Orbital
April 28th, 2004
Today
I’m saddened to read that after 15 years together, Orbital are
breaking up.
If there’s one group that sound tracked the 90’s for me, it was the brothers Hartnoll and their nodding inspection lights, and I feel a twinge of nostalgia for good times past at this news.
Although their recent output hasn’t really been up my street (all a bit too cinematic, in my opinion) I still consider myself a fan, and there was always hope that they’d return to a more dancefloor-driven sound. Now there’s only one chance for this – their last long player, “blue album” which, incidentally, has a very nice cover.
Orbital were responsible for my techno epiphany, and I will always be grateful to them for this. The Midi Circus tour hit Brixton in June ’93 and Orbital had the prime slot just after midnight. The set was awesome – pure brown-album (their best in my opinion) and my incredulity as the tunes segued seamlessly together is still clear in my mind.
They’re the act I’ve seen live more than any other (something like 20 times), and I’ve more Orbital cd’s on the shelf than any other given artist. And now I suppose I’ll be able to cap that part of the collection.
Glastonbury is the setting for their final ‘greatest hits’ show, which promises to be a corker. They’re also playing at Brixton on Friday 25 June, and my regret at missing both of these events is only partially mitigated by the fact I’ll be at Euro 2000 in Portugal. For everyone else, I recommend getting your tickets early.