Tales of the Inexpressible

Shpongle: Raja Ram (vocals, flute); Simon Posford (guitar, synthesizer, bass,
programming).
Additional personnel: Michel Adamson, Abigail Gordon (vocals); Pete Callard (acoustic guitar); Harry Escot (cello, bass).
With Tales of the Inexpressible, Simon Posford and Raja Ram widened their Eastern-influenced ambient sound to incorporate stronger samples and a wry, complex production psychology. The effect was a lot like the Orb's "Earth (Gaia)" or the work of Future Sound of London recorded with Cydonia's Aki Omori, encouraging dub and cartoon effects to make nests inside a slick environmental vibe. Highlight "A New Way to Say 'Hooray!'" was complicated downtempo without resorting to jazz, and Raja Ram's flute work was everywhere, liquid-like and frequently impressive. ~ Dean Carlson