The Orb Album: “Back to Mine”

Well,

After relatively disappointing releases (for me) by Orbital and New Order the BTM series hits back in 2003 with The Orb. As one of the pioneering artists of the electronic music scene in general I awaited this release with enthusiam and was not disappointed.

The Orb has really outdone themselves in track selection. You just can't go wrong starting off any compilation with an Aphex Twin track, in this case "Polynomical-C" for us old timers following it up with Juno Reactor and then picking up the beat nicely with the Creatures "How Much" a nice upbeat tune with mild ragga vocals and then they slow it down again with Julee Cruise's "falling" haunting vocals of the Twin Peaks theme, followed by the Orb's own "The Land of Green" which gets the tempo a little "gritty" and at this point you can't help movin around a little bit. But wait, that's not it - next is another Aphex Twin "Blue Calx" track which remains chilling after all these years and then the Electric Chairs' downbeat remix of "Barbie Girl" - this to me is the only weak point in the album since that song always irrated me but right as you wonder what's going on Joachim Spleth's "you don't..." picks up and it's very reminicent of good old Nick Warrens Space Van and Glide selctions of the original BTM (still my favorite out of the whole series). Next is FFWD's "Hempire" another slow minimal track which leads perfectly into Schneider Tm's (now almost a cult classic) remix of The Smith's "there's a light that never goes out" - of course Schneider calls it "The Light 3000."

When you consider the basis of the BTM compilations as songs the artists would play at their own house after a late night out, vs just songs that would be played for a crowd or anthems selected for a mix, you expect such diversity in styles, tempo's and timelines with a certain almost silent connection between them which includes an acceptance of the fact that the sunrise is just around the corner, and when I hear this CD (actually the third time today) it just fits in with my impression of The Orb.

To me this album is amazing - it covers the timeline of electronic music if you think about it - the dark techness of Aphex Twin to the almost downbeat electro of Schneider TM while following the layout of a classic Orb track - namely the slow start to slow finish tempo with great seperations between vocal and non vocal parts and all sorts of funky tweaks in the middle.

Very recommended - especially for fans of this genre. It will definately bring back memories of your life from the last decade !

4 stars because 5 is perfect and nothing ever is :)

Well,

After relatively disappointing releases (for me) by Orbital and New Order the BTM series hits back in 2003 with The Orb. As one of the pioneering artists of the electronic music scene in general I awaited this release with enthusiam and was not disappointed.

The Orb has really outdone themselves in track selection. You just can't go wrong starting off any compilation with an Aphex Twin track, in this case "Polynomical-C" for us old timers following it up with Juno Reactor and then picking up the beat nicely with the Creatures "How Much" a nice upbeat tune with mild ragga vocals and then they slow it down again with Julee Cruise's "falling" haunting vocals of the Twin Peaks theme, followed by the Orb's own "The Land of Green" which gets the tempo a little "gritty" and at this point you can't help movin around a little bit. But wait, that's not it - next is another Aphex Twin "Blue Calx" track which remains chilling after all these years and then the Electric Chairs' downbeat remix of "Barbie Girl" - this to me is the only weak point in the album since that song always irrated me but right as you wonder what's going on Joachim Spleth's "you don't..." picks up and it's very reminicent of good old Nick Warrens Space Van and Glide selctions of the original BTM (still my favorite out of the whole series). Next is FFWD's "Hempire" another slow minimal track which leads perfectly into Schneider Tm's (now almost a cult classic) remix of The Smith's "there's a light that never goes out" - of course Schneider calls it "The Light 3000."

When you consider the basis of the BTM compilations as songs the artists would play at their own house after a late night out, vs just songs that would be played for a crowd or anthems selected for a mix, you expect such diversity in styles, tempo's and timelines with a certain almost silent connection between them which includes an acceptance of the fact that the sunrise is just around the corner, and when I hear this CD (actually the third time today) it just fits in with my impression of The Orb.

To me this album is amazing - it covers the timeline of electronic music if you think about it - the dark techness of Aphex Twin to the almost downbeat electro of Schneider TM while following the layout of a classic Orb track - namely the slow start to slow finish tempo with great seperations between vocal and non vocal parts and all sorts of funky tweaks in the middle.

Very recommended - especially for fans of this genre. It will definately bring back memories of your life from the last decade !

4 stars because 5 is perfect and nothing ever is :)

This CD is one of those magical sorts that you feel like should have been part of the period of your life where you stayed up all night with your friends and put this on in the wee hours. The tone throughout is special and dreamy. It immediately kicks into some lush sounds and has both beauty and humor to it.

I have also found that it works well first thing in the morning on a weekend. I like to paint to it as it gets me all sentimental and silly and lets my imagination fly. It's not a CD to dance to, but to chill to. You can listen to it alone, but it's the sort of music to which old memories of good times seem to be associated, so chill to it with your friends if you have a chance while you tell stories by a fireplace or something.

The Orb has a turn on the Back to Mine stage. Can't say this is a winner for the series. Mildly amusing on the first listen, this album becomes quickly tiring due to a combination of weak or very lame track selection (ie. "Ow Much!" by Creature, "Have You Seen Her?" by Chi-Lites, "Little Fishy" by Thomas Fehlmann, and "Barbie Girl" by Electric Chairs are all horrible) on the part of Alex Paterson. The only two [relatively] decent tracks are "Blue Calx" and "You Don't Fool Me" by Joachim Spieth. The mixing leaves a lot to be desired also. Overall, thumbs down on this effort by The Orb.

2.5/5 stars.

I don't know how this compares to other Back To Mine comps. I came at this an Orb fan and it's suitably Orbish in it's mix. Several lost IDM gems, some wacky stuff like that cover of Barbie Girl. It truly sounds like what the good doctor would play if we all crashed at his flat. I give it four cuz the this eclectic mix should have influenced that last Orb album. If you like this, I think that BadOrb comp would be a good one.