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The Orb - Orblivion


seraph

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THE ORB - ORBLIVION

1997

ISLAND

 

1. DELTA MKII

2. UBIQUITY

3. ASYLUM

4. BEDOUIN

5. MOLTEN LOVE

6. PI

7. SALT

8. TOXYGENE

9. LOG OF DEADWOOD

10. SECRETS

11. PASSING OF TIME

12. 72

 

Dr. Alex Paterson formed this very innovative band at the end of eighties specifially for IDM, and ambient electronica genre. All along with FSOL, this group is one of the most prominent electronica groups that ever came out of England. This is their fourth installement and it is pretty good album, but not their best. There is whole range of different genres here too, from melting ambient noises over dubby distinctiveness thru some downbeat techno. There are also electro influences with shimmering rhythms and even some drum'n'bass structures, so it is pretty various, but there could have been done something else on it. There aren't those long driving sections like on UFOrb or Orbus Terrarum but this album do manage to present what it wants without any pretention. My favourite songs are : ASYLUM, BEDOUIN, TOXYGENE ( you remember that hit single that is the best one on the album , simply amazing ), SECRETS, PASSING OF TIME...7/10

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  • 2 weeks later...

For me, this album signified a turning towards the "new" orb style: less long drawn out ambiences, and more focused on trippy sounds and solid dubby beats. It might not be quite as spacey as the old stuff, but a band's gotta evolve sooner or later.

 

super plus for S.A.L.T., with awesome paranoid conspiracy theorist vocal sample.

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This was good evolving, but it is pity cause they regressed after this album with Cydonia. I don't even want to review that album cause I find it too commerical and not psychedelic at all. I have no idea what happened to Paterson, he was really no bullshit guy...

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seraph, if you just don't listen to the vocal tracks, I think Cydonia sounds about as good as any other orb album. mile long lump of lard and especially terminus are nice tracks. anyways, it seems it was just a momentary digression into popmusicland, because the newest orb album, Bicycles and Tricycles, is pretty good.

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  • 1 year later...

Hah, this is probably my favorite Orb album. So many classics, so much psychedelia in every possible way. There's a great number of tracks I would dare to put in a Chillout set. Very, very varied album, I think it's a musthave for people who love oldschool psychedelic chillout... :)

 

Good thing about this one it just doesn't sound dated. Because of the usage of so many different kinds of samples, it isn't condemned to the realm of old-age-synthies...

Absolute Favorites:

Ubiquity: cool old computergame sounds, very spaced out and weird, trippy, lovely melody underneath and very freaky in general.

Bedouin; nice floating flutes here, weeeeiiiiiird samples again (they're everywhere, everywhere I tell ya!), more ambientistic than most other songs, cool stories underneath about this guy who says goodbye to his family

S.A.L.T."do you ever get the feeling you're being followed?" as Seraph said, awesome conspiracy theory story here, very Orby and sometimes even Orbital-ish use of synth melody. Nice! Nice! Freaky!

Toxygene: Very psychedelic and fragmented sampled buildup, ending in a car screaching, when the song gets more hectic and busy (around 2:00). Triphoppy beat, sweet melody, one of my alltime favorite Orb-songs.

 

Gents, ladies, this album is sooooooooo damn good. I've listened to this again and again and again and again. Incredible stuff, Orb at its most, if you ask me! :)

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  • 9 months later...
Guest antic

Another great album by The Orb.

 

Compared to Orbus Terrarum this one is a bit more "commercial" in that it contains song-structured tunes, where Orbus Terrarum was more about soundscapes, emotions and weird experiments. The tunes here are shorter, with clear melody and rhythm but it doesn't mean they don't have that Orb-ish quality in them. It is still very psychedelic, with lots of clever little details and unexpected turns. I like tracks 1-5 best, but they're all sooo damn good!

 

Wonderful music and extraordinary production quality considering its age.

 

9/10

 

 

 

EDIT - my 2000th post! :D

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