Just curious what your ideal listening environment for Twisted music is.
Speakers? Headphones? Indoors? Outdoors? Car? Night? Morning?
I’m getting excited for Ineffable Mysteries and debating how to go about my first listen.
It’s between Bose headphones and my studio monitors.
The studio monitors are by FAR better sounding, but they aren’t as…intimate…as the headphones…
Probably gonna warm up a nice hot pot of hojicha tea, turn of all the lights, and drift.
I ‘was’ going to wait until I could enjoy of some…*ahem*..“shpongled fruit” beforehand, but it’s probably not going to happen.
When it comes to listening to Ott; morning time with studio monitors.
Headphones don’t do the bass justice and the morning mood just feels right, ya know?
Prometheus? Great for a lazy afternoon music kick.
and Younger Brother always seems well suited for car drives.
also LOVE listening to Shpongle outside in the rain with headphones on…
Just curious what your ideal listening environment for Twisted music is.
Speakers? Headphones? Indoors? Outdoors? Car? Night? Morning?
I’m getting excited for Ineffable Mysteries and debating how to go about my first listen.
It’s between Bose headphones and my studio monitors.
The studio monitors are by FAR better sounding, but they aren’t as…intimate…as the headphones…
Probably gonna warm up a nice hot pot of hojicha tea, turn of all the lights, and drift.
I ‘was’ going to wait until I could enjoy of some…*ahem*..“shpongled fruit” beforehand, but it’s probably not going to happen.
When it comes to listening to Ott; morning time with studio monitors.
Headphones don’t do the bass justice and the morning mood just feels right, ya know?
Prometheus? Great for a lazy afternoon music kick.
and Younger Brother always seems well suited for car drives.
also LOVE listening to Shpongle outside in the rain with headphones on…
Can you lie down in your studio? That’d be my suggestion… I find the bose headphones a ‘flabby’ and weird on the bass, as you pointed out…. However there’s some nice stereo movement so a headphone listen is recommeneded….
When i am close to mixing, and the track is sounding good, often raj will take some acid and i will play it to him on the headphones… when he takes them off at the end, if he looks like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a juggernaut, i know i’ve got it right!!
My other suggestion is at some point start listening with track 6 (invisible man)... It’s a really hard one to ‘frame’ correctly on the album…. i kinda think it should be at the start, as it’s such a nice mood which gets a little lost when hearing after ‘i am you’, but if we start with invisible man, then electroplasm loses the impact of the beginning… i was literally still trying to decide at the mastering session… phoning raj every few minutes… as for what would follow it, i just started to get too tricky, so i am happy with the order we got…. but do try it sometime, particularly if you ever find yourself driving in your car at sunrise… it’s a great track for that moment!
Hope you all enjoy it in any case….... give it time
x x x
When I first bought Skylon, I took it to my room and played the CD with all of the lights turned off. The only light in the room was the visualizer running on iTunes and a small blacklight hanging on my wall. I do this with most Twisted albums I’ve gotten, such as A Flock of Bleeps, Tales of the Inexpressible, and even The Zap! (although that’s on Tip world, I figured it was a close enough relative).
When the new Shpongle arrives in the mail, I am going to drive about five hours to meet my brother (who is also a very big fan of Shpongle). When I arrive, we will go to the nearest hookah bar and smoke until the strike of midnight. After such a time has arrived, we’ll set up camp outside his apartment complex, where we will spend the rest of the evening sitting on the grass, dropping acid, and listening to every Shpongle album consecutively, ultimately ending with Ineffable Mysteries.
If that’s not the best way of listening to a new CD short of scaling a mountain and playing it on the cliff while in a meditative position, I don’t know what is.
If that’s not the best way of listening to a new CD short of scaling a mountain and playing it on the cliff while in a meditative position, I don’t know what is.
I have mostly listened to Twisted on headphones. My mate and I used to drop a tab, walk out into the bush come dusk. Plug 2 sets of headphones into the diskman and dance on the edge of the almighty cliffs overlooking the beautiful Aussie bush til morn.
Feature albums broken in this way included:
“Twisted” & “The Lone Deranger” and “Are You Shpongled?” (I think that night changed my life).
Other mindbogglingly trippy musical environments were myself and the same mate in a tiny trancy room mangled till we couldn’t speak listening to “Audiodrome”, “Midilitz” & “Synthetic” trying out our crappy DJ skills with Flying Rhino, TIP records and 2 turners slapped through a 200 watt PA in the glow of the equipment.
“Tales of the inexpressible” was heard lying on the floor of my fathers bush retreat on his super surround system.
“Blumenkraft” was on the Studio Monitors at Sound school (we used to have creative listen class when each of us would bring in new tracks, switch off all the lights sit back and listen. “Jack’s Cheese and Bread Snack” through the Sub shook the building. T’was a Monsta hit!! ( incidentally, when I introduced “A New Way to Say Hooray!” to the class that way someone thought I broke it.)
And I think I’m going to buy myself a new set of headphones, for the arrival of “Ineffable Mysteries” Aiff it to my iPod, smoke a huge one and walk out into the bush again.
anyone got any recommendations for a good set of headphones.
often raj will take some acid and i will play it to him on the headphones…
You have answered a question, as to why your music stands out often to me, when “sphongled”....
You also made me unbelievably happy with that comment, and restored to a degree my
faith in the psychedelic music scene. No bullshit. It might not be something that
matters to most people, as it probably shouldn’t, but to know this….....
It makes me SMI
My other suggestion is at some point start listening with track 6 (invisible man)...i just started to get too tricky, so i am happy with the order we got…. but do try it sometime, particularly if you ever find yourself driving in your car at sunrise… it’s a great track for that moment!
So, now that you have had time to let the album sink in…
What would be your recommended track order? The same as it is?
Is the album mixed together like Nothing Lasts?
I honestly have NO IDEA what this thing is gonna sound like,
So it’s kinda hard to gauge the best way to listen to it.
Would it truly be in best interest to hold off until some “shpongled fruit” is available?
Could be a while…and I’m really REALLY anxious to listen to this thing…
If I listened to only 3 tracks between now and that opportunity, which would you recommend?
My other suggestion is at some point start listening with track 6 (invisible man)...i just started to get too tricky, so i am happy with the order we got…. but do try it sometime, particularly if you ever find yourself driving in your car at sunrise… it’s a great track for that moment!
So, now that you have had time to let the album sink in…
What would be your recommended track order? The same as it is?
Is the album mixed together like Nothing Lasts?
I honestly have NO IDEA what this thing is gonna sound like,
So it’s kinda hard to gauge the best way to listen to it.
Would it truly be in best interest to hold off until some “shpongled fruit” is available?
Could be a while…and I’m really REALLY anxious to listen to this thing…
If I listened to only 3 tracks between now and that opportunity, which would you recommend?
too many questions….too many…
Hahaha! Cloudwalker, you are the model of absolute restraint! i cannot believe it….
But i would say that the order we’ve got is the best order…. even tho i wanted track 6 (invisible) to start the album, i just couldn’t get the right order starting with that one…. however, i find that i could put on track 6 at ANY time, and play it to any musical person and they would appreciate it…. it’s kinda my take on ‘music for 18 musicians’ by steve reich (if you don’t have that, definitely check it out after a joint… another great car journey CD).... whereas electroplasm is a bit hectic possibly for some people, and for me in my quieter moods….
The album is mostly mixed together… but we didn’t do that stupid thing with the id markers like we did last time… i still don’t know the name of any of the tracks! On this one, each track is clearly defined….
Also don’t build it up too much…. any new music will always sound a bit different at first, and you might not like it immediately…. so i would say listen to it without any ‘shpongle fruit’, unless you happen to have some right there…. and gain a little familiarity with the record, so that you at least know if you like it if you want to take something and listen to it…..
I really don’t know…. maybe it would be more exciting to hear it whilst shpongled, but not knowing any of the tracks…. but bear in mind that when we give it ‘the acid test’ in the studio, we have already heard the track maybe several hundred times whilst straight… and it’s STILL like hearing it with a fresh pair of ears and a new brain!
As for which 3 tracks? Hard to say… we didn’t intend to be a single listening experience over a whole CD as much as we did last time…... but again, i would say listening to track 6 won’t ruin your enjoyment of the CD when it comes…. there will still be surprises
my summary:
Most accessible track - Ineffable Mysteries….. i think this is the one people will like most 1st of all
Most dancey track - Walking Backwards thru the cosmic mirror
Most mature - Invisible man… psychedelic in a more orchestral way, this will be the one that people take time to really discover.
Most Shpongley - Maybe nothing is something worth doing (downtempo shpongle) or electroplasm (faster)
‘I am You’ has been through the most different versions/mixes, starting as a lovesong to my girlfriend, then getting a bit too ‘rock drum style’ before settling into the tribal/moody/sexy/dancey mix that i think we got in the end…
It’s just a CD, so none of this matters…. it’s all subjective… hopefully you will like it… but don’t be surprised if you’re not too keen at first, but it should grow on you…. like any good long lasting album… your favourite track will change throughout the years…
i thought ‘ineffable’ would always be my favourite…. but now it’s ‘invisible man’.... i’m sure that will change after playing it live…
Oh, and the stereo field is important…. so either in the listening position for your studio, or headphones are great
I’ve been wearing my in-ear monitors all week for rehearsals, and it sounds pretty good coming down those!!
Hahaha! Cloudwalker, you are the model of absolute restraint!
This discussion isn’t helping…
Thanks for the info and insight. Yes, this is how highly I regard your music.
It’s a very special, nay, sacred event. There will never be an Ineffable Mysteries ‘first listen’ ever again.
One should cherish such things…
If I wasn’t so tight on cash, I’d go buy a nice pair of headphones just for this occasion.
Maybe the opportunity will come up…
Just going to have to wait for the CD now…(apparently it’s shipped?)
The plan is probably going to change a hundred times between now and then anyways.
*sits on the front porch and stares mercilessly into the distance awaiting the delivery truck*
bear in mind that when we give it ‘the acid test’ in the studio, we have already heard the track maybe several hundred times whilst straight… and it’s STILL like hearing it with a fresh pair of ears and a new brain!
What’s funny is that’s the way it is for all great music. Almost every time you listen to it, something new comes up that you hadn’t paid attention to before. For example, I was practically blown backwards a few weeks ago when I was listening to Fool’s Overture by Supertramp and suddenly noticed that they sampled a bit of Dreamer towards the end (I apologize if I spoiled that for anyone). I had heard it before, but it took several plays until I knew the song well enough to, er, get to know it more. Listening to music is no passive process. It’s like having a conversation with someone. Except, in this case, we don’t speak English. We speak Shpongolise.
