Orbital: A Beginners Guide – Album Review

The Hartnoll brothers (Orbital) have had a welcome resurgence of late after the release of Optical Delusion back in 2023 reviewed here. This a collection of their greatest gems for the uninitiated to bask in reckons Wayne AF Carey…

Orbital have been stunning the dance and indie scene for 30 plus years now and what better way to compile their best tracks brought back to show the world what they were and are still capable of. Sticking with their trusty mate Julian House from Intro, a long time collaborator of theirs to compile the new artwork, showcasing the talents of the techno titans in all their glory, it’s a belting package both on Vinyl and CD alike.

The Hartnolls don’t fuck around here, with the first three tracks Chime, Halycon And On And On and Belfast edited down to short listens with the familiar spine tingling tunes from the 90’s still standing up tall with the greats of innovative techno. Non beginners who witnessed them live back in the day will remember that tower they played from, with eyeball lights looking down on the e-fuelled masses who floated across many dancefloors, especially with the melodic Belfast and the classic slowdown towards the end which sent the masses into exploding euphoric leg wobbling. Satan still sounds demonic with that dirty guitar riff backed by a top as fuck hip hop beat squalled with dirty feedback that precedes the sound of the great Death In Vegas.

The Box from 1996 album In Sides still sounds haunting now with that great piano intro and drum n bass motif flipping it sideways like a dystopian soundtrack to a future Romero film. Orbital in essence and on form big time. Lush 3.1 is the classic it is with the crystalline key start and the knocking at the door bass drum sliding into the clubbed up beat to build into their floor shaking sound us old bastards still love and a nod to the Electro albums. Beached is next from 2000, a collaboration with the great Angel Badalamenti of Twin Peaks / Julie Cruise fame. You can hear this right throughout, even when it bangs into the Ibiza vibed warped sound it displays, marked with the vocal samples from Di Caprio (al la The Beach). Are We Here from Snivilisation still sounds great today as it did in 1994, cut down to just under 4 minutes it’s smattering of drums and samples including one from The Specials ‘Horace Gentleman’ from Man At C&A. A masterclass in plundering for the great and good.

Are You Alive leaps forward to their last album Optical Delusion with the great vocals from Penelope Isles going in smooth with a cracking bit of dub percussion that keeps you entranced like only the Hartnolls can muster today as always. Style harks back to 1999 and works around the sound of the now infamous Stylophone used by arch paedo Rolf Harris, only this time the song is reconstructed by ‘two not so little boys’ using their genius to play around with some great sounds and even sampling a bit of Dollar along the way. Inventive as fuck as I say. Next up is the best thing Orbital could have ever done to make a mass come back. A dirty bass line, Sleaford Mods, a fuck off techno beat and a big stab at the now redundant Tory Party and the lunatic voting public (don’t get me on Trump supporters). Three and a half minutes of liquid Orbital at their very best.

Funny Break from their 6th album The Altogether slows down the tempo with some funky breaks and great vocals from Naomi Bedford backed with trumpet and sax from Dominic Glover and Michael Smith. A trippy and exhilarating track worthy of this compilation. Ringa Ringa The Old Pandemic Folk Song is Orbital using their old school knack of clever beat trickery, going all out electro with a weird vibe, using the Mediaeval Baebes for that full on histrionics piece, creating a techno workout. Remind flicks right back to the ‘Brown Album’, an all out 303 techno blast that wibbled and wobbled across the country like the acid flashback it still sounds like. Seven minutes of hypnotic madness that had the trance crowd in their pockets in the early days of their crowning heights into club history. A floor filler and then some.

Illuminate from the excellent Wonky album was a bit of a shocker for me when I heard the warblings of David Gray coming out the speaker. I actually threw a copy of White Ladder at the wall once I was that fed up of hearing it aired everywhere. I lost it and went mental. Fact. This is actually quite good so I’ve included the video for your perusal. You can fuckin’ shake your head at me all you want. Now come on everyone, who doesn’t like a bit of Doctor Who? We’ve all had our periods of shitting our keks behind the couch from Daleks and Cybermen. Orbital did a sterling job turning this haunting slab of TV greatness into a mental electro study that melds so many sounds into one tune it’s epic. I could have this bastard on loop whilst watching that infinite tunnel swirling around whilst tripping on a black microdot (sorry Gen Z, you won’t understand) Still a mindblower. Closing track The Girl With The Sun In Her Head is the epic opener to In Sides, dedicated to their photographer friend Sally Harding. It’s a sprawling piece of greatness from the Hartnoll Brothers which shows the scope of their songwriting at it’s best. They could have milked five different tracks out of this if they wanted to yet just broke out with a flow that hits on so many sounds it’s astonishing and such a great end showcase to a new audience.

Hardcore Orbital fans could easily make their own compilations from their memories of such a powerful techno / electro duo yet this is such a good introduction to these two pioneers who could sample a fart and make a good remix of it. Solid as a rock.

www.orbitalofficial.com

Words by Wayne Carey, Reviews Editor for Louder Than War. His author profile is here