Orbital - Wonky

Orbital is performing with Stephen Hawking at the London Paralympics! Like, right now!
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, August 29, 2012 10:55 PM (Yesterday)

Orbital at the Paralympics was brilliant. Being a bit of an Orbital know-nothing, it made me want to investigate further, and I know there's a box set of five of their albums just waiting for me next time I go record shopping.

Wish I'd seen them at the Paralympics ceremony.

iplayer

(iView for Tim FYI)

Wasn't it C4 rather than BBC? I'll investigate though, perhaps watch it at the weekend.

ah sorry

http://paralympics.channel4.com/video/index.html

They did Where's It Going with Stephen Hawking in front of them wearing Orbital glasses and speaking over the top of it, then manipulated his voice so it sounded like he was singing. Except the whole thing had a disabled band playing Spasticus Autisticus by Ian Dury sandwiched in the middle. The whole segment was insanely great.

Would love to know who suggested putting the glasses on Professor Hawking and how that actually happened.

Wow.

OK, calling one of your songs "Stringy Acid" is something that was too obvious even for Analords.

That might be one of my biggest bugbears in music, and something a lot of my favourite acts are guilty of (I'm looking at you, Blur). VCMG did this: 'Bendy Bass', 'Single Blip'. It's like a track spoiler and very annoying.

lol @ the idea of a track spoiler

I don't mind if it's a track spoiler, it's just lazy. And Orbital are one of those artists who are often quite clever with their titles. They could have done better.

The album's alright. It is an Orbital album, no more, no less. Beezledub is a bit embarrassing, like a dad rifling through their kids' record collection but apart from that it's solid.

Lazy, yes. Like they had a working title and never changed it. It winds me up and actually affects my enjoyment of the music because it makes me think they just thought "well this track's good enough, let's call it "Good Song".

(opening ceremony repeated on freeview channel "4seven" this afternoon, 4pm i think. might need to rescan your freeview channels though as 4seven is relatively new)

Didn't see the ceremony last nught. Happily an HD quality rip is available on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Kd4FgGSY5BY#t=12282s

Orbital comes in around 3hr 25. Now excuse me for a minute, I've got some dust in my eye. Again.

Just the Orbital: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfmpxaLl6c4

thanks!

I'm actually really digging Beezledub, in general I dislike that style but they really did it right, in my eyes

Yeah, it's actually one of my favourites. Helps if you think of it as a mutant version of Satan.

well... it IS a mutant version of "Satan", so

Exactement.

btw "Where Is It Going?" pwns

Wish they'd used the 'Live style' mix on the album.

should i go see orbital or go to a national convention re: my chosen profession

see orbital, c'mon son

otm

ok, i will

The end:

"After 25 years, we are hanging up our torch-glasses. Please see http://orbitalofficial.com/ for more info."

After 25 years at the forefront of electronic music — from house to rave to festival mega-techno, to international dance stardom to the 2012 London Paralympics Opening Ceremony — Orbital brothers Paul and Phil Hartnoll announce that they’re hanging up their iconic torch-glasses and parting ways for the final time.

“We’ve had our ups and downs, and it’s not always been easy, but I’ve loved my time with Orbital,” says Paul Hartnoll. “It’s been brilliant that we’ve been able to take our music to so many places, from local clubs to headlining Glastonbury to playing massive events across America, Australia, Japan… It’s been fantastic.

“It was particularly nice to get such a lovely reception when we got back together a few years ago. We made the Wonky album specifically to play live and these shows over the past few years have been a real high point in many ways. The shows and the audiences have been amazing.

“But nothing lasts forever and it's time to stop. Since finishing the soundtrack with Flood & PJ Harvey for the BBC One television show Peaky Blinders, I’ve now got my own new project, ‘8:58’ which I'm really excited about. It's a continuation of my work from the past 25 years but with a new vitality taking me on to something fresh, mixed with the best of what I've put into Orbital. Expect some live shows soon where I will be playing a mixture of my new music alongside my Orbital favorites.”

Phil Hartnoll is focusing on his DJing career, which has seen him traveling around the world. Most recently he’s played for fans in Thailand, Japan, Korea, Dublin and private parties in New York, France and London. "I am really enjoying playing a mixture of my own exclusive Orbital remixes mixed with some great new dancefloor tracks. I have also been discovering so much talent along the way and look forward to potential collaborations. Orbital has been fantastic, but like the Bond movie - "Never Say Never Again".

Having broken up in 2004, the Hartnolls reunited to play the Big Chill to celebrate 20 years of their DIY techno classic ‘Chime’ in 2009. Massive demand from fans who’d grown up with Orbital’s groundbreaking live shows led to a triumphant, ever-extending tour, culminating in an appearance before millions at the opening of the Paralympics with Professor Stephen Hawking on vocals.

Ok. See you in 2019.

Not quite 2019:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/feb/02/orbital-return-split-british-dance-duo-tour-dates-new-material-kinetic

a bit of a cheap shot to call this "new material" but whatever, I'll take it. always felt this tune was underrated anyway.

hope they stick around a while and zip on over to the States while they're at it. I missed an opportunity to see them in 2001 cuz I was too young, not gonna happen again

Stringy Acid off this album is really good.

yeah that one got me a bit choked up the first time I heard it

btw the last two tracks on the 8:58 album are really good. no doubt would've appeared on a 2015 Orbital album had they not split.

well this is great news (although yeah, an actual new song would be nice)

I don't know if it's fair to call this track "overrated" since it was on practically every dance comp I looked at in 1994

https://www.discogs.com/artist/5388-Golden-Girls?filter_anv=0&subtype=Compilations&type=Appearances

66!

https://www.discogs.com/artist/5388-Golden-Girls?filter_anv=0&subtype=Compilations&type=Appearances

Aw man.

Snap!

From memory think I own at least 5 of those compilations

oh wow, I had no idea it had been around for so long

all I knew was "Frenetic" which was on a Orbital comp I bought, it basically said something like "it's a remix of an old tune", which I still haven't heard

either way here's a really underrated Orbital tune - "Illuminate"

*ducks*

They wheel out a new version of it every decade or so, only the original Golden Girls one is really worth the time of day.

Damn, they ruined one of their best tracks.

The Morley mix is the best version.

I think the version I know best is the Frank de Wulf mix?

Yeah, that was the pretty ubiquitous one back in the day

Yeah the De Wulf mix is the one that you around most often - I wasn't really talking about other remixes though, the original is clearly superior to either Frenetic or this new version.

Wow, I remember that tune fromback then, but I had no idea Golden Girls was Orbital, I thought they'd just remixed it.

IIRC there was also some confusion about some remixes being called "Orbital Mix", because the Orb also called some of their remixes "Orbital Mix"? So I wasn't even sure who remixed "Kinetic".

It was originally this track by The Pied Piper in 1991 then Paul came along the year after and added the distinctive Orbital sound and it was re released under the Golden Girls moniker (Pied Piper + Paul)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itaS3fpX62Y

wait Golden Girls was Orbital?????