SHPONGLE (Simon Posford DJ Set)

Shpongle…a strange hybrid of electronic manipulation and shamanic midgets with frozen digits squeezing the envelope and crawling through the doors of perception, find a new pair of dice…extra numbers and colours an infinite expanding bubble, filled with a bizzare, strange world of dripping halucinatory wallpaper.

Shpongle is a downtempo/ambient psychedelic trance (or psybient) project from the United Kingdom. The core members are Simon Posford (aka Hallucinogen) and Raja Ram (one third of The Infinity Project), but they often collaborate with other artists. Their sound has sampled Eastern ethnic instruments and Western contemporary synthesizer-based psychedelic music. Posford is responsible for the synth and studio work while Raja Ram contributes with flute arrangements. The project was formed in 1996 after the pair viewed a solar eclipse in India. The two went into the studio and attempted to duplicate the experience in sonic form, and the result was a 20-minute track, "...And the Day Turned to Night," which was featured on Shpongle's first album "Are You Shpongled?" and the Twisted label compilation Eclipse - A Journey Of Permanence & Impermanence.

Shpongle is not a dictionary-recognized word; in an interview taking place in Russia, Raja Ram stated that Shpongle is an umbrella term for feeling positive and euphoric emotions.[1]

Shpongle's first track, "Vapour Rumours", was released on TIP Records' Infinite Excursions compilation in 1996.[2] Their debut album, Are You Shpongled?, was released 1998 on Twisted Records. Their latest album, Ineffable Mysteries from Shpongleland, was released on 28 November 2009.