TRIPLE BILL: Orbital and I

I had never listened to Orbital. Not really. 

I was first properly introduced to the band via the bouncingly brilliant rhythm game Frequency which used a remix of their single 'Funny Break' as part of its soundtrack. Frequency was a fascinating experience because it forced the player (or should that be listener) to break down a song into its constituent parts (bass lines, drum rhythms, guitar licks, vocals etc) and rebuild as they saw fit. Granted you would only do really well if you managed to rebuild the entire song, but the most interesting moments came from finding ways to strip the track into something new. 

'Funny Break' was my favourite song to mess around with. I think it's largely because of the vocal line. Getting the drum loop to drop out of the mix at just the right moment allowed Naomi Bedford's auto-tuned belters to soar off on crackling digital wings, and in that moment of musical control and creation I'd be flying right along with her.

But still I didn't go listen to Orbital. Not really.

It was another video game that brought the brothers Hartnoll back to my attention: Lumines Electronic Symphony, a sprawling technicolor love letter to electronic music. Q Entertainment's rhythmic masterpiece, produced by music obsessive club owner-turned-journalist-turned-producer James Mielke (who you should be following on Twitter) has an enormously diverse soundtrack of electronic artists- a (mostly) complete playlist of which can be found here.

One of the final additions to the mix was the track 'Never' from Orbital's latest album Wonky. It's melancholia you can dance to. It's wistful and funky. It was this song which finally got my ears to perk up and admit I should probably listen to Orbital.

This lead me to Wonky and finding what is now my favourite track by Orbital and a candidate for one of my favourite electronica songs- 'One Big Moment.' 

It samples and chops philosophical ramblings into an opener that slowly morphs into a conversation being held around the world. The chiming synth bells groove over digital car horns before crashing into a galactic bumping beat that is equally at home amongst the stars as it is on the pavement. It's excellent and you should be soundtracking your life with it.

So now I've listened to Orbital (thanks to some digital pushing from Frequency and Lumines) and I'm glad I did. Really.