Orbital -‘Wonky’ (ACP Recordings)

Welcome back, Phil and Paul. A few years back, I argued that perhaps the really important brothers in music over the last 20 years had, in fact, not been the brothers Gallagher but the brothers Hartnoll. And I stand by that.

This is their first album in eight years, although they came off ‘indefinite hiatus’ in 2009. They had a fearsome reputation as a live act, made some brilliant albums that were thought-provoking and danceable, and enjoyed a number of hit singles.

Wonky is a great album, period. It pretty much picks up where they left off to the ears of this listener, no desperate attempts to appear dahn wiv der kids, or sounding like they’re flogging any dead horses going to pay the mortgage. It sounds like Classic Orbital and current at the same time. The album features contributions from Zola Jesus (on the single ‘New France’) and Lady Leshur on the title track.

If I said this was business as usual for Orbital, it would probably come across as if I was being dismissive. But the awesome work that characterized their great albums back in the 1990s is here in spades. It may seem that the album takes a while to get going the first time you hear it – but by the second or third time you are hooked. So great to be able to report that they are retreading past glories or offering this up as an exercise in nostalgia. Will we really be able to say the same when the yawningly inevitable Oasis reunion happens?

****

Wonky is released on ACP Recordings on April 2.

Something fun for Friday, this is the video for the title track of Orbital’s new album, Wonky.

And yes, it features rapping cats.

Wonky is released on ACP Recordings on April 2.

Orbital are due to return with their first album in eight years, Wonky, on April 1.

Phil and Paul Hartnoll have joined up with Zola Jesus who adds her vocals to the first single taken from the album, entitled ‘New France.’ As you would expect, from a legendary dance act, yes it comes with a remixes – but what you might not expect (if you are cynical about remixes, rather than if you know how bloody great Orbital are and have always been, obviously!) is that those remixes would be so blinking awesome. All worth checking out, IMHO.

The video for the song is rather cool, too…

The album tracklisting is as follows:

1. One Big Moment
2. Straight Sun
3. Never
4. New France (feat. Zola Jesus)
5. Distractions
6. Stringy Acid
7. Beelzedub
8. Wonky (feat. Lady Leshurr)
9. Where Is It Going?

The band are touring the UK in April:

5 Manchester Academy
6 Leeds O2 Academy
7 Glasgow O2 Academy
8 Liverpool O2 Academy
9 Cambridge Corn Exchange
10 London Royal Albert Hall

Orbital -‘Orbital 20′ (Rhino)

This is one of the most glorious things to grace my ears this year. The ’20’ in the title could refer the number of years since they formed, the number of tracks on the compilation across two wonderful CDs or even the accumulated marks for each disc out of ten.

Because -make no mistake – this compilation of the work of the Brothers Hartnoll, Phil and Paul, is just fantastic. Even if you weren’t a dance music fan, not to be moved and impressed by these tracks would be to give up on life. It opens with ‘Chime’ their glorious manifesto, and continues with ‘Belfast’ the younger, further-reaching cousin of the Beloved’s ‘The Sun Rising.’ Then it’s onto ‘Satan’ the delightfully bonkers, thrilling floor-filler that samples the Butthole Surfers. And that’s just the first three tracks.

The Hartnoll Brothers proved themselves masters of much of what has come under the heading of dance and elctronica over the past two deacdes. Echoes of house, trance, ambient, techno and chill. Their contemporaries have, over time, included The Orb, Aphex Twin, Underworld, The Chemical Brothers, and Leftfield. Like these acts, they were born out of rave culture, but progressed into the charts and tore up the mainstream, proving themselves as chart stars with Top Of The Pops appearances, gracing the Peel Festive Fifty and the pages of indie bible NME. Added to that list should almost certainly be Massive Attack, DJ Shadow, UNKLE, Boards of Canada, the Prodigy and yes, Fatboy Slim and Moby. Hopefully all of them will be remembered when the inevitable nineties revival kicks into gear, that the music of the time was not just about grunge and Britpop. I made that mistake then, I’m sure as hell not doing it again.

I really connected with Orbital when ‘The Box’ came out, and it lead to me going back and investigating their earlier stuff. Now the four minute version here is great – but one of the few disappointments of this album is that it doesn’t include the full 28 minute version. It does contain two different versions of ‘Lush,’ a storming ten minute track. It doesn’t include their re-make of ‘The Saint’ theme, either, but I think I can live with that and so can you. Their live shows became legendary – so much so that when the band announced they were retiring in 2004, it seemed that they were constantly doing one more show. Now they have returned and this is not an excercise in nostalgia; rather, it’s an opportunity for everyone to remind themselves just how great they are.

Sod the bloody Gallagher brothers, this album proves that the most important act of brothers of British music over the last two decades is not Noel and Liam, but Phil and Paul.

*****

Orbital -‘Style.’ mp3

Orbital -‘The Box.’ mp3

Orbital -‘Chime’ (Top Of the Pops 1990)