The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

I've been listening to a lot of old Orbital lately (everything pre-Altogether), and it really brings back good memories. Along with Underworld and Aphex Twin, Orbital was the band that got me into electronic music.
Funnily enough, it was a mp3 of "Desert Storm" from their first album that caught my interest. I haven't listened to that song in years, and i think it's not that great anymore, but back then it probably was... :)

Brown Album, In Sides, Snivilisation and Middle of Nowhere are spectacular pieces. Even if the latter didn't receive the best reviews, I think it still stands out: "Know Where To Run", "Otono" and "Nothing Left 1+2" are among my favourite Orbital songs ever.
"Snivilisation" is highly underrated as well, since most people always define "Brown" and "In Sides" as the masterpieces. Especially the former doesn't have that much impact (ha!) on me, although "Halcyon" and "Lush" are awesome, hands down.

but my favourite songs have to be

• The Girl with the Sun in her Head (in my Top 10 ever and bittersweet memories as well)
• Sad But True (the part starting at 2:30 gives me goosebumps)

I must admit i'm glad that they split up after all, because the crap the released after 2000 is barely listenable IMO.

But thanks for everything before that! :D

(btw, i just realized that it is Goldfrapp doing the vocals on several songs, didn't know that)

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

Nice one eikman. Orbital was certainly influential in my musical path. I think the first song i ever heard by them was the single to "are we here"--the really long one with the female vocal. then it was the live version of impact on a comp called "serious road trip". that's the one that sealed it for me. it was live at one of the glastonberrys. although i was really put off by the blue album, i have rediscovered some of those tunes that are working well on the subway. pants works well in a train, and the ambient stuff is actually not too bad. all the "singles" from that album are shite. my all-time fave is the semi--detached/attached from the peel release. the two combined must have been something to see live. oh...and the live version of somewhere out there. when i saw them live in new orleans (a show they posted on loopz at one time) that was what they started with...."i'll remember if it's the last thing i do" ....changed my life. no shit.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

I have to agree with The girl with the sun in her hair. So emotional, and I was stunned the first time i heard it that electronic sounds could be so electronic, yet so beautiful. Quite possibly the best Orbital song ever. Thanks for bringing them up, haven't litened to them in a long time, but I am now. ;)

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

Orbital is the band that got me into the good musics. I heard "Know Where To Run" on an Oor (Dutch musicmagazine) cd and I was like WOAH, this is TOTALLY different from any chart song (yes I was one of those :o)!!! This goes on for 9 minutes and it has some REALLY cool changes in it!

Well and then I immediately bought Snivilisation (my local record store is crap and didn't have anything else by Orbital). It changed my life. The first half of that album is genious. Orbital's melodies are godlike. Forever has such a great build-up, it gives me chills. Followed by "I Wish I Had Duck Feet" and then... Sad But True... gorgious.

My local LIBARY did have other Orbital releases though, so I borrowed In Sides (and The Orb's U.F.Orb). It was very good, but only a few years later when I bought it, I REALLY understood the music and I still do. It is MAGNIFICANT. In Sides is in my album top 10 because it's LOOOOONG and it DOESN'T bore. It's one of those albums with melodies you've always wanted to hear... Orbital does it.

The Girl With The Sun In Her Head is seriously in my top 3 of best songs of all time (number one is Juanita by Underworld, number 3 is "Neon Ray" by Lunatic Calm).

I thank Orbital for their music. It's something never to forget.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

I have to say Halcyon was what grabbed me. I had the CD Single and had to sell it (that and others) to buy books for college...DOH! Really wish I had that again...

crank!

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

i'd only heard bits and pieces of Orbital over the years, usually on compilation albums (stuff like "The Saint" or "The Box" or "Style")...i wasn't too excited, becuase it sounded kinda computer-gamey to me. Then i bought "Work" and never looked back. Each album is like a journey, full of concepts, heady themes and amazing arrangements. "Orbital 2" might be the best electronic album ever, imho. Even "The Altogether" has some fine moments.

Best tracks for me:
"Choice" - Green
"Impact" - Brown
"are We Here?" - Snivilization
"T.G.W.T.S.I.H.H." - Insides
"Spare Parts Express" - Middle of Nowhere
"Meltdown" - Altogether
"One Perfect Sunrise" - Blue

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

I originally tried to break into Orbital with The Middle of Nowhere about 6 years ago. I did not like it at all. I tried Work a few year's later, and as holden said, found their stuff very "computer-gamey".


But about a year ago I got really into them beginning with the brown album (purchased simultaneously with the Blue Album) and on into In Sides. Something just clicked and I got really into their sound. I think that the brown album and In Sides are amazing pieces...and I really like Middle of Nowhere now, too.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

Man, I was humbly enjoying Kraftwerk's Minimum Maximum when I entered this thread, and then I had to switch over to Orbital (In Sides, for now). Huff!

Anyway, I think it was the summer of 02 for me when I discovered Orbital. I remember borrowing my friend's huge CD case so I could burn a bunch of stuff, and I had just bought AMG's Guide to Electronica book not too long ago, so I was skimming through his collection for the good stuff. I found the brown album (Orbital 2), Snivilisation, and the Altogether (along with Underworld's Dubnobasswithmyheadman and Beaucoup Fish), and burned them all. The first album I listened to was the brown album, and it blew my mind. I literally thought to myself, "I didn't know music could do that." It was so energetic, so beautiful, so precise in everything. Loved it, and that probably was the first great album (electronic or otherwise) I ever heard, and I knew I couldn't turn back to the mediocre shit on the radio. The brown album, while it has cooled off for me lately, is still my top album of all time. It was that influential for me.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

Per Quote from gambit:

"I didn't know music could do that."

will forever be burned into my memory. Thanks for the laugh. Probably right up there with Steve Martin's, "It's like a ride!".

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

"Lush (euro-tunnel disaster '94)/Walk About" from Diversions and/or the Peel Session CD is still one of the finest pair of tracks ever made in my opinion. I don't know how many tens of times I've listened to it since I first got it, but it gives me goosebumps every damn time. I listened to it again today, in fact, thanks to this thread. :)

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

The Peel Sessions has to be one of the most concise/compact pieces of work I've ever heard. I used to tell people I could almost 'taste' it if that makes any sense.

It all went a bit 'generic' Orbital after that however 'You Lot' brings a lump to my throat.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

Is that a good laugh as in "Ha, that's great" or a snide laugh as in "Ha, that's pathetic"? Either one's perfectly applicable, btw. :)

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

i dont want to download an absent minded collection of EVRYTHING orbitals done.
i want the good stuff.
the songs that still to this day give you chills.
cough it up, orbitalboys.

ps...remember...i lost EVERYTHING.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

For me that is:

from the Green album: Desert Storm, Chime, Belfast (!!!)

from the Brown album: Lush, Impact, Halycon + On + On

from Snivilisation: Forever, I Wish I Had Duck Feet, Sad But True, Philosophy By Numbers, Are We Here?, Attached

from In Sides: EVERYTHING!

from The Middle Of Nowhere: Way Out, Know Where To Run, I Don't Know You People, Style

from The Altogether: Tension, Funny Break, Doctor?, Meltdown

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

Its easier for me to list the tracks that I dont like from each album because I like 90% of Orbital's output. However, this thread has caused me to listen to the whole of Snivilisation today. A vastly underrated album which has a far more subtle layered approach and makes use of samples far more than their other albums. The only tracks that don't really do it for me are Quality Seconds and Philosophy By Numbers. The rest are just amazing.

The building layers of Kein Trink Wasser are just brain orgasm. The way Crash n Carry gets more hurried until the last 45 secs are just mayhem and push you to crank the volume up. Forever and I Wish I had Duck Feet are marvellous works of out there electronic mastery. While I prefer some of the remixes of Are We Here? to the one on the album (album version is a little long though i prefer the second half when the song breaks down and the new melody+goldfrapp vocal comes in), its still a great song and the sound really whips around the speakers, even better on headphones. Attached is just hypnotic. Before you know it, its over and youre left wanting more.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

ok, for the list:

attached/semi-detached --peel release
belfast--green
Impact USA--Diversions
Out There Somewhere Live--Satan Single
Halcyon+on+on--Brown
Are We Here--Are we here single--i forget what the mix is called...poss pt 2
Kinetic--Golden Girls (Golden Girls is orbital)
Style--Middle of Nowhere
The Box--both parts--In Sides

that would fill a disk plus some

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

Oooh..forgot about "Belfast"! That's been known to bring a tear to my eye, as does "Detached" for some reason...:o

"Kinetic"/"frenetic" is another classic piece.

As someone pointed out above, there's just too many good/great songs to fit into a compilation, because you'd have to include most of Brown, Snivilization, and InSides...especially the stuff that's mixed together, it has to be enjoyed holistically. For me, Green, Altogether, and Blue are more "singles" albums that could be cut up for select tracks...

Maybe a few years' on, Orbital will treat us to a rarities collection? That would be nice!

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

Got into them via Mortal Kombat.....(the end with Halcyon) and bought brown, yellow, diversions, and sniv....so much great stuff on those. The video for the Box came out soon after.....mmmmm, and then of course In Sides (Girl With The Sun.... is still one of the best electronic songs ever, you can just think of the song and hear the melody in your head without it even playing....)
After that, Middle of Nowhere and the Altogether both sucked hard (for me at least)....with the Blue Album rating above those but not on par with the "classics".

What memories....:):(

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

Listening to The Girl With The Sun In Her Head.... amazing... what a vibe.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

Bad desicion! Man, I have such an affinity for Kraftwerk, and that live disc is just amazing. I remember hearing the Green album and thinking that Belfast sounded just like Franz Schubert.


Anyways, the thing I've always said about Orbital is that they had this superhuman gift for techno hooks. It's incredible. Like, the Green album was good on the hooks alone, and the Brown album was incredible because of it (Impact alone had like, more great techno hooks than most techno albums do). But when they decided to mix their gift with interesting songwriting and atmosphere, they really turned into something special. Snivilisation is my second favorite techno album ever (dubnobass is first) because of just how interesting and unmatched it is. In Sides, their foray into symphonic electronic music sure is interesting, I love the fact that the majority of it could be replicated into a small MIDI file yet it manages to be so resonant. Middle of Nowhere...still a fan of it for the first three tracks alone, but it sort of loses something over time. As for Altogether and Blue Album...well, the former has at least five or so great tracks, and the Blue Album at least has a very nice string of music (tracks 1-5), and a strong finish, but I wish some of the promo and UK only tracks didn't get cut out.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

The Girl with the sun in her head, Belfast and Science Friction are three tracks I really dig, but Adnan's is by far my favourite Orbital tune - love it!!

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

Hey gambit,

Most def. in a "that's great" view. Keep your inner child wondering & wandering, always.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

Gotcha. :D

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

Belfast is the best chill-out song ever. That's enough for their respect, but they have so many more great songs.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

The Box EP was the first pop CD I ever bought. And still one of my favourite EPs. Awesome.
In fact, other than the occasional duff track, I love most of their output. Certainly one of my alltime favourites.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

"belfast", "chime" and "midnight". i don't know why people overlook midnight - the way it leaps half way through is pure orbital, loops and layers and really shouts forward to the brown tracks.
satan.
all of the brown album - i can never really listen to individual tracks, as they flow so well together. though the "u.s.a" version of impact would be a nice upgrade. i remember splicing it using a tape recorder! the breakdown before "remind" is a real spine-tingler too...

from "snivilisation" i'd have "forever" "are we here?" and "attached"

in-sides - "tgwtsihh" and "out there somewhere" do nice things...

live versions of "the box" were awesome

the altogether - i gave this away i hated it so much.

blue - "you lot" and "easy serv" and "one perfect sunrise", though only "easy serv" feels like something not trying to be "brown"

(finally - find live versions with improv spin-offs of these, and release them on cd and dvd)

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

Daddy?

Yes Son?

What does regret mean?

Well son, a funny thing about regret is that it is better to regret something you have done than something you haven't done......and by the way, if you see your mom this weekend just tell her:

SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN

what a great start to a tune!:D

I love Impact, Halcyon, Lush, Chime, Belfast, TGWTSIHH, You lot, Desert storm, forever, and loads more

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

Ha! I was wondering where the other "oldtimers" were (the truly old can probably get back to 1989, but that was when I discovered 808 State--one good British techno group at a time, back then, at least in the States). 1996 was the magic year, really, cause Orbital, Underworld, and the Chemical Brothers hit the States on tour that year... let's just say that hearing Satan live for the first time...

Whee.

My favorite Orbital recording so far is my stream rip of their last Peel session (July 28, 2004). Just hearing the crowd response in that small studio and the love in the room just reminds me how happy the Hartnoll's music can make me.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

I was blown away when i saw them do that live. Never heard it before i saw them and it was incredible.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

Haha! good lad! sends a shiver down the spine just thinking about that tune and a myriad of others. I fuckin loved them live:D

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

i just listened to Orbital 2 ("brown") again, in its entirety...every time i hear it, i think, "could this be the best electronic album ever made?" :D i said it before, and i'll say it again. Still impressive 12 years on...

So, i was over at the Loopz board and saw that a new unofficial Orbital compilation is coming out (is out?), but its a pretty shoddy affair.

http://www.streetsonline.co.uk/commo...l?pid=50471951

Nothing new, and quite random tracklist (very Green-heavy). Weird.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

yeah, that looks... ahem.. not as though it's a bona fide release.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

yea - I saw it at a Tower Records, which is odd... as they usually don't sell boots (save for the 2Many Dj's mixes)

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

Oh, it's not a bootleg. Warner released it. The band haven't sanctioned the release, but it's all legal and shit.
Unfortunately the tracklist is so bad it'd be easy to think someone was taking the piss when they made it.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

Don't know what sparked it but over the last week I've dug all my Orbital CDs out and given them a good listening to. I've even bought a second hand The Altogether off eBay to complete my collection.

I know The Altogether gets a right bashing around these parts (Tootled must have been a career low for the boys) but if you haven't heard it I advise you to pick-up/download the track Beelzebeat, which appeared on the bonus disc with the US release. I like it a lot. Also, for any UK dirts who didn't know, the US release of the Blue Album had an extra 5 tracks on. 5 extra tracks! If you own the UK version, go and download the extra tracks now. It's pretty much your right as a consumer.

Also, The Sinner is probably how their version of The Saint theme should have sounded. Sounds like it belongs alongside Brown and the Peel Session tracks. It gets a big fat TICK.

Oh yeah, if you haven't heard Beached from The Beach soundtrack, that's a very lovely piece, evoking an almost identical atmosphere to 8 Ball.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

i agree with everything you said. "The Altogether" isn't as bad as many say, it's just that prior releases were so good and flowing, and here comes a bunch of weird separate tracks...still lots of cool sounds. Bonus disc is a must-have.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

yes! thread revival!

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

Amen.

Although I can only listen to two or three tracks from the Altogether. And I get different feelings from "Beached" and " 8-Ball", still both brilliant in their own right.

I've always looked at Orbital's art/output as very calculated abstract. Damn, I sound like a hippie.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

i'm patiently waiting for Orbital to compile the pre-green 12"s and b-sides along with some of their early remixes.

Re: The Orbital Appreciation Thread
 

Copied from a post i made on the old Loopz forum:

"here are the final tracklistings for both CD1 and CD2 of my Green Album Special Edition, coming to a cd player near me (or you, if you like).

01 - The Moebius (7:01)
02 - Speed Freak (Moby Mutation) (5:41)
03 - Oolaa (6:21)
04 - Fahrenheit 3D3 (7:05)
05 - Satan (Fade Out) (6:11)
06 - Steel Cube Idolatry (6:34)
07 - High Rise (8:22)
08 - Chime (Son Of Chime) (6:00)
09 - Midnight (5:06)
10 - Belfast (Wasted vocal mix) (7:03)
11 - Choice (Original Version) (5:33)
12 - Untitled (from Green tape) (8:48 )

Running Time: 79mins 50secs

Note: Son Of Chime needed the crowd noise snipping from the end of the track in order to get under the 80mins barrier, and Satan required the 1991 "fade out" version to be used instead of the 1995 reissue.

01 - LC1 (5:07)
02 - Deeper (6:57 version)
03 - Omen (6:59)
04 - Choice (Eye And I Mix) (9:18 )
05 - Satan (The Rhyme & Reason Vocal Mix) (6:49)
06 - Open Mind (5:28 )
07 - Desert Storm (12:05)
08 - Analogue Test Feb '90 (7:01)
09 - LC2 (Outer Limits Mix) (5:53)
10 - 2 Deep (6:27)
11 - Macrohead (6:47)
12 - I Think Its Disgusting (0:51)

Running Time: 79mins 43secs

Analysis:

Overall I'm very satisfied with the result. I think CD1 reflects a much stronger version of the original album without changing the running order radically as other Green album reworkings have suggested. With approximately 27secs left to spare over 2 CDs I think I've done well to squeeze as much on as possible. 24 tracks on 2CDs aint bad.

Having listened to the Moby version of Speed Freak and the normal release version after each other there's not much of a difference except a dancey beat behind the Moby version. And in this case, its not such a bad thing (some of the Mutations tracks are "pumped up" in a much worse way). Moby's version is also shorter and means I can fit all the tracks onto one CD. :) To fit what I wanted on the CD I had to make compromises. :( Not too tough compromises I dont think. No 7" edits under 5 mins for example.

I would have loved to fit on the full version of Deeper and Satan, but I don't think the end result suffers from not having this, as they are represented. As for Chime, its already over-represented in many places and I thought the Son Of Chime version really does bring a radically different sound to the song compared to the remixes that are available (JZJ, Ray Kieth, Joey Beltram) and only Chime Crime might have been a worthwhile addition."