New Orbital stuff / general appreciation

[M-CORP]

So today Orbital brought out a decent remix comp, 30 Something, that not only contains reworkings of early tracks by both the band and the HOTTEST new dance producers (nice balance of purism and radical reinterpretation too), but also a couple of new tracks inspired by the Hartnoll brothers' rave origins - 'Smiley' and 'Acid Horse'. Both are delightfully silly without being too cheesy, and there's a suitably outlandish video with puppets, very well-done:

Orbital also did a guest mix on BBC Radio 6Music today, it's available to hear until the end of August, and it's worth checking out as it contains some exclusive glimpses of the NEXT Orbital album, which apparently will finally be out next February. And the Spice Girls get sampled to death.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0019cc8

Always liked Orbital for how they came from rave but set their sights much wider, taking influence from Ennio Morricone, the Radiophonic Workshop and folk music, rather than just usual suspects like Kraftwerk... melody and structure-wise they have few credible rivals in electronic music. I especially like how their sound has evolved over the years - the mix above sees them going into stranger, dafter territory than ever before, but the melodies are still as powerful as ever.

Interested to hear other people's thoughts on Orbital, these new remixes and the upcoming album...

[dontpaintyourteeth]

I haven't heard anything since The Altogether. Maybe this is a good excuse to catch up. All the nineties stuff is excellent obviously.

I watched Star Trek TNG for the first time when it went up on Netflix and did a big cheer when Worf did the Moebius line.

[monkfromhavana]

Fucking hell, that Jon Hopkins remix of Halcyon.........

[imitationleather]

That Smiley video is really good. I listened to the tune earlier and thought it was noticeably above par for a latter day Orbital track and the video adds a lot.

[Magnum Valentino]

Brown's my very favourite electronic album ever made. Cheers, Mortal Kombat soundtrack!

[purlieu]

The Box was the first CD I ever bought, so they'll always be an important band for me. More thoughts when it's not gone midnight, but they have a certain something - as mentioned, the melodies, song structures and broad influences - that makes them stand out above just about all other dance music for me. They never went down the IDM or ambient route, but they always fit with those artists far more than they do with contemporaries like The Prodigy, Chemical Bros, CJ Bolland etc.

[M-CORP]

I haven't heard anything since The Altogether. Maybe this is a good excuse to catch up. All the nineties stuff is excellent obviously.

I quite like the poppier, organised chaos of The Altogether, so take this with a pinch of salt, but the later stuff is worth checking out. It's definitely not the same as their nineties stuff, but I feel after In Sides they consciously moved on to other things, and while some post-Altogether tracks are meh, I think some parts of Monsters Exist, the latest album, are very strong.

Fucking hell, that Jon Hopkins remix of Halcyon.........

Is that good 'fucking hell' or bad 'fucking hell?

[Cuntbeaks]

At one point, they were arguably the best live band in the world. Thrilling and dynamic sets, with a visceral light show to match. Their Brixton Academy all-nighter with Aphex in '92 was one of the best gigs ive ever experienced.

Then the Belinda Carlisle sample landed and it all went to shit.

They've been peddling much the same live set for nigh on 25 years, i mean surely they get fucking sick of the playing the same tunes. Saw them after a long time at George Square in Glasgow. Same old tunes and nobody gave a fuck about the "new stuff".

They obviously have a vibrant back catalogue that i still partake of, and they could dredge it now and again and play a little heard banger or two to keep things fresh. But nah, lets play Chime, Belfast and Satan etc for the millionth time.

Fair play to them for sticking with the same script long enough to attract a new generation of fans, but as a live act, they're dead to me.

[purlieu]

Similar happened with Underworld, who went from 100% improvised shows with new arrangements made off the cuff each night, before very gradually turning into very safe static setlists of classics. At least the Orbital renditions have evolved, as the versions on 30 Something show. Even by the early '00s, 'Chime' was pretty different to the original.

LP / CD / MC (as it was originally known) is a solid debut, a great mix of acid house and Detroit techno with plenty of their great melodic ideas, although I always thought a much better album could be made from the numerous non-album tracks from that era:
Chime (Original)
Deeper
Omen
Open Mind
2 Deep
Satan
LC1
Midnight (Original)
Throw in 'Belfast' and a couple of other album tracks and you've got a much stronger album. But it's all good, an era I'm very fond of. The vinyl and cassette bonus tracks are worth tracking down for those who haven't heard them, the Q from TNG and Tom from Tom & Jerry-sampling 'Macrohead' and the stunning 'Untitled'. I also love the artwork, the block colours with medical diagrams in the background. It's minimal and unassuming but really its own thing. The Mutations remix EP is a nice way to round out the era.

Orbital is a great follow-up, a big development on the sound, introducing ravier elements, breakbeats and so on, as well as linking the tracks together. It doesn't work as well on vinyl because of the fade and side-swap between 'Impact' and 'Remind'. Superb record, though. 'Halcyon + On + On' is a big improvement on the single version. 'Sunday' is a great b-side from this era. The album follows the art style of the earlier ones, and I really love the tracklist on the front cover thing. Also the fact that 'Planet of the Shapes' was renamed 'Planet of the Tapes' for the cassette version is a lovely daft gag. The Radiccio EP also introduces the thing of having little photos by Mark Häkansson in the sleeve, which is another idiosyncratic element of their art I've always loved. Whereas most techno at the time went down the futuristic or otherworldly side, Orbital, even with their sci-fi samples, always had this very down-to-Earth, almost suburban aspect which is so well reflected in the sleeve design and is unlike anyone else working at the time. The 'Lush' single has some nice remixes but no original tracks for the first time, which makes it a tad underwhelming; the Peel Session EP is a great selection of radical reworkings from the album.

Snivilisation is my favourite. I hated it at first and it took about 15 years to grow on me, but the combination of more experimental elements, a much more melancholic melodic tone and the wonderful chunky production just does it for me. One of my favourite albums. There are no words for John Greenwood's surreal art. 'Are We Here' is a top choice of single and the numerous reinterpretations are a great example of dance acts providing their own remixes, a practice that went out of favour in the late '90s. Times Fly is a great little EP to follow.

'The Box', as previously mentioned, was my first proper CD purchase after seeing it on Top of the Pops. I wasn't prepared for four untitled versions all linked together with the band's least commercial work on it. The harpsichord section at the end of track 2 is particularly stunning. In Sides is generally considered their best album, and while I tend to get that - it's certainly their boldest, moving furthest from their dance roots with side-long soundtracky pieces - the use of live drums on most tracks just takes something away from their sound for me. It's still an incredible album, and the closing run of 'Dwr Budr', 'Adnans' and 'Out There Somewhere?' is unsurpassed. The Satan Live single was a great way of doing a live album without actually doing a live album, and their last release before the novelty element reared its head. While 'The Saint' isn't in itself novelty, it's a reworking of a TV theme for a film and really shouldn't have been added to the album. The track reuses sounds from 'The Box' in a way that's always felt a touch workmanlike to me; its remix, 'The Sinner', is considerably better. Then there was a reworking of 'Satan' with Kirk Hammett which was a bit... naff.

The Middle of Nowhere is a solid album but in hindsight makes it obvious why they changed with the turn of the century: it's basically Orbital-by-numbers. 'Way Out', 'Spare Parts Express' and 'Style' are among their best uplifting tracks, though. 'An Fhomair', an acidy alternate take of 'Otono' released as a b-side is the much better of the two, and the other b-side 'Mock Tudor' is techno in 7/8, which should probably have replaced 'Know Where to Run'. The 'Style' and 'Nothing Left' singles have some great mixes by the band themselves. The art, however, I'm not keen on. Gone are the small incidental photographs, paintings and collages, replaced by photos and minimalist design. Fultano Mauder's idiosyncratic designs are a big part of the Orbital thing for me, as much as Tomato with Underworld and Buggy G. Riphead with FSOL, and the move to Farrow baffles me. Mark Farrow is by far my favourite sleeve designer, but his work doesn't suit Orbital for me at all. Even as a teenager, the art here just felt wrong. Even their logo is reduced to a small placement on the back cover. The 'Beached' single, although good, feels like a fairly mainstream track bordering on trance which is an unfortunate move; their logo is totally missing from the sleeve.

The Altogether was controversial, and still gets hate these days, but in hindsight I think it's a very brave album. They'd clearly gone as far as they could with their earlier sound, and rolled back all the techno, acid and breaks elements to focus on their early electro influences. Shorter runtimes, a thinner, more plasticy sound, poppy elements, silly samples, it's very different, although still recognisably Orbital in the compositions. 'Shadows' and 'Funny Break' are two of their best tracks, although I probably should have mentioned the latter in the Unrepresentative Singles thread. It does have a few duff tracks - 'Illuminate' is terrible, 'Last Thing' is filler, the 'Doctor ?' should have remained a live track, and 'Meltdown' is great but totally out of place. I think it's a largely successful experiment and I enjoy most of it. Jesus, though, the art is fucking terrible. The worst Orbital art and the worst Farrow art. No sign of their original logo or that great scribble design, just a fucking skull and crossbones with their light glasses on and some computer-style font. Ugh. A couple of reasonable reworkings aside (the weirdest being 'Beelzebeat', a track very loosely based on 'Funny Break' that ended up as the a-side of CD2 somehow), the b-sides are all remixes by other artists, and none particularly memorable.

Work, Rest & Play, the best-of and double EP, can get to fuck. A selection of radio edits on the compilation, a reworking of the Orbital remix of 'Kinetic' by Golden Girls given a Eurotrance style intro and vocals, and some odds and sods put together for b-sides, all combined with some ugly artwork. No thanks.

Blue Album always feels very desperate to me. The return to the colour-coded albums from Green/Brown of their early days, only those albums were basically untitled; the return of Grant Fulton on the art, only replacing their ironic scribble design with a horrible computer remake of it; a selection of tracks that feels like a collection of b-sides from throughout their career. 'Transient' is a stunning opener, unlike anything else they've done before or since, and it's followed by four very decent tracks, only given really flat, lifeless production that sets them apart from the band's past. The second half of the album is utterly horrible, with two silly novelty numbers, a Sparks "collaboration" that is among the worst moments in their history, and 'One Perfect Sunrise', which feels like a fanfic version of an Orbital closer. From interviews following their second split, it appears they broke up due to personal differences, but frankly they were running on fumes so it was a good time to call it quits.

Despite them being one of my all-time favourites, I've somehow never heard Paul's solo record or Phil's work with Long Range. Should do something about that.

Wonky, as a comeback, didn't bode well. The first two preview tracks, 'Never' and 'Straight Sun', felt very safe (I remember someone on WATMM describing the latter as something that you might find on Beatport from an anonymous bedroom producer in the 'progressive breaks' section, which was an amusingly damning description), while the fucking awful title, embarrassing press photos and utterly generic cover similarly felt uninspired. Surprisingly, it turned out to be far better than anyone expected, although it has the later-Orbital-album issue of a couple of terrible tracks (the title track and the fucking abysmal dubstep version of 'Satan'). 'One Big Moment', 'New France' and 'Stringy Acid' are genuine Orbital classics, though, and while the modern EDM-style production on the drums makes it feel less expansive and exciting than the band's peak, it's solid and still gets regular plays here. Non-album double a-side 'The Gun is Good'/'Don't Stop Me' should really have been on there, though.

Then they broke up again, and the fallout suggested internal issues were the problem: the brothers wanted different things, I get the feeling Paul thought Phil wasn't contributing enough. While their initial run had everything written by P & P Hartnoll, all but two tracks on Wonky are credited to Paul alone. Phil spent a few years DJing, while Paul focused on new solo music, which feels telling as to where their interests lay. Paul's 8:58 album was apparently going to be the next Orbital album, only Paul finished it solo. I always found this story a touch difficult to swallow, partially because it's full of guest vocalists doing proper songs (as opposed to the wordless abstract style of almost all Orbital vocal tracks), and also because it features an updated version of a track from Paul's first solo album. I don't doubt that some of it began life as new Orbital demos, but I think it probably went in a very different direction after the split. I'm glad it wasn't an Orbital album, however, as it's not that good. The two instrumentals and two tracks with spoken words, as well as the added track on the bonus disc, are all good, but I don't really like any of the songs. The cover of 'A Forest', in particular, is horrible.  I often wonder if Paul thought he could just go it alone without Phil and then realised he couldn't so instigated the reunion. I followed him on Twitter and the 8:58 era was bleak at times, with him saying how it was like he had to start again without the Orbital name: gigs were cancelled, even at small shows, and he very quickly regretted using the name 8:58 rather than Paul Hartnoll. The album has since been re-distributed digitally under his own name.

Monsters Exist is a potentially great album that doesn't quite work. Paul spoke a lot about wanting to work towards this ideal of a perfect compact 40 minute album, but that's just not Orbital. As a result, there are some potentially amazing tracks on there that end before they've had chance to do anything, notably 'Buried Deep Within' and 'Vision OnE'. 'PHUK' and 'Tiny Foldable Cities' are among their best, and a lot of the album feels like a continuation of In Sides's more soundtracky approach; it's definitely them stretching themselves again. Even the novelty track - 'Hoo Hoo Ha Ha' - is pretty good. 'There Will Come a Time' is spoiled by Brian Cox's narration, and there are some great tracks on the bonus discs from the deluxe editions - 'Copenhagen', 'Dressing Up in Other People's Clothes', 'Fun With the System' are all equal to most of the album and better than some of it - and having the whole lot as a 21 track two hour package feels like more of a 'make your own album' set that really highlights the original album's flaws. Taken as the 'standard' album, however, I still think it's their most confident and consistent since In Sides and this bodes well for the future. Their tenth album was originally due out this year but current plans have it down for next spring and I'm really looking forward to it. Fingers crossed my copy of 30 Something will be in the post at the start of next week.

[Magnum Valentino]

Loved reading that, plenty for me to listen to based on those recommendations.

Anyone else really like You Lot off the blue album? The timing of Christopher Ecclestone's "you lot? YOU LOT? Cheeky bastards!" with the bass line kicking back in is fucking brilliant.

[imitationleather]

Great post purlieu.

[buttgammon]

Great post purlieu.

Yes, really good write-up. I'm glad you rate Snivilisation because I do too. For what it's worth, Are We Here? is probably my favourite Orbital track and the remixes on 30 Something are all enjoyable too.

Fucking hell, that Jon Hopkins remix of Halcyon.........

I'm not normally his biggest fan but this is a fantastic remix. It can't be easy to do something like that with a track as iconic as Halcyon either.

[M-CORP]

Thanks for the rundown, purlieu. And yeah, I think I agree with most of it, particularly re LP / MC / CD, The Altogether and Monsters Exist. (Work for my money was decent as a miscellaneous collection of the 7-inch pop singles and edits, though I'm admittedly partial to that sort of thing, whereas most people associate Orbital more with the longer journeys.)

Think the artwork is generally strong across the board - I always liked The Middle Of Nowhere's sleeve - how the sparseness of that white album cover was contrasted by a cacophony of busy, grainy shots of random society. I can understand, though, why the more corporate Farrow style can alienate, as it's so different from the more homespun and unique stuff that came before - and thinking about it now, the point of MoN's artwork was probably better executed by In Sides.

As for the solo stuff from 2007, I think it's worth checking out - though Long Range is definitely the more consistent, Orbital-esque album of the two. Think I prefer 'Madness And Me' to 'The Ideal Condition' - but the latter does have 'For Silence'... Paul's later '2Square' collab with Vince Clarke was fun, but yeah I have a hard time with '8:58' these days, it feels a bit unfinished.

Still waiting for my signed copy of 30 Something, also hoping it'll turn up tomorrow (or soon after).

[Better Midlands]

This guy does a pretty good Halcyon breakdown and remake.

Also did some Orb, Leftfield and Massive Attack remake videos too.

[checkoutgirl]

melody and structure-wise they have few credible rivals in electronic music.

I'm a big fan and Smile is a great bunch of lads. Bit disappointed with the remixes of their stuff by other producers though. It's like their classic tunes won't take a remix by other people and always sound inferior to the original and quite dull. There are a few exceptions to this, Tom Middleton's remix of Halcyon from 2009 being one of these rarities.

[monkfromhavana]

Is that good 'fucking hell' or bad 'fucking hell?

That's good "fucking hell".

[purlieu]

Think the artwork is generally strong across the board - I always liked The Middle Of Nowhere's sleeve - how the sparseness of that white album cover was contrasted by a cacophony of busy, grainy shots of random society. I can understand, though, why the more corporate Farrow style can alienate, as it's so different from the more homespun and unique stuff that came before - and thinking about it now, the point of MoN's artwork was probably better executed by In Sides.

I do actually like the TMON artwork, I love the way the initial CD release with the slipcase has the figure silhouettes on the inside of the slipcase, as well as the titles on the spine. I just don't think the style suits the band or album at all.

[Norton Canes]

Love Orbital, one of my top favourite bands, always happy to riffle through their oeuvre and play anything from the best known to the most obscure stuff. Don't think I can top purlieu's post in terms of a review of their career so I'll just say that if I had to pick a favourite album head would say Snivilisation but heart would go for Middle Of Nowhere. Oh and did I ever mention my theory that their first seven albums have some uncanny parallels with the first seven Doctor Whos?

Green is like Hartnell, a little abrasive, rough round the edges, tough and no-nonsense. Brown, like Troughton, is more subtle, refined, has greater range and is just generally, well, better (sorry Bill). Snivilisation is more like the Third Doctor era rather than Pertwee himself - it's where a whole raft of technological advances arrived and made the band/show feel tonally very different. Drum n' bass is its CSO. In Sides is, like Tom, basically the one most say is the best, and for good reason. Middle Of Nowhere however is, like Davison, my preference, though it's often misunderstood and underappreciated. The Altogether is a total dog's breakfast but there's plenty of good to pick out. And Blue a strange little coda; again, not one that's generally appreciated but fantastic if, like me, you're on board with its style.

Wonky is nothing like the TV Movie but as comebacks go it's up there with Ecclestone's season.

[M-CORP]

Green is like Hartnell, a little abrasive, rough round the edges, tough and no-nonsense. Brown, like Troughton, is more subtle, refined, has greater range and is just generally, well, better (sorry Bill). Snivilisation is more like the Third Doctor era rather than Pertwee himself - it's where a whole raft of technological advances arrived and made the band/show feel tonally very different. Drum n' bass is its CSO. In Sides is, like Tom, basically the one most say is the best, and for good reason. Middle Of Nowhere however is, like Davison, my preference, though it's often misunderstood and underappreciated. The Altogether is a total dog's breakfast but there's plenty of good to pick out. And Blue a strange little coda; again, not one that's generally appreciated but fantastic if, like me, you're on board with its style.

Wonky is nothing like the TV Movie but as comebacks go it's up there with Ecclestone's season.

As someone who only heard of Orbital cos of their cover of the Doctor Who theme, this is a perfect analogy.
Their version of the theme is great. Did what the KLF tried and failed to do - they had also wanted to use a 4/4 beat to make the theme danceable, but had to make do with Gary fucking Glitter. Orbital do that while respecting the roots of the original, by not introducing the drums too early, and ending in a massive barrage of noise. Lovely.

[M-CORP]

As someone who only heard of Orbital cos of their cover of the Doctor Who theme, this is a perfect analogy.
Their version of the theme is great. Did what the KLF tried and failed to do - they had also wanted to use a 4/4 beat to make the theme danceable, but had to make do with Gary fucking Glitter. Orbital succeed where they failed, AND respect the roots of the original, by not introducing the drums too early, and ending in a massive barrage of noise. Lovely.

[monkfromhavana]

Love Orbital, one of my top favourite bands, always happy to riffle through their oeuvre and play anything from the best known to the most obscure stuff. Don't think I can top purlieu's post in terms of a review of their career so I'll just say that if I had to pick a favourite album head would say Snivilisation but heart would go for Middle Of Nowhere. Oh and did I ever mention my theory that their first seven albums have some uncanny parallels with the first seven Doctor Whos?

Green is like Hartnell, a little abrasive, rough round the edges, tough and no-nonsense. Brown, like Troughton, is more subtle, refined, has greater range and is just generally, well, better (sorry Bill). Snivilisation is more like the Third Doctor era rather than Pertwee himself - it's where a whole raft of technological advances arrived and made the band/show feel tonally very different. Drum n' bass is its CSO. In Sides is, like Tom, basically the one most say is the best, and for good reason. Middle Of Nowhere however is, like Davison, my preference, though it's often misunderstood and underappreciated. The Altogether is a total dog's breakfast but there's plenty of good to pick out. And Blue a strange little coda; again, not one that's generally appreciated but fantastic if, like me, you're on board with its style.

Wonky is nothing like the TV Movie but as comebacks go it's up there with Ecclestone's season.

Which one is Sylvester McCoy?

[surreal]

As someone who only heard of Orbital cos of their cover of the Doctor Who theme, this is a perfect analogy.
Their version of the theme is great. Did what the KLF tried and failed to do - they had also wanted to use a 4/4 beat to make the theme danceable, but had to make do with Gary fucking Glitter. Orbital do that while respecting the roots of the original, by not introducing the drums too early, and ending in a massive barrage of noise. Lovely.

At Glastonbury with Matt Smith where they let him mess about and I'm sure he starts the sample at the wrong time...

[Norton Canes]

Which one is Sylvester McCoy?

Blue (the 7th studio album)

[Head Gardener]

30 Something (John Tejada Rarities Mix)

01. The Tranquilizer
02. Chime (The Helium Mix)
03. Omen (The Tower)
04. L.C.1
05. Untitled (Green Album Cassette Exclusive)
06. Macro Head
07. YMO - Behind The Mask (Orbital Remix)
08. Open Mind (F.A. Remix)
09. Crime
10. Analogue Test Feb '90
11. Queen Latifah - Come Into My House (Orbital Dub Mix)
12. The Naked And The Dead
13. The Pied Piper - Kinetic (Orbital Remix)
14. Impact (The Cursed Earth Mix)
15. Lush (Euro-Tunnel Disaster '94)
16. Vibe Tribe - Good Life (Orbital Remix)
17. Confusion - Joy (Orbital Remix)

[M-CORP]

At Glastonbury with Matt Smith where they let him mess about and I'm sure he starts the sample at the wrong time...

See, I can't watch that performance back. Matt Smith made a good MC at the start, but odd that they changed the pitch and had him play with them. A shame cos their version normally works a treat live. They did a collab with surviving members of the Radiophonic Workshop at Bluedot a few years back that worked better IMO.

Blue (the 7th studio album)

Of course, the McCoy era, it is generally accepted, got better (though also weirder) as it neared its end. As discussed before, many feel the Blue Album didn't do that. I'm probably in a minority when I say I don't mind 'Bath Time' and 'Easy Serv' - the latter has some lovely swelling strings in the background - but yeah, ballsy decision for the last album to have a bit of easy listening muzak kitsch.

[M-CORP]

30 Something (John Tejada Rarities Mix)

01. The Tranquilizer
02. Chime (The Helium Mix)
03. Omen (The Tower)
04. L.C.1
05. Untitled (Green Album Cassette Exclusive)
06. Macro Head
07. YMO - Behind The Mask (Orbital Remix)
08. Open Mind (F.A. Remix)
09. Crime
10. Analogue Test Feb '90
11. Queen Latifah - Come Into My House (Orbital Dub Mix)
12. The Naked And The Dead
13. The Pied Piper - Kinetic (Orbital Remix)
14. Impact (The Cursed Earth Mix)
15. Lush (Euro-Tunnel Disaster '94)
16. Vibe Tribe - Good Life (Orbital Remix)
17. Confusion - Joy (Orbital Remix)

Lovely remix set, I'd already heard it before its debut on Youtube as it's been up on this fancy promotional microsite for the last week: https://orbitalofficial.com/30something/

I am looking forward to the reissue series that's supposedly happening in the next couple of years... there's so many obscure non-album tracks that are high-quality enough to deserve a home. The Green Album in particular could make a very good double CD set (maybe even triple?) with all the EPs, Mutation mixes and so on.

[purlieu]

Here's what I have as potential bonus tracks in terms of what we already know. Paul shared a few demos and unreleased things from the debut album era back in his 8:58 days so I'm sure each album could easily be complemented by an entire CD of unheard material too.

LP / CD / MC:
1. Untitled
2. Macrohead
3. Chime
4. Deeper
5. Omen
6. 2 Deep
7. Open Mind
8. Satan
9. LC1
10. Midnight
11. Choice
12. Analogue Test Feb '90
13. Chime Crime
14. Farenheit 3D3
15. Chime (Edit)
16. Deeper (Edit)
17. Chime (JZJ Bacardi Remix)
18. Chime (JZJ Oh Ya Mix)
19. Chime (The Helium Mix)
20. Omen (7")
21. Omen (The Chariot)
22. Omen (The Tower)
23. Omen (Wheel Of Fortune)
24. Omen (The Fall)
25. Open Mind (FA Mix)
26. Satan (The Rhyme & Reason Vocal Mix)
27. LC2 (Outer Limits Mix)
28. Satan (7")
29. Satan (Faded Outro)
30. Midnight (Sasha Remix)
31. Choice (Eye & I Mix)
32. Midnight (Radio Edit)
33. Choice (Radio Edit)
34. Oolaa (Joey Beltram Mutation)
35. Chime (Ray Keith Mutation)
36. Speed Freak (Moby Mutation)
37. Oolaa (Meat Beat Manifesto Mutation)
38. Chime (Joey Beltram Mutation)
39. Steel Cube Idolatry (Dave Angel & Dave Dorrell Mutation)

Orbital:
1. Halcyon
2. The Naked and the Dead
3. Sunday
4. The Naked and the Dub
5. Impact USA
6. Lush (1926 Trancendance Mix)
7. Semi Detached
8. Lush (Euro-Tunnel Disaster '94) (Peel Session)
9. Walk About (Peel Session)
10. Semi Detached (Peel Session)
11. Attached (Peel Session)
12. Kinetic
13. Halcyon (Edit)
14. Lush 3-3 Underworld
15. Lush 3-4 Warrior Drift Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia
16. Lush 3-5 C.J. Bolland


Snivilisation:
1. Are We Here? (Who Are They?)
2. Are We Here? (Do They Here?)
3. Are We Here? (What Was That?)
4. Are We Here? (Criminal Justice Bill?)
5. Times Fly (Slow)
6. Sad But New
7. Times Fly (Fast)
8. The Tranquilizer
9. Equinoxe
10. The Tranquilizer Busy Tranquilizing
11. Belfast/Wasted (Wasted Vocal Mix)
12. Are We Here? (Industry Standard?)
13. Are We Here? (They Did It)
14. Are We Here? (Oral Mix)
15. Are We Here? (Lunasol Wet Mix)
16. Are We Here? (The Edit)
17. Are We Here? (Laconic Dub)


In Sides:
1. The Box (Radio Edit)
2. The Box (Untitled Version 1)
3. The Box (Untitled Version 2)
4. The Box (Vocal Reprise)
5. Satan (Industry Standard)
6. The Saint
7. The Sinner
8. Satan (Feat. Kirk Hammett)
9. Adnan
10. Satan (Recorded Live At The Irvine Plaza, New York)
11. Out There Somewhere (Recorded Live At The Irvine Plaza, New York)
12. Choice (Recorded Live At The Irvine Plaza New York)
13. Satan (Recorded Live At The V96 Festival Chelmsford)
14. Lush 3 (Recorded Live At Axis Boston)
15. The Girl With The Sun In Her Head (Recorded Live At Axis Boston)
16. Chime (Recorded Live At The V96 Festival Chelmsford)
17. Impact (Recorded Live At The V96 Festival Chelmsford)
18. Halcyon (Live)
19. The Girl With The Sun In Her Head (Live Tribal Gathering 97)
20. The Box (Pete Tong's Club Edit)
21. The Box (Pete's Edit 2) (Radio Version)
22. The Sinner (Industry Standard)
23. Chime (Krisp DoubleU Mix)
24. Chime (Hairy Butter Mix)


The Middle of Nowhere:
1. Mock Tudor
2. Old Style
3. Bigpipe Style
4. An Fhómhair
5. New Style
6. Much Ado About Nothing Left
7. Nothing Left Out
8. Beached
9. Doctor Look Out
10. Style (Radio Edit)
11. Bigpipe Style (Radio Edit)
12. Beached (Radio Version)
13. Nothing Left (Short Version)
14. Nothing Left (Tsunami One Remix)
15. Nothing Left (Way Out West Remix)
16. Nothing Left (Schizoid Man Remix)
17. Nothing Left (Breeder Remix)
18. Nothing Left (Pariah Remix)
19. Nothing Left (Les Rhythmes Digitales Remix)
20. Nothing Left (Tsunami DJ Dub)
21. Belfast (Sasha Vs The Light Remix)


The Altogether:
1. Beelzebeat
2. Monorail
3. Funny Break (One Is Enough) (Weekend Ravers Mix)
4. Funny Break (One's Enough) (Orbital No 2 Mix)
5. Illuminate (Orbital 12" Mix)
6. Frenetic
7. Chime (Live Style Mix)
8. Ska'd for Life
9. Meltdown (18 Minute Version)
10. Funny Break (One Is Enough) (Radio Edit)
11. Illuminate (Short Version)
12. Frenetic (Short Version)
13. Chime (Live Style Radio Edit)
14. Funny Break (One Is Enough) (Layo & Bushwacka! Up Remix)
15. Funny Break (One Is Enough) (Plump DJ's Mix)
16. Funny Break (One Is Enough) (Layo & Bushwacka! Down Remix)
17. Funny Break (One Is Enough) (Layo & Bushwacka! Down Remix Edit)
18. Illuminate (Charlie May Mix)
19. Illuminate (Medicine Mix)
20. Illuminate (Medicine Acapella)
21. Illuminate (Dark Globe Remix)
22. Frenetic (Smith & Ronan Late Nite Dub)
23. Meltdown (24 Minute Version)

I'd love a whole CD with the TX Nothing soundtrack on, too, lots of early mixes and weird stuff from the Altogether sessions:

Blue Album:
1. Initiation
2. Initiation (Orbital Remix)
3. What Happens Next?
4. Technologicque Park
5. One Perfect Sunrise (Phil Hartnoll Mix)
6. Initiation (Orbital Remix) (Radio Edit)
7. One Perfect Sunrise (Radio Edit)
8. You Lot (Radio Edit)
9. One Perfect Sunrise (Stereo-8 Remix)
10. Acid Pants (JDS Mix)


Wonky:
1. Don't Stop Me
2. The Gun is Good
3. Wonky (Pusher Mix)
4. Christmas Chime
5. Impact (Live From Royal Albert Hall)
6. Lush (Live)
7. Impact / Remind (Live)
8. Satan (Live)
9. Belfast (Live)
10. Chime / Crime (Live)
11. Don't Stop Me (Radio Edit)
12. New France (Single Version)
13. Wonky (Radio Edit)
14. Where Is It Going? (Radio Mix)
15. Christmas Chime (Stocking Filler)
16. Halcyon (Tom Middleton Re-Model)
17. Lush (Hervé's 'Tree And Leaf' Remix)
18. Impact (James Zabiela's Scorched Earth Remix)
19. P.E.T.R.O.L (Final Drop Mix)
20. New France (L-Vis 1990's Rewound Mix)
21. New France (Tom Middleton Cosmos Mix)
22. New France (The Hydraulic Dogs Mix)
23. Wonky (Represented By The Dark Lord Of Pop)
24. Wonky (Q'hey Remix)
25. Wonky (Plump DJ's Mix)
26. Wonky (CSY & Stripes Mix)
27. Wonky (CONCEPT Dub)
28. Wonky (Japanese Popstars Mix)
29. Wonky (Krowne Remix)
30. Where Is It Going? (Live Style Mix)
31. Where Is It Going? (Steve Mac & Phil Hartnoll Dub Mix)
32. Beelzedub (Danny Briottet Mix)


Monsters Exist already exists in very extended form (apparently most of the second disc is Paul's solo material that would have been a second 8:58 album, which is why Phil's not really credited on any of it), although it would be really nice if they managed to fit in the digital-only P.H.U.K.U. single somewhere.

[M-CORP]

Here's what I have as potential bonus tracks in terms of what we already know...

It's funny, just the other night I was making up fantasy tracklists for double CD sets, even keeping track of runtimes to make sure they didn't go past the 80-minute mark! Some albums (Green Album) were a struggle to keep to 2 CDs, and I wasn't even aware of all the remixes you mentioned. And of course there's then all the possible unreleased demos and stuff. Find it amusing how Blue Album doesn't have so much offcut B-side material... feel like the Green Album, The Middle Of Nowhere and The Altogether would particularly benefit from the 'Expanded' treatment.

Think there's also the original 'Mind The Bend The Mind' remix for Meat Beat Manifesto that later became 'Remind', and the 6-minute version of 'Beached' that was on 'The Beach' soundtrack (just an edit of the 8-minute version that was a single, but the edit I first heard and fell in love with).

Monsters Exist also has a few tracks that were done too late for the deluxe edition - 'P.H.U.K.U' was a good remix but there was also 'Buried Deeper Within', 'We Will Die' - and all those exclusive tracks on the vinyl and HMV-exclusive third CD, 'Kinetic 2017', 'Copenhagen', 'To Dream Again (Reoccurring Mix)'. I remember being quite angry when I snapped up a signed pre-order of the double CD, even though it didn't include 'Kinetic' and 'Copenhagen'... only for HMV to announce a 3CD set that did, a week before the album came out! Only a nipper so didn't want to blow money on the same album twice.

Oh, there's so much good material, we're gonna be so disappointed when, for budget reasons, we just get incomplete double CD sets that can't fit it all. (Suspect digital downloads will be the most complete versions of the reissues, though always a chance the outside mixes won't be included cos rights and shit. Dunno if that would be for the best or not, the Funny Break remixes feel like important bits of the puzzle...)

And yes it would be nice for that 'Nothing' film to get some acknowledgement, be it a higher-quality Youtube video or soundtrack. The film's worth a watch if you're an Orbital fan who's into that art collage kind of thing.

[purlieu]

I have a feeling they'll just be 2CD sets so it's likely they'll have a handful of b-sides and a handful of unreleased tracks. I'd absolutely love them to do Underworld-style super deluxe boxes, though, then they could fit everything on. Album, b-sides, remixes, demos and unreleased tracks.

It's not even certain how they'll be released yet, of course. Whether it'll be the whole lot on one day, possible combined into a boxset, or a few at a time, or individually. Given that they're overdue a new album as well, it'll be interesting to see how it all pans out.

[dontpaintyourteeth]

had the main motif from The Box stuck in my head all day. actually makes going round the supermarket pretty cool, you feel like a secret agent