Orbital C/D

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Once heard "Out There Somewhere" played in its entirety at a rave - weird but actually worked really well!

Great Orbital moments:

- the sudden sidewise darkness lurches in "Are We Here?" and then the celestial synths flooding in

- the heavenly break in "Adnan's" which sounds like the sun coming out from behind the clouds

- the compressed vocal loops in "Nothing Left 2" drawing together faster and faster like water swirling down into a plug, then that little corny breakbeat and then the synth line rushes back

- pretty much every single moment of the live version of "Impact (The Earth Is Burning)" but particularly the total nuclear fall-out of the last five minutes or so.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 00:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh come on Middle of Nowhere is great too! Way Out is one of my favourite Orbital tracks.

Is that the track that sounds like something off "Autobahn" or some C-64 computer game in the beginning?
Agree that one is kinda cool.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 08:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Isn't Out There Somewhere a concept piece about alien abduction? I seem to remember the Hartnolls claiming so in an interview at the time. As I recall the first section was about the nasty side of alien abduction (anal probes, flesh-eating buggers, etcetera), and the second part was Coccoon-like benevolent aliens come to enlighten us; hence it does finish on a positive note. I always thought the ending was like a really long, beautiful sunset...

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 08:17 (twenty-three years ago)

"Out There Somewhere" is in a lot of ways their pinnacle to me. Definitely a beautiful part of music (and definitely has a prog rock edge to it)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 08:33 (twenty-three years ago)

that four note descent is STILL bugging me...it just seems like a fundamental method of evoking a negative mood. most uplifting/euphoric/positive tunes will use four note system but it will be in the ascendant (e.g. something like Stardust). then again, if you take the piano from DJ Shadow's 'Blood On The Motorway' (currently being used on that 02 TV ad thats on all the time in the UK) - thats a very comforting/affirming four note sequence but it actually does go down-up-down further in a descending pattern...so i guess i'm just wrong ;)

lets talk about 'Snivilisation' some more - that is an album for me with quite a drop in the middle as i find i NEVER want to listen to 'Philosophy By Numbers' (not good with this Orbital darkness am I?)or 'Science Fiction' (find it pretty dull) particularly but i will gorge myself on the fantastic first three tracks and the last two, tho in a strange way the highlight is actually 'Kein Trink Wasser' because it always reminds me of the Glastonbury moment i described above and its just pure piano magic.

btw, has anyone heard Spooky's 'Fingerbobs'? it is one of THE brilliant Orbital tracks that was never made by Orbital. i might have to upload it...

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 09:33 (twenty-three years ago)

I missed em in Glasto 94 but their entrance onto the main stage in Glasto 95 was one of those aware of time and place moments. That intro of Forever was pure heaven. A phenomenal performance as the sun went down on the hottest day of the hottest summer of the 90s and also the most highly attended British festival of the decade. They were followed by the famous Pulp substituting for the Roses performance.

― David Gunnip (David Gunnip), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 10:48 (twenty-three years ago)

SteveM you are clearly on crack! The end of Out There Somewhere is one of the most uplifting moments in anything they've done. Anyway, it's not just a descent, the whole melodic line then falls and rises, ebbs and flows, and it's all about the other lines going on at the same time, the string noise, juxtaposed with that other line that sounds like some kind of electronic oboe that appears right at the end, and that plucked-strings kind of descending bassline happening at exactly the same time as the uplifting bassline from the start of the second part... to me the bit after the beats fade away is like something gliding along after taking off, not falling away in the slightest.

Of course OTS only really takes off in Part II anyway, after you get that great chaotic bit where it all seems to be falling apart and then it suddenly resolves. Lovely.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 11:05 (twenty-three years ago)

i recall 'In Sides' being described as their darkest album at the time of its release, in reviews...possibly by the Hartnolls themselves - the 'alien abduction' concept behind OTS fits there - and there's 'P.E.T.R.O.L.' (does anyone know what it actually stands for? a nice acronym would be Polluting Environments That Rely On Love) - i just find the whole album incredibly melancholic, sinister...even morbid at times, but still a very beautiful thing - obviously there are unbridled euphoric 'sunshine' moments such as the kick off bit in 'The Girl With The Sun In Her Head', the satisfying plod of 'Adnans' generally and certain parts of 'Out There Somewhere' but i still get an overall vibe of intense broodiness from the Hartnolls on this one more than any other album they've done.

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 11:13 (twenty-three years ago)

In focusing on the descending line at the end of "Out There Somewhere", you are completely ignoring the rising line playing in counterpoint to it. Also, I think _Snivilization_ is much more brooding than _In Sides_.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:30 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm listening to "Technologicque Park" right now off the "XXX" soundtrack... not a bad track in my opinion. Dark, spacey, but with the right amount of balance... and it still keeps you properly disoriented. BTW has anyone had a chance to meet the Hartnoll boys? I was happy I got a chance to talk with them after the Worcester '99 show, and they were definately two extrodinary individuals... they didn't mind chatting for an hour with my friends and I, as long as we kept bumming them cigarettes and asking interesting questions...

― The Man they call Dan (The Man they call Dan), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:09 (twenty-three years ago)

i SHOULD'VE talked to Paul Hartnoll at Glastonbury last year as he was standing right there (points to about a metre from where i am) outisde the Rizal cafe but i was talking to Osymyso instead, and before i knew it Paul said he was off to catch The Selecter in The Glade so i didnt get the chance to grill him about that all-important descending outro to 'out there somewhere', which i will now always regret.

'Snivilisation' has strong broody moments - namely the two tracks i mention i never listen to on it, plus a couple of other bits (first part of 'Are We Here') - i find the first three tracks quite soothing despite the sinister overtones of the samples used on 'I Wish I Had Duck Feet' and Alison Goldfrapp's wailings on 'Sad But True' (which pilfers the intro to The Selecter's 'The Selecter' tune sample-spotters) - 'In Sides' is definitely a darker album overall imo

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:29 (twenty-three years ago)

B-b-but disk 2 of _In Sides_ version 1 has "Sad But New" on it, which is a much more uplifting, happier version of "Sad But True"... Actually, for both versions the second disk does a lot to alleviate the heaviness of the first disk.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 15:36 (twenty-three years ago)

i've never even heard of a 2 disc version of In Sides to be honest - but i have Sad But True via the Diversions CD and yeh its somewhat more upbeat

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 16:15 (twenty-three years ago)

In the US, _In Sides_ is a double CD with two editions:

Edition 1 (aka THE KICK-ASS EDITION): CD2 contains the "Times Fly" EP and "The Box" EP.
Edition 2 (aka THE ALMOST AS KICK-ASS EDITION): CD2 contains two versions of "Satan", "The Saint", "The Sinner" and a live version of "Halcyon".

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 16:34 (twenty-three years ago)

Sad But True via the Diversions CD
are you sure, i have diversions and that's not on it.

― dyson (dyson), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 16:44 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm assuming Steve meant the "Times Fly" EP.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 17:35 (twenty-three years ago)

eep, no i actually meant the CD given away with The Guardian - i think it was just a 4 track thing but can't remember what it was called...and i meant 'Sad But New' of course

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 18:27 (twenty-three years ago)

what do people think of the Mutations EP? i hated the new version of 'Chime' (cleverly dubbed 'Chime Chime') with the added vocals...altho i think it had the Moby remix of 'Speed Freak' on it which was pretty cool

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 18:29 (twenty-three years ago)

Going back to the Adnans/Dwr Budr confusion Dan mentioned, to this date I don't remember which one it is that I like -- I only know that it has the Alison Goldfrapp vox and that the first half is completely stellar, marred by an inappropriately goofy second half (probably Dwr Budr then? Given the "dirty water" theme and all).

― Leee (Leee), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 21:11 (twenty-three years ago)

Can I mention Orbital's fantastic remix of Back To The Planet's "Daydream" now? Cheers!

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 21:45 (twenty-three years ago)

i recall 'In Sides' being described as their darkest album at the time of its release, in reviews

Its environmental sleeve theme was definitely dark to say the least, but I wouldn't say the music was.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 21:54 (twenty-three years ago)

Can we get some love for the insanely long version of "The Box?" I happened to pick up the 2 disc In Sides in the summer of '96 and it turned my head around all summer. Oh, the days when I somehow randomly bought music that was absurdly great.

― r. geary (rgeary), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 23:10 (twenty-three years ago)

The 30 minute version of "The Box" is definitely a classic. The "In-Sides" version was nice enough too though.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 23:30 (twenty-three years ago)

and how about those Orbital videos? The Box is a brilliant video, possibly their best. Are We Here was full of inspirational imagery and those fake washing powder boxes saying 'Orbital' were cool, Halcyon featured the girl hallucinating and dancing in the kitchen - who i THINK is actually Kirsty Hawkshaw (same girl who i THINK Orbital sampled on that track), Lush is the car boot sale...all great stuff - and 'The Altogether' DVD is worth picking up for the vids created for each track (the 'Funny Break' one is very cool especially)

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 23:35 (twenty-three years ago)

not knowing anything about orbital, would the work 1989-2002 be a good starting point?

― Ess Kay (esskay), Thursday, 1 May 2003 04:23 (twenty-three years ago)

Actually Ess Kay I reckon just dive right in with one of the albums - I can't imagine being bored by an Orbital album but not by a best-of, if you know what i mean.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Thursday, 1 May 2003 04:26 (twenty-three years ago)

not knowing anything about orbital, would the work 1989-2002 be a good starting point?

Sort of but...well, not really. For reasons unexplained (and which pissed the band off enormously, apparently), their label decided to eschew the "proper" and mostly glorious full-length album/12" versions in favour of shitty radio edits.

Thus, you're best off persuading someone nice with a fairly comprehensive Orbital collection to burn you a full-length best-of comp.

(NB I'm not sure I am that person, sadly, nice as can be - most of my Orbital's on vinyl and 12000 miles away...)

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Thursday, 1 May 2003 06:23 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh, and for what it's worth, I've republished my original review of Work on my blog.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Thursday, 1 May 2003 06:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Nah, Work is k-rub... a complete wasted opportunity. In my mind, Orbital were never really a singles band anyway and filling up one CD with cruelly curtailed singles edits of great tracks and then calling it a best of is unnatural and wrong in my opinion.

Can I take this opportunity to reaffirm the unabashed kick-arsedness of Technologique Park again please? Thankyou.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 1 May 2003 09:29 (twenty-three years ago)

it happened with The Orb as well...tho there was a double CD versio of their best of - Orbital shouldve had one of those as well

still 'Work' is very accessible so might suit Ess Kay, otherwise snap up the Brown album and In Sides and see how you go from there

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 1 May 2003 10:04 (twenty-three years ago)

The brown album, _Snivilization_, _In Sides_ and _The Middle of Nowhere_ are all essential. _The Altogether_ is slightly less essential but still necessary. The green album... I think I made my feelings clear on that one earlier in the thread.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 1 May 2003 12:13 (twenty-three years ago)

out of curiosity, since all of you are far more well-versed in the ways of the Hartnolls than i am, does anyone have any thoughts on the Orbitalamenti "Beached"?

― janni (janni), Thursday, 1 May 2003 18:05 (twenty-three years ago)

i thought 'Beached' was okay, i preferred it to 'Style' - but then i really liked the soundtrack to 'The Beach' in general

here's the Spooky track i mentioned upthread: Fingerbobs an old tune ('95/'96) that has that old Orbital sound/vibe

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 8 May 2003 08:32 (twenty-three years ago)

five months pass...

Why have they released this Octane soundtrack thing? I mean, as a collection of spooky noises and tension building background music I'm sure its fine but I can't really imagine why anyone would want to listen to it as a record in its own right.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 20 October 2003 13:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Whatwhatwhat? New Orbital? Even if it's only a soundtrack it's probably better than The Altogether. :o(

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Monday, 20 October 2003 14:21 (twenty-two years ago)

the track from Octane i heard a few weeks ago was EXCELLENT

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 20 October 2003 14:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Nick I'm in the process of reviewing for your website! It's come out in a blaze of no publicity whatsoever - the most ambient thing they've ever done, almost entirely beatless.

Steve - that's probably the remix of Initiation, which is supposedly on the next album proper. The original Initiation is alright as well - definitely the most 'Orbital' thing on there.

It's not better than The Altogether :( But it's not really being treated as a 'proper' album, though, so its difficult to judge what the next one will be like.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 20 October 2003 14:55 (twenty-two years ago)

this thread used to come up every so often and remind me that i still didn't have any orbital albums...
since then i've got insides,which i really like,and snivelisation,which i haven't really got into,it sounds quite good but there's nothing that really grabs me in the way that halcyon,way out,belfast,or chime (which i downloaded after reading this thread,incidentally) did/do

― robin (robin), Monday, 20 October 2003 14:59 (twenty-two years ago)

I think everyone will be glad to know that at some point in the last year I woke up thinking, "My God, 'Chime' is fucking amazing," and have yet to be convinced that I was wrong.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 20 October 2003 15:03 (twenty-two years ago)

The only thing I don't like about Orbital is that they aren't really about dancing so much as just going "wow".

― Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 21 October 2003 12:40 (twenty-two years ago)

This is true.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 21 October 2003 12:43 (twenty-two years ago)

I disagree (but I would).

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 21 October 2003 12:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah I thought you might dude!

― Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 21 October 2003 12:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Typical.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 21 October 2003 12:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Orbital to me have always been pretty much 50/50 ratio in terms of dancing and listening/experiencing as primary functions of their music

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 21 October 2003 13:25 (twenty-two years ago)

two months pass...

The giant windpower blades at the beginning of The Girl With the Sun In Her Head are mega.

(megawhat? megawatt. sorry...)

― Lukas (lukas), Monday, 19 January 2004 03:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Orbital 2 - CLASSIC! ONE OF MY FAVORITES! HOORAY!
Yes, Lukas those blades are mega-mega-megatron!!!!

Transform!

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Monday, 19 January 2004 05:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Man, I SUCK! Boredom is a horrible thing.

I was serious about Orbital 2, though.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Monday, 19 January 2004 06:13 (twenty-two years ago)

three months pass...

New album June 21st:

Orbital - Blue
http://www.loopz.co.uk/discog/album/blue.html

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 12:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Old-skool atom cover, original Orbital loop, named after a colour... these are all good signifiers. I'm hopeful for a return to form here.

Tracks called 'Pants' however, fill be with horrific versions of Altogetheresque comedy techno.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 13:27 (twenty-two years ago)

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