Orbital - In Sides
Blah Blah Blah, #2, April 1996
In Sides is great news for anyone who feared that Phil and Paul Hartnoll's uniquely organic approach to music-making might cause output to biodegrade. Delightful as it was, some of the music on last year's "Times Fly" EP had a naggingly familiar ring about it; even if the tracks concerned weren't remixes, they felt like they might be. This fourth album, though, is all-new Orbital, and uniting Snivilisation's restless sense of adventure with the extraordinary fluidity of their immortal second "Brown" album, it's as good as anything the Kentish soul brothers have ever done.
At it's best, Orbital's music is a raft heading downstream through the mountains. You don't know who's steering - it could be Meryl Streep, it could be Mr C - and it doesn't really matter, but you can't afford to be weighed down with excess linguistic baggage. That's why the whole Snivilisation concept album trip was a bit of a non-starter. In Sides is an equally varied but much less patchy record than its predecessor; amid all the moodswings and sea-changes, that unique and exhilarating Orbital flow is never lost.
"The Girl With The Sun in Her Head" is a great opener, blending something that sounds very like a Hammond organ with something else that might be an off-cut from Michael Jacksons Thriller. "Petrol" is the most incendiary Orbital moment yet, and "The Box" is Africa Bambaata plays John Barry. "Dwr Budt" melts a textbook Alison Goldfrapp vocal-swirl into a blitzkreig grind and clank, while the concluding "Out There Somewhere" is just way too short, despite clocking in at a full 24 minutes.........
Ben Thompson- Blah Blah Blah is published monthly in the UK and costs around £2.
- (it also happens to be a spin-off of mtv)
[ Also: All In Sides reviews ]
