Orbital - Wonky

btw it sucks that this is only going to be like 50 minutes long

Oh I'm quite happy with that idea.

short and sweet beats long and noodly

#ilxpostsoutofcontext

I dunno, just hoping it's not like the new Underworld album where it sounds like they made a conscious decision to keep things short and wound up neglecting a lot of what really made them great in the past, which bothered me because the material itself was really very good

I'm guessing they'll vary in length a bit?

If the Maida Vale set is anything to go by they've started playing 'Sad But True' live again. <3

i never did hear that new underworld...

It's pretty good, better than anything else since Beaucoup Fish, but it falls down because by and large it's not very like them, there are too many other producers getting in the way, so it feels a bit like a remix compilation. Which clearly won't be the case with the Wonky, no matter whether it's any cop or not.

Always interesting to check out although "In Sides" was the last time they were top notch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpQQy52T0Ts

Loads of new stuff in here, at least four tracks... sounds amazing.

Also the dubstep Satan turns into a really awesome hardcore Satan about midway through.

http://pitchfork.com/news/45774-video-orbital-and-zola-jesus-new-france/

I missed this

btw I love it

Matt I'm just getting to that set you posted upthread, holy shit

Jesus you guys weren't kidding about that Maida Vale set.

http://open.soundrop.fm/s/orbital

Ahead of the release of their 8th studio album "Wonky", Orbital are hosting a very special live webchat event on Spotify.

Join the Orbital Soundrop room on Spotify on Thursday 29th March at 4pm to chat with the band live - and get your chance to ask them about their experiences from the last 25 Years at the heart of British dance music, and their triumphant return to the studio after an 8 year hiatus.

We'll also be hosting a truly democratic Orbital playback - where you can listen along and vote for your favourite Orbital tracks - creating the ultimate Orbital playlist - voted for by the fans, for the fans.

Soundrop is an app on Spotify to share, discover and experience music together with friends. Soundrop takes the original concept of the jukebox and brings it to the web in a social and democratic way. Find it in Spotify’s App Finder.

maybe I will be sick Thursday

mmmm.

djp will just ask them about dr who.

"what's he REALLY like"

then Aldo will join and say how much nu-who sucks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9675nvyses

OMG.

Now that's how to do a fucking build.

This has leaked by the way and 'Stringy Acid' is sending me in paroxysms of 90s throwback techno joy. It would be a standout on the Brown album, it's that good.

STOP TALKING ABOUT IT! I am embargoing it until I can buy it in a record shop on Monday.

Nick it's hardly my fault you refuse to live in the modern world!

I felt the same as Matt DC but this is an amazing record - their best since In Sides. The title's a red herring because there's very little goofy humour and lots of what they're best at without being too self-referential. I'd be interested to see what younger listeners make of it because it doesn't sound nostalgic at all.

Cosign this entire post really. My copy arrived in the post this morning actually. I've listened to it twice and it is astonishingly good, definitely best since InSides. It's merely very good for the first four tracks or so and then really takes off from Distractions onwards.

There's a bit of almost everything they're good at actually - extreme prettiness (Never), aching Adnan's-style sadness (Distractions), widescreen rave (Stringy Acid) and proper hands-in-the-air anthems - I want at least 10 minutes more of the last track, Where's It Going? which is kinda like the first half of Impact with the cinematic swoop of Out There Somewhere pt. 2.

Also, Stringy Acid aside, I'm surprised how contemporary it sounds, partly because most of the elements of their sound are vogueish again, in M83-style indie electronica when not in dance music itself. And the nods to current music (wobbly dubstep on Beelzebub, Azealia Banks style electro on the title track) work because they maintain the personality of the rest of the album.

You're torturing me.

i really love this

i mean i guess this should've been obvious because this is an orbital record but listening to the disconnected youtubes kind of misses out on the incredible weaving they do between tracks

for instance before now it was hard to tell how similar the outro of "straight sun" and the intro of "never" were

Excited.

This is the first album they've done that actually flows like an album in absolutely ages. I would have given it a colour name if I were them. A colour that's patently not as good as green or brown.

Orange maybe.

There's a bit of almost everything they're good at actually

^^ this. i only listened to it once, so i still don't know if i prefer it over 'middle of nowhere'. i could do without 'belzedub', tbh. 'stringy acid' is all i could hope for a rave throwback - and even better that what such "statement" could imply.

*even better than

damn, still waiting for my copy...so this is better than The Altogether I take it? :D

another one hour thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XT_ZKP9_Oo

listened to the album yesterday. fucking love it.

Absolutely fantastic.

The build on One Big Moment is just masterful, I love how they keep adding more and more layers an then suddenly there's one chiming synth line over the top that changes the melodic complexion of the track altogether. I wish they'd taken a bit more time with it actually, if there's one mild criticism I might have of this record it's they could have been a bit more patient with the pacing of some of the tracks, Where's It Going? in particular could have a much slower build and a longer outro.

But this is already above Middle of Nowhere for me, which sagged quite badly in the middle with I Don't Know You People and Otono.

True but the highs ("Spare Parts Express", "Know Where To Run", "Nothing Left") on Middle of Nowhere probably were higher for the reason you cite - the build on those tracks is at once astonishing and yet totally inevitable sounding. There's a slight "radio edit" quality to the tunes here.

Though it's not really a bad thing that with nearly every track I'm thinking "oh, that ended too soon."

At the same time I'm not sure many of them actually need to be much longer - its only really the first and last tracks that would benefit from it really.

Conversely Beelzedub feels longer than it actually is and not in a bad way particularly, because there are so many sections to it and all of them feel exactly the right length. Also I love that you're sitting listening to the drill and bass bit and wondering if it could get any more gleefully ridiculous and then they throw the Kirk Hammett guitars in there as well.

Also, Distractions is a really astonishing piece of music.

Flood probably had a hand in tightening the structures and keeping the song short.

Duh @ StanM reposting that Maida Vale thing and not even noticing until now. Wtf, dude.

glad i listened to this, i doubt i'd have bothered without the leshurr hook. i think it sounds pretty dated in places and "beelzedub" got serious side-eye from me, but "straight sun" is amazing and the leshurr track is easily the best - that build!

This is pretty good! It does feel a bit like it's missing that final mysterious ingredient to take it to "really great", but In Sides didn't click for me until I had it on the Walkman (lol 90s) for a coach journey through brilliant sunshine and scenery, and this one sounds like it's going to go well with summertime walks, so I'm hoping it'll really hit me then.

Though I do kind of prefer my Orbital with no hints of the 21st century, so I'll admit I prefer it if I skip Beelzedub (second half with the breaks is ok tho) and the Lady Leshurr track. I am aware this says more about me being a corny indie fuck than about the album.

you guys are getting me hella psyched here!
title cut sounds great.

ne-v-er

I like how this album is a bit of a parental rebuke of Scuba.

"Straight Sun" is amazing, yes.

another one hour thing:

― StanM, Sunday, 1 April 2012 02:35 (Yesterday)

this is a DJ set btw not a live session

3 hours till I get to buy this.

Anyone heard the second disc of the 2CD version? (Five live tracks). I'm currently debating which edition to order.

i doubt i'd have bothered without the leshurr hook

http://media.bigoo.ws/content/gif/music/music_139.gif

I don't really think much of this sounds dated at all actually - the exception being Stringy Acid and that at least is consciously so. Also even if it were some old acid house record I'd still probably lose my shit if I heard it in a club.

I'm surprised Straight Sun is getting so many props, it's one of the weaker tracks for me, feels a bit Orbital by numbers and could maybe do with a bit more melodic development. I'm not mad keen on Zola Jesus's eurohouse bluster on New France either, the rest of the track is good but I keep thinking how amazing Alison Goldfrapp was over the top of Orbital tracks and it doesn't compare.

ah, well; that makes sense then.

yeah I'm w/ Turrican on this

IMO there's 3 tiers of Orbital albums:

Sniv/In Sides
Brown/MON/Wonky
Green/Altogether/Blue

the first & second tier albums are all excellent, of course

IMO Wonkey is either the 3rd or 4th best Orbital album, depending on how I feel about Middle of Nowhere. I kinda like how the brothers decide to keep things short, for once.

I've been listening to Wonky in the car for the last week or so (for the first time in a couple of years).

I'd forgotten how good an album it was and agree that it sits fairly comfortably alongside their best work. Could definitely do without the Satan rework though.

xp no way is Green on the same tier as those other two

IDK I think all three of those albums have some killer tracks but aren't all that good from start to finish. What hurts Green the most in my eyes is that it's just so long.

I probably like The Altogether more than most, even if only because I've made a playlist that boots the worst stuff out and replaces it with the B-sides on the second disc, it's a solid listen

I think the highlights of the debut are leagues ahead of the highlights of the other two, but it feels more like a compilation to me in comparison to the suite-like approach their albums would later have.

Green album is great wtf

their god-tier knack for melody is there, but I dunno, a lot of the tracks on there just don't evolve at all & combined with the dated sound palette & the needless overextension of most tracks it makes it kind of dull as a whole. half the individual tracks are gold of course

that said my ranking it w/ Altogether and Blue is more a function of how much I dig those two albums more than the typical Orbital fan. I don't care what anyone says I love "Illuminate" in all its mealy-mouthed glory

New France and Stringy Acid both get the endorphins going.

Green Album UK or Green Album US ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_(1991_album)#Track_listing

The UK version, natch.

I've only got the US version, maybe that's my problem. One thing that's always bugged me about it is how odd the sequencing is. "Belfast" is the best track but it's so weird as an album opener. Meanwhile "Chime" is stuck somewhere in the middle.

Yeah, that US tracklisting looks like someone just chucked the CD on random.

UK version is great as it has the Chime/Midnight/Belfast triptych at the end

The Gun is Good is a tier 1 single imho. I freakin' can't get enough of that one.

they just released two lowkey live albums on Live Here Now. they look pretty much identical - I got the Hammersmith one and it's freakin' incredible. like, it gives me flashbacks to the first time I heard Everything, Everything. loved all 3 new tracks, all of them sound like classic Orbital, though "Tiny Foldable Cities" sounds a bit like Plaid as well. new album better come soon!!

Is it worth buying both live shows?

The digital download for both is $20; I assume I should go ahead and pony up?

the set lists are basically identical - only difference is Hammersmith has "Doctor". I don't see why you'd need both.

New music forthcoming?

🔘 OUR NEW ORBITAL 12" GIVES YOU THE SIZE OF A REGULAR VINYL AND THE MUSIC OF A 7" 🔘 pic.twitter.com/zBc56gTwuU

— Orbital (@orbitalband) February 21, 2018

yea I definitely think they're releasing an album this year

"a regular vinyl" 8(

I enjoyed (and still enjoy) Wonky a lot, but outside of 'P.H.U.K.', I don't enjoy the new album at all - sonically, it doesn't particularly sound great and a lot of it sounds phoned in.