that time and all of the interchanging geometrical shapes and patterns that I was seeing on my Pink Floyd dark side tapestry would be my reality for eternity. The pure blissful state that I was in. I did the latter and eventually came back to baseline. Shpongle has a way with his mixing and various sound editing and outstretched songs that makes sense and feels complete. It's much more reggae dub and Ott sounding than previous albums but still one of my favorites.
Have you heard Cosmic Trigger yet? Klaada and The Flying Mars are some other cool psybient artists I found recently. Also for a different take on psychedelia I recommend Unspoken Words by Max Cooper, along with his other mid-2010s and onwards albums/EPs. If Shpongle and these other psybient artists are based in mysticism, Max Cooper is based in science, but still with a spiritual core. Oh, also, listen to Magic Oneohtrix Point Never. One of the most thoroughly Psychedelic albums I've ever heard. Animal Collective and MGMT's newer stuff are great too. In the Afternoon + As You Move Through The World is an absolute profound trip of a 2-song project to listen through.
A Series of Heads (the bonus track) comes between I Woke Up As A Shlummutz and Celestial Intoxication on the vinyl version. I find this to be a much better placement for it, personally. If it's at the end, I like playing it with a bit of time after the album finishes. By the way, have you heard Flux & Contemplation by Simon Posford & Shpongle? Highly underrated and underappreciated album I think. Definitely worth checking out at least.
Hey wonky this was in my recommended due to my repeated consumption of codex vee eye. Great review and thank you for turning me on to other artists/groups like banco
Simon described Codex VI as a more mature and less overstated album. I think it sounds particularly serious compared to their earlier stuff, and a little more mysterious. The cover and title are very fitting. Makes me feel like I'm cracking the code to Consciousness, and all the craziness that comes with that.
Dude, I slept on this album when it came out (just got into it a couple weeks ago), but Ineffable Mysteries from Shpongleland is a best all-time album for me too! The builds of Nothing is Something and Invisible Man are perfection. But I must say, this one might have dethroned Ineffable as my new all-time Shpongle favorite. I'm also surprised that Empty Branes didn't do much for you. I found it super poignant and a definitive must-listen track of theirs, kind of like a sequel to DMT.
I agree with everything you said about each track on Codex6, I too had those opinions after my first listen, I too was also disappointed with museum of consciousness, dont get me wrong it's a great album for what it is and I absolutely LOVE Both juggling Molecules and The Aquatic Garden of Extra Celestial Delights to death, but the majority of the album overall seemed to be more on the electronic side rather, however despite that Tickling the Amygdala was HELLA mind blowing, love that one too 😅 there isnt a Shpongle song that I necessarily dislike, theres just ones out there like brain in a fish tank that kinda was just iffy to me, my favorite shpongle album though would have to be Are you Shpongled? It was the most mind blowing to me and also most Psychedelic trippy sounding in my opinion, and I love how tracks like and the day turned to night will tell you a story without using any words, love every song on the album, love every song on Tales of the Innexpressible as well, very magical stuff :::)
Your right in that Museum was a bit too psytrance and not enough world. They have a very Infected Mushroom vibe in most of that album, and ultimately it's probably my least favorite. On the other hand, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the reggae and dub influences heard on this album. I love the Flaming Lips vibes of I woke up as a shlumutz, and also how celestial intoxication has a Santana influence. Empty Branes is the most intense Shpongle song imo. Overall, I have to say Codex is the perfect blend of traditional world music and electronic programming where you sometimes can't tell the difference. It's now my favorite album of theirs. Previously Ineffable Mysteries from Shpongleland held that title.
@@StefanWalczak I love how, while their previous albums are mostly serious explorations of the mystical - they have a bit of humor to them at times - on the other hand Codex VI feels dead-serious and more cryptic than their usual stuff. I also enjoyed Carnival of Peculiarities and cannot wait to hear what they've got for their next album.
I'd love to hear them do another one-track-album style like they did for Nothing Lasts But Nothing is Lost again. They had some of that in Ineffable Mysteries from Shpongleland but it wasn't quite to the same degree.
Responsibly. Taking drugs without educating yourself first is like putting an astronaut suit on and going to space without learning how to maintain your spaceship first.
@@mikeexits yeah man I agree. Psyched Substances helped me along in my early days of abusing hallucinogens. Probably saved me a bad time or 10 👍 I dont do alot of surfing on the cosmic waves much anymore though. Ya know adulting and shit. I never have time 😂 rip. Maybe sometime soon?
I wont lie Im not even the type to just listen to Shpongle track by track I just leave all their albums on shuffle and turn up the volume when an amazing part comes on
Any chance of you reviewing a Massive Attack album? I know it's trip hop mainly but there are a lot of electronic elements especially in Mezzanine their 3rd album of 1998.
Keep these reviews up, dude. They’re golden! Haven’t heard this yet but their last album wasn’t nearly as strong as tales or ineffable. Love the ultra psychedelic production of Ineffable, it really does sound like a real interpretation of an acid trip. BTW when are you reviewing The Orb’s discog???
If you do still plan to review Rone and want to go into his back catalogue, I'd say you could start with his debut album Spanish Breakfast. Although he has some good EP's before that; So So So and Bora Bora.
Thanks for introducing me to Banco de Gaia. I agree with your take on Shpongle; their music style is a known quantity. I feel the flute that Raja Ram plays is starting to sound a bit hackneyed.
Wow. Your tone (ending your sentenses with something like a 'meh") during the review i'm surprised you gave it 8. Thought you were going for a 5 or 6. But hey, there you go...and I do agree on the 8. Nothing more nothing less.
no way, I have a tune/musical idea that I started months ago that I named "remembering the future..." nice sync. :) It's Great after 10 years of making music to be able to make stuff I actually enjoy listening too myself, after having high standards of music like Boc, aphex twin, plaid, FSOL, SHPONGLE... as long as we're improving and learning from each other keeping it fresh and exciting :D please subscribe to my channel. I'll be soon uploading my own music that I'm pretty excited about , and a mix that I'm currently working at, showcasing the music! thank you I appreciate it.
Hummm can't really agree with anything you just said, but its all opinion so I wont be a troll. Self titled will always be my favorite as i was a fan since before hallucinogen. Self titled sets the tone and they just keep evolving. Museum is my favorite as far as clarity and guitar work. Codex vi is cool but a little too soft and alien earth as opposed to self titled that was straight from earth
When you say "self titled", are you referring to their first album? They don't really have a self-titled project yet but that could be a cool thing to do, especially if it's a swan song album.
Shpongle is over. Over. After Nothing Lasts... they were done. The magic was gone, the innovation was gone, and the sound became stale. Sure, there's been a few great tracks on subsequent albums, and I even waited to listen to listen to Ineffable Mysteries until after I saw a Simon DJ set tour of that album in Portland and had a great fucking time, hearing it live and for the first time was definitely a wholesome experience. However... They need to stop. After Nothing Lasts... they just sounded like they were trying to sound like themselves. Like any head trip, the trip eventually ends and you're just chasing the dragon after. Now Simon is the true artist here. If you listen to what Raja's name has been on in the past, the other people he's worked on projects with really hold more credibility in terms of good music than him (Simon, Graham Wood and Nick Barber). Raja's TIP project could hold the most credibility, certainly the Mystical Experiences album (which is pre-Shpongle IMHO). However, the dancey releases really sound more like the other people he's worked with rather than himself, and as a promoter of TIP Records and such, I understand why he'd appear on so many releases. Goa trance in general ended in 1997 and when Shpongle hit, it was something completely fresh and deep. Yes, others have made the so-called psybient music beforehand, but the depth of Are You Shpongled? was seminal. And a lot of other artists jumped on the Shpongle bandwagon, creating a Shpongle-esque sound that just made me want to go back to the first three albums. Ineffable Mysteries was OK (hearing Backwards Thru The Mirror... live and for the first time seemed like ten minutes of pure, lush Shpongle, but then when I bought the album I was like, 'Oh. It's not as good as I remember'). Museum Of Consciousness was blase and Codex VI just pissed me off. I got excited about the God Particle EP and was let down. Simon was smart to quit doing Hallucinogen and when he made the transition to Shpongle, it was definitely the right one. However with the bland and stale Shpongle sound just running itself into the ground, I think he should stick to the Younger Brother stuff, get off the psy-world beat thing and do more independent and more innovative work. Should they go back to the old sound? No. To 'quote' Total Eclipse: Can't Do That. Goa's done. Psy is done, too. Psy hit the ground running in 1998 but then seemed to fall over every hurdle along the way. It became a parody of itself, with acts like Shiva Sidpao and Infected Mushroom and Astral Projection just machine-gunning digital noise out the speakers. When acts start looking like corporate logos they behave like corporate music- non-innovative and homogeneous. So if you're new to Shpongle, you'd most likely be blown away by all of it. I grew up listening to it, heard it my entire life and I've said many times that psychedelic trance and techno should just stop. But it never will. The Goa spirit lives on and is more like the icky Yeti at the edge of the forest in an Eli Roth movie: get that fucking mongrel away from me. In fact, psychedelic techno never got the foothold it needed because it's not exactly emotive like trance is, but more fluid and groove-oriented. Look at X-Dream. Look at old Tristan: psychedelic techno (or techno-trance). The real psy hippies will hang on to psytrance and Goa like it's their favorite crystal hemp necklaces. Can't stop them: fun to watch for ten minutes and them I'm off.
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Museum of consciousness is my favorite album by shpongle. I absolutely love every song
Agree. Especially the Jellyfish song.
Listened to this album for the first time while smoking small amounts of dmt throughout. Towards the end, I took two big hits and blasted off. I ended up breaking through and had this incredibly profound understanding of sound and sight. It was slight worrisome at times as I thought it was the end of my life. Ended up seeing alternate realities and outcomes of my life. One of which was if I closed my eyes for too long, I would cease to exist. The other was if I stayed awake and aware, then where I was at that time and all of the interchanging geometrical shapes and patterns that I was seeing on my Pink Floyd dark side tapestry would be my reality for eternity. The pure blissful state that I was in. I did the latter and eventually came back to baseline. Shpongle has a way with his mixing and various sound editing and outstretched songs that makes sense and feels complete. It's much more reggae dub and Ott sounding than previous albums but still one of my favorites.
Did I make a connection with the space between life and death? Who knows. Fascinating stuff.
Thank you for sharing!
The pacing in their songs is natural like the weather.
Have you heard Cosmic Trigger yet? Klaada and The Flying Mars are some other cool psybient artists I found recently. Also for a different take on psychedelia I recommend Unspoken Words by Max Cooper, along with his other mid-2010s and onwards albums/EPs. If Shpongle and these other psybient artists are based in mysticism, Max Cooper is based in science, but still with a spiritual core.
Oh, also, listen to Magic Oneohtrix Point Never. One of the most thoroughly Psychedelic albums I've ever heard. Animal Collective and MGMT's newer stuff are great too. In the Afternoon + As You Move Through The World is an absolute profound trip of a 2-song project to listen through.
I think the key to appreciating Shpongle is to pay close attention
This is the key to appreciating textured, immersive Psychedelic music in general, I find.
A Series of Heads (the bonus track) comes between I Woke Up As A Shlummutz and Celestial Intoxication on the vinyl version. I find this to be a much better placement for it, personally. If it's at the end, I like playing it with a bit of time after the album finishes.
By the way, have you heard Flux & Contemplation by Simon Posford & Shpongle? Highly underrated and underappreciated album I think. Definitely worth checking out at least.
Hey wonky this was in my recommended due to my repeated consumption of codex vee eye.
Great review and thank you for turning me on to other artists/groups like banco
Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, but you can be really funny, loved the moment where you were talking about Celestial Intoxication.
Great review. You're able to express what I felt about the album...and their past albums. Thanks!
I notice that they've gone a little softer with their sound... less crazy than they used to be. One of my favorite groups though. Ever.
Simon described Codex VI as a more mature and less overstated album. I think it sounds particularly serious compared to their earlier stuff, and a little more mysterious. The cover and title are very fitting. Makes me feel like I'm cracking the code to Consciousness, and all the craziness that comes with that.
mistery of the yeti, infinity project - mystical experiences..
Dude, I slept on this album when it came out (just got into it a couple weeks ago), but Ineffable Mysteries from Shpongleland is a best all-time album for me too! The builds of Nothing is Something and Invisible Man are perfection. But I must say, this one might have dethroned Ineffable as my new all-time Shpongle favorite. I'm also surprised that Empty Branes didn't do much for you. I found it super poignant and a definitive must-listen track of theirs, kind of like a sequel to DMT.
Ah Empty Branes. I love the brain zapping electrical effects and dizzying flute staccatos in it.
I agree with everything you said about each track on Codex6, I too had those opinions after my first listen, I too was also disappointed with museum of consciousness, dont get me wrong it's a great album for what it is and I absolutely LOVE Both juggling Molecules and The Aquatic Garden of Extra Celestial Delights to death, but the majority of the album overall seemed to be more on the electronic side rather, however despite that Tickling the Amygdala was HELLA mind blowing, love that one too 😅 there isnt a Shpongle song that I necessarily dislike, theres just ones out there like brain in a fish tank that kinda was just iffy to me, my favorite shpongle album though would have to be Are you Shpongled? It was the most mind blowing to me and also most Psychedelic trippy sounding in my opinion, and I love how tracks like and the day turned to night will tell you a story without using any words, love every song on the album, love every song on Tales of the Innexpressible as well, very magical stuff :::)
Your right in that Museum was a bit too psytrance and not enough world. They have a very Infected Mushroom vibe in most of that album, and ultimately it's probably my least favorite. On the other hand, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the reggae and dub influences heard on this album. I love the Flaming Lips vibes of I woke up as a shlumutz, and also how celestial intoxication has a Santana influence. Empty Branes is the most intense Shpongle song imo. Overall, I have to say Codex is the perfect blend of traditional world music and electronic programming where you sometimes can't tell the difference. It's now my favorite album of theirs. Previously Ineffable Mysteries from Shpongleland held that title.
@@StefanWalczak I love how, while their previous albums are mostly serious explorations of the mystical - they have a bit of humor to them at times - on the other hand Codex VI feels dead-serious and more cryptic than their usual stuff. I also enjoyed Carnival of Peculiarities and cannot wait to hear what they've got for their next album.
I love how you got all shpongle fans into banco de gaia including myself. Did you review their 3 new tracks fron last year?
My favorite albums are museum of conciousness and nothing lasts but nothing is lost. All of their music is so good though.
I'd love to hear them do another one-track-album style like they did for Nothing Lasts But Nothing is Lost again. They had some of that in Ineffable Mysteries from Shpongleland but it wasn't quite to the same degree.
have you ever listened to Ozric Tentacles? I wonder what you might think of them...
Dude! Are you the reincarnation of Terrence McKenna?!
If the truth can be told as to be understood it will be believed.
I'm not saying I think you do or dont do drugs but you should if you listen to shpongle
Responsibly. Taking drugs without educating yourself first is like putting an astronaut suit on and going to space without learning how to maintain your spaceship first.
@@mikeexits yeah man I agree. Psyched Substances helped me along in my early days of abusing hallucinogens. Probably saved me a bad time or 10 👍 I dont do alot of surfing on the cosmic waves much anymore though. Ya know adulting and shit. I never have time 😂 rip. Maybe sometime soon?
I wont lie Im not even the type to just listen to Shpongle track by track I just leave all their albums on shuffle and turn up the volume when an amazing part comes on
Any chance of you reviewing a Massive Attack album? I know it's trip hop mainly but there are a lot of electronic elements especially in Mezzanine their 3rd album of 1998.
Keep these reviews up, dude. They’re golden! Haven’t heard this yet but their last album wasn’t nearly as strong as tales or ineffable. Love the ultra psychedelic production of Ineffable, it really does sound like a real interpretation of an acid trip. BTW when are you reviewing The Orb’s discog???
If you do still plan to review Rone and want to go into his back catalogue, I'd say you could start with his debut album Spanish Breakfast. Although he has some good EP's before that; So So So and Bora Bora.
Thanks for introducing me to Banco de Gaia. I agree with your take on Shpongle; their music style is a known quantity. I feel the flute that Raja Ram plays is starting to sound a bit hackneyed.
Wow. Your tone (ending your sentenses with something like a 'meh") during the review i'm surprised you gave it 8. Thought you were going for a 5 or 6. But hey, there you go...and I do agree on the 8. Nothing more nothing less.
no way, I have a tune/musical idea that I started months ago that I named "remembering the future..." nice sync. :) It's Great after 10 years of making music to be able to make stuff I actually enjoy listening too myself, after having high standards of music like Boc, aphex twin, plaid, FSOL, SHPONGLE... as long as we're improving and learning from each other keeping it fresh and exciting :D please subscribe to my channel. I'll be soon uploading my own music that I'm pretty excited about , and a mix that I'm currently working at, showcasing the music! thank you I appreciate it.
hahaha love your personality.
"yeah none of you probably care about banco so......"
*already searched up Last Train 2 minutes prior*
"but i do...."
Hallo Wonky Angle, you should check out an associated project called younger brother with Benji Vaughan. Looking forward to your reviews!
You have virtually the same exact thoughts and opinions on them as I do to the point it's almost weirding me out hahaha
what's all the scratching for...a bit off putting but good review anyway.
Good question. Is it nerves, or something else?
Dude, WRWU? Stop scratching when you talk to people!
Hummm can't really agree with anything you just said, but its all opinion so I wont be a troll. Self titled will always be my favorite as i was a fan since before hallucinogen. Self titled sets the tone and they just keep evolving. Museum is my favorite as far as clarity and guitar work. Codex vi is cool but a little too soft and alien earth as opposed to self titled that was straight from earth
When you say "self titled", are you referring to their first album? They don't really have a self-titled project yet but that could be a cool thing to do, especially if it's a swan song album.
You sound like Neil from family guy
FUCKING. DO. SECEDE. TRYSHASLA. AND. KETTEL. PLEASE. DEAR GOD.
Name one Wonky Angle video that doesn't have a funny thumbnail.
You need to listen to Eat Static. Eat Static is very good for you.
This album cover reminds me of Enders Game for some reason.
Shpongle is over.
Over.
After Nothing Lasts... they were done. The magic was gone, the innovation was gone, and the sound became stale. Sure, there's been a few great tracks on subsequent albums, and I even waited to listen to listen to Ineffable Mysteries until after I saw a Simon DJ set tour of that album in Portland and had a great fucking time, hearing it live and for the first time was definitely a wholesome experience.
However...
They need to stop. After Nothing Lasts... they just sounded like they were trying to sound like themselves. Like any head trip, the trip eventually ends and you're just chasing the dragon after.
Now Simon is the true artist here. If you listen to what Raja's name has been on in the past, the other people he's worked on projects with really hold more credibility in terms of good music than him (Simon, Graham Wood and Nick Barber). Raja's TIP project could hold the most credibility, certainly the Mystical Experiences album (which is pre-Shpongle IMHO). However, the dancey releases really sound more like the other people he's worked with rather than himself, and as a promoter of TIP Records and such, I understand why he'd appear on so many releases.
Goa trance in general ended in 1997 and when Shpongle hit, it was something completely fresh and deep. Yes, others have made the so-called psybient music beforehand, but the depth of Are You Shpongled? was seminal. And a lot of other artists jumped on the Shpongle bandwagon, creating a Shpongle-esque sound that just made me want to go back to the first three albums.
Ineffable Mysteries was OK (hearing Backwards Thru The Mirror... live and for the first time seemed like ten minutes of pure, lush Shpongle, but then when I bought the album I was like, 'Oh. It's not as good as I remember'). Museum Of Consciousness was blase and Codex VI just pissed me off. I got excited about the God Particle EP and was let down.
Simon was smart to quit doing Hallucinogen and when he made the transition to Shpongle, it was definitely the right one. However with the bland and stale Shpongle sound just running itself into the ground, I think he should stick to the Younger Brother stuff, get off the psy-world beat thing and do more independent and more innovative work.
Should they go back to the old sound? No. To 'quote' Total Eclipse: Can't Do That. Goa's done. Psy is done, too. Psy hit the ground running in 1998 but then seemed to fall over every hurdle along the way. It became a parody of itself, with acts like Shiva Sidpao and Infected Mushroom and Astral Projection just machine-gunning digital noise out the speakers. When acts start looking like corporate logos they behave like corporate music- non-innovative and homogeneous.
So if you're new to Shpongle, you'd most likely be blown away by all of it. I grew up listening to it, heard it my entire life and I've said many times that psychedelic trance and techno should just stop. But it never will. The Goa spirit lives on and is more like the icky Yeti at the edge of the forest in an Eli Roth movie: get that fucking mongrel away from me. In fact, psychedelic techno never got the foothold it needed because it's not exactly emotive like trance is, but more fluid and groove-oriented. Look at X-Dream. Look at old Tristan: psychedelic techno (or techno-trance).
The real psy hippies will hang on to psytrance and Goa like it's their favorite crystal hemp necklaces. Can't stop them: fun to watch for ten minutes and them I'm off.