"Funny Break" is nice obv but its stand-out status is relative to the rest of the album; it falls short of most of their previous vocal numbers.
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 21 April 2004 23:27 (twenty years ago) link
“I think we feel that Orbital has run it’s course,” says Paul Hartnoll. “We’re both pursuing different avenues with our music. And we’ve been sat, as brothers, in the same room for 15 years now–and studios are always confined spaces–I think it’s time for a change.”
Since their first single, ‘Chime’ entered the top 20 in April 1990 Orbital have released six albums and developed a live show that evolved, by common consent into one of the landmark performance shows of the last decade. They have helped to shape and develop both the character and credibility of electronic music far beyond the disposable anonymity of the first white labels and the acid house scene that they came from. In 1989–when Chime was recorded onto their dad’s cassette player–no–one expected things to come this far, least of all the band themselves.
The brothers extra–mural interests have all informed the character of The Blue Album, the bands seventh, which evolved gradually over the course of 2003 with the band free from record company expectations and schedules for the first time since their career began. “If anything,” says Paul “It’s closer in character to our first album than our later ones, if only because we made it in our own time and for ourselves.”
Fans will recognise the trademark Orbital sound when they hear it. Familiar themes from previous albums, such as religion, are also present.“There’s a couple of references to that,” says Paul. One of my favourite tracks, “You Lot” has got this speech from Christopher Eccleston from this fantastic drama called The Second Coming. I just really loved that programme and that speech is quite typically orbital, like our other track Forever, that’s got a speech halfway through and I really love the sentiment behind that. That whole programme was about the second coming, obviously, and God.”
“We’ve got another track [One Perfect Sunrise] we did with Lisa Gerrard who was in Dead Can Dance, singing on it. That’s a spin off from something we wrote for a Sunrise scene, in another film …that’s turned out well.”
Noted for their collaborations, Orbital’s last album is no exceptionfeaturing work from fellow sibling legends, Sparks.“We were wanting some vocals on the track Pants, something fairly odd, and thought Sparks would be perfect,” says Paul. “It turned out they’re quite up for a bit of collaboration and said yes when we approached them. After we’d asked them I set about listening to some of their recent work and was pleasantly surprised to find it was even more bonkers than their original stuff. It was all done across the Atlantic, via file sharing and CD’s, and when we heard it we realised it was really a track in it’s own right so we remixed it and it’s ended up here as Acid Pants, it’s own thing.”
Another audible influence on the album is that of legendary transsexual composer Walter/Wendy Carlos. “Absolutely,” says Paul, “I tried to do something with a sort of Clockwork Orange feel, and that became ‘Bath Time’ . It started off by being hummed in the bath on tour before I was about to go and meet everyone for a pint in San Francisco. Got out of the bath and scribbled it down on my laptop and finished it over last summer, adding little bits in buses and vans while I was travelling. And it went on from there. It became like Clockwork Orange and Kraftwerk combined. Electronic music for electronic musics sake, dodging all real instrument sounds. Wheras ‘Easy Serve’ is weird supermarket muzak, almost like hospital muzak. Maybe it’s a supermarket where they only sell hospital items. Here’s the lip section…Either way, it’s not going to be a coffee table album. But then we’ve never done one of them. Maybe a coffee table album at three in the morning, when everyone is blind drunk and no one can remember anything anyway.”
With the album complete the band are turning their attention to their final show at Glastonbury. An appropriate venue for a farewell as it was here, exactly ten years before that Orbital delivered a live show that Q magazine listed as one of the fifty greatest live show of all time. “It’s nice to know that we’re finishing, it’s not many bands that do that. They tend to just fade away. And it’s nice to have our last gig at Glastonbury. It’s gonna be a party set, a best of Orbital. We’re not gonna sit there and try and promote the new album. I think if we’re gonna do a last gig we should do distilled set of all the best stuff we’ve done. And that’s what we’re gonna do, play all the stuff that’s stuck around for all this time because they are the favourite ones. This will definitely be our last ever live shows,” confirms Paul, “Although I’m sure Status Quo keep telling themselves the same thing.”
Read on for details of how to get tickets for the last UK indoor gig @ Brixton."
http://www.loopz.co.uk/begin.html
Let me repeat this:
“If anything,” says Paul “It’s closer in character to our first album than our later ones, if only because we made it in our own time and for ourselves.”
Ugh, that's definitely not what I wanted to hear.
― turkey (turkey), Thursday, 22 April 2004 03:39 (twenty years ago) link
Ned had said the best version of "Chime" was on the Satan Live CD thing...I beg to differ, I think there was a Joey Beltram mix I have on vinyl somewhere that really exploited the bell sound nicely...it was the first time I ever heard Orbital and my jaw dropped. Both that and the "Chime Crime" version on the Mutations EP made the album version of "Chime" seem slow as molasses when I finally heard it.
― bimble (bimble), Thursday, 22 April 2004 04:27 (twenty years ago) link
― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 22 April 2004 04:48 (twenty years ago) link
Jeez!
― Paul in Santa Cruz (Paul in Santa Cruz), Thursday, 22 April 2004 04:54 (twenty years ago) link
― Sick Nouthall (Nick Southall), Thursday, 22 April 2004 07:39 (twenty years ago) link
Nick, I would totally put you up but will be at Glasto, sadly.
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 22 April 2004 07:45 (twenty years ago) link
I like disposable anonymity.
― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 22 April 2004 09:02 (twenty years ago) link
― Sick Nouthall (Nick Southall), Thursday, 22 April 2004 09:03 (twenty years ago) link
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 23 April 2004 01:40 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 23 April 2004 01:45 (twenty years ago) link
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 23 April 2004 01:49 (twenty years ago) link
Yes (and point taken, it's just that much as I like this vision and that I agree they handle long songs really beautifully, I fear the results of an off day! but this is all wishful thinking, alas...)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 23 April 2004 01:51 (twenty years ago) link
― bimble (bimble), Friday, 23 April 2004 02:48 (twenty years ago) link
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Friday, 23 April 2004 13:01 (twenty years ago) link
― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 23 April 2004 13:04 (twenty years ago) link
― Sick Nouthall (Nick Southall), Friday, 23 April 2004 13:05 (twenty years ago) link
...Oh, you weren't talking to me.
― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 23 April 2004 13:06 (twenty years ago) link
― Sick Nouthall (Nick Southall), Friday, 23 April 2004 13:18 (twenty years ago) link
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 23 April 2004 13:35 (twenty years ago) link
Quick Chime question: there's a mix (not the Beltram or Ray Keith ones) or version with a faster, housier beat than the original and a 'chime' sound that follows the bassline that I've been trying to ID for years. It would have been a pre-1995 release...anyone have any suggestions?
― mmmsalt (Graeme), Friday, 23 April 2004 14:07 (twenty years ago) link
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 17:10 (twenty years ago) link
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 17:14 (twenty years ago) link
You Lot is pretty good - the rant over the top of it works and it's got some backbone and urgency to it, and Acid Pants certainly lives up to its name, but overall it sounds like a bad 90s act trying to imitate Orbital at their peak. I'll try and do a track-by-track later, once I've listened to it again.
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 17:24 (twenty years ago) link
― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 17:32 (twenty years ago) link
There's a really nice plinky piano-led one in the middle called Bath Time, though.
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 17:45 (twenty years ago) link
― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 18:32 (twenty years ago) link
― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 18:34 (twenty years ago) link
You Lot makes me want to touch myself in my special place. I think the middle section will really appeal to fans of Selected Ambient Works II.
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 19:57 (twenty years ago) link
― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 19:58 (twenty years ago) link
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 19:59 (twenty years ago) link
xpost MATT STOP TORTURING ME PLZ
― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 19:59 (twenty years ago) link
― Sick Nouthall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 20:01 (twenty years ago) link
It's not on Slsk. Ner.
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 20:02 (twenty years ago) link
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 20:03 (twenty years ago) link
― Sick Nouthall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 20:03 (twenty years ago) link
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 20:05 (twenty years ago) link
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 20:07 (twenty years ago) link
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 20:08 (twenty years ago) link
― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 20:08 (twenty years ago) link
One Perfect Sunrise begins with one lone female vocal while the shimmering synth noises start to kick in and then this really fast bassline picks up and then suddenly HANDS IN THE AIR TRANCE!
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 20:13 (twenty years ago) link
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 20:15 (twenty years ago) link
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 20:18 (twenty years ago) link
― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 20:25 (twenty years ago) link
― Sick Nouthall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 20:26 (twenty years ago) link
― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 20:28 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 20:29 (twenty years ago) link
Pants, the second track, sounded like a trance record initially, it's the glossy sleek production, but on closer listens you can here all those interlocking forever-esque bleeps going on, and there are big string stabs and everything, and a 'chorus' bit that is essential a big string line pitch bent up and down and up and down again.
Yes, I was lying. Actually, I wasn't, I was just wrong.
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 20:30 (twenty years ago) link
But yeah, I've got dibs on this at Stylus, I NEED TO HEAR IT MATT I LOVE YOU.
― Sick Nouthall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 20:31 (twenty years ago) link
― Sick Nouthall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 28 April 2004 20:32 (twenty years ago) link