Wonky Album Review

[legspin]

Sorry 'bout that. I did a google search and it was the third or fourth piece to come up. It was only when I posted the link here that the register to read page came up.

[legspin]

Chiming electronic tones and fluid beats trigger memories of Paul and Phil Hartnoll in their heyday

We’re used to pop and rock stars getting older. Madonna can be a girl gone wild at 53; Leonard Cohen, 77, is hailed as a sage. But there’s something not quite right about the ageing raver. Surely there comes a time to put away the Vicks VapoRub, take off the smiley face tee-shirt and stop making jerky moves like an acid-house zombie.

But just as the grey-haired cheesy quaver prepares for a life of Coldplay along comes a cracking new album from the reactivated Orbital. Chiming electronic tones and fluid beats trigger memories of Paul and Phil Hartnoll in their heyday while the big wobbly bassline unleashed on “Beelzedub” updates the brothers’ early-1990s standard “Satan” for the age of dubstep. Aging ravers will love it; so should admirers of quality electronic music.

[Pirtek]

My Vinyl, standard and deluxe Cd's came today!!! (Love the deluxe packaging, but glad there's a standard jewel case to go with the other releases).

And the Australian bonus disc is fantastic! And it includes Remind(!) It's a part of Impact, lasts for about 7 minutes, so that's an added bonus cause it's one of my all-time favorites.

All I need now is the Japaneses version that includes P.E.T.R.O.L

[sinner]

My Vinyl, standard and deluxe Cd's came today!!! (Love the deluxe packaging, but glad there's a standard jewel case to go with the other releases).

And the Australian bonus disc is fantastic! And it includes Remind(!) It's a part of Impact, lasts for about 7 minutes, so that's an added bonus cause it's one of my all-time favorites.

All I need now is the Japaneses version that includes P.E.T.R.O.L

What's inside of the standard cd booklet? I hope there are cool images or photos.

[legspin]

http://www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/cd-orbital-wonky

[vvt23]

http://www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/cd-orbital-wonky

was just about to post this.

Wonky will simply slay festivals

Indeed.

Roll on getting wasted in fields!

[Badger]

My Vinyl, standard and deluxe Cd's came today!!! (Love the deluxe packaging, but glad there's a standard jewel case to go with the other releases).

And the Australian bonus disc is fantastic! And it includes Remind(!) It's a part of Impact, lasts for about 7 minutes, so that's an added bonus cause it's one of my all-time favorites.

All I need now is the Japaneses version that includes P.E.T.R.O.L

Who cocked up the track list and didn't include Remind? Thought it was weird it had been cut out of that live section.

[Pirtek]

Who cocked up the track list and didn't include Remind? Thought it was weird it had been cut out of that live section.

I too thought it was strange that Remind had been left out.

What's inside of the standard cd booklet? I hope there are cool images or photos.

Just different images of the Orbital circle and behind the cd in the standard version is the Orbital circle from the deluxe/vinyl versions.

[sinner]

Who cocked up the track list and didn't include Remind? Thought it was weird it had been cut out of that live section.

I too thought it was strange that Remind had been left out.

What's inside of the standard cd booklet? I hope there are cool images or photos.

Just different images of the Orbital circle and behind the cd in the standard version is the Orbital circle from the deluxe/vinyl versions.

Thanks for the info! I can't wait for the CD. My local music shop will get it at the end of next week, so it is so far to me.

[legspin]

http://ireadfaux.com/2012/03/orbital-wonky/

[Turnipfish]

First up - hi there, I'm Matt, a few of you might remember me from the old-skool forum days, I argued a lot and met a fair few people at some of the pre-gig meetups, if any of you lot are still around. It's nice to be back.

I've listened to Wonky four or five times since my copy arrived yesterday and I'm now of the opinion it's their best record since InSides, certainly their most consistent. MoN had higher highs but sags quite badly in the middle. I'd also feared a surfeit of the sort of goofy humour that the boys are TERRIBLE at but mercifully that's entirely absent, just lots of what they're good at without ever feeling too self-referential or short on ideas.

ONE BIG MOMENT - The build on this is just absolutely masterful, the way they add dozens of synth lines on top of one another and then suddenly there's one that changes the melodic complexion of the track altogether. It's so good I wish they'd taken more time over it (more later).

STRAIGHT SUN - This is pretty good, fairly route-one Orbital really. I love the stuttering drums but they could have got away with a bit more melodic development, it feels a bit... simple as it is.

NEVER - Is extremely pretty, just glorious. (Word to Arrested Development fans, since hearing this for my first time my girlfriend and I have got into the habit of going 'Annyong' 'Annyong' at one another in time to the Nevers, which is the sort of stupid injoke that can kill personal appreciation of a track but Never is so wonderful that could never happen. Anyone, apologies for that little aside into my domestic life).

NEW FRANCE - This has grown on me a lot since since I first heard it, although I'm still not mad keen on Zola Jesus's stadium eurohouse bluster in the chorus. Her voice just remind me of how amazing Alison Goldfrapp was at making these inventive and emotive strings of wordless vocals over multiple Orbital tracks and I listen to that and think back over those with a bit of a wistful sigh.

DISTRACTIONS - Is a really astonishing piece of music. One of the things I love about Wonky is how there's a bit of almost everything that the Hartnolls are good at and I'm glad that aching Snivilisation/Times Fly/InSides sadness hasn't been left behind. That melody is just... wow, like it's setting out for a particular place but can't help moping off to a different place entirely. It's like dying repeatedly in the Legend of Zelda. Amazing.

STRINGY ACID - You should all know by now that this fantastic widescreen rave of the kind Orbital are absolutely top-drawer at. Strangely it's the only thing on the album that actually feels particularly retro in a way but who the fuck cares when it's this good. This would be a standout even on the Brown album, and it quite conceivably could be.

BEELZEDUB - I approached the idea of a dubstep rework of Satan with some trepidation but this is fantastic. If Orbital are going to go dubstep (or brostep, maybe) they might as well use their most menacing hook to do it with. I love how much there is going on and who can argue with the moment when it explodes into frenetic drill and bass. And then you're wondering how much more gleefully ridiculous it can get and they throw in the Kirk Hammett guitars for good measure. \m/

WONKY - Anyone who can seriously complain about the vocals here is firmly in the "sod off grandad" camp for me. One of the surprising and welcome things about the album is how contemporary it all sounds. Partly because elements of Orbital's sound have impacted right across the contemporary gene-pool by this stage (in M83 style indietronica as much as in dance music itself). And the nods to current music, including the Azealia Banks style battlerap electro on show here, work because they maintain Orbital's distinctive personality. Lady Leshurr herself is an astonishing MC (check her ironically named track 'Slow Flow' if you want to hear her in full awe-inspiring flood) and she does a terrific job here of riding a build that would otherwise feel a bit threadbare. But what a build! Those miaowing synth noises! The bit where she switches from MCing to singing really gives this a terrific early 90s hip-house feel. (Full disclosure, I still miss Betty Boo).

WHERE'S IT GOING? - This one, unless I'm mistaken, was wheeled out in their Glastonbury Arcadia maybe-DJ-maybe-live set last year, and it really stood out at the time as unmistakeably Orbital. Obviously it's wonderful, the brothers in full on hands-in-the-air good times in big fields with big lasers mode. It's also a pretty great stab at marrying the burbling rave chords of Impact with the panoramic sweep of Out There Somewhere pt. 2, AKA best thing ever. BUT, and this leads me to my one slight criticism of the album, it's TOO SHORT. Both this and One Big Moment feel a bit rushed, there's a slight 'Radio Edit' quality to both of them. Whereas Orbital in their pomp would happily take 10 plus minutes over a track like The Girl With The Sun In Her Head, building up patiently in a way that's at the same time totally inevitable sounding. I want at least five more minutes of Where's It Going, and a longer outtro in particular. (Remixers, MOUNT UP!)

But on the whole this is absolutely glorious, way way above the 'squint and you maybe see a half decent album' level of The Altogether and the Blue album and with a flow that beats Middle of Nowhere at its own game.

[sinner]

After listening the album version of Wonky, it's a big disappointment, because the middle part is only 1 minute long. It's one of the best tunes of Orbital, and it would be one of the best Orbital tracks, if that part would be much longer, or the full track would be like that. After all it's quite a good song, but it could be much better.

[Badger]

WHERE'S IT GOING? - This one, unless I'm mistaken, was wheeled out in their Glastonbury Arcadia maybe-DJ-maybe-live set last year, and it really stood out at the time as unmistakeably Orbital. Obviously it's wonderful, the brothers in full on hands-in-the-air good times in big fields with big lasers mode. It's also a pretty great stab at marrying the burbling rave chords of Impact with the panoramic sweep of Out There Somewhere pt. 2, AKA best thing ever. BUT, and this leads me to my one slight criticism of the album, it's TOO SHORT. Both this and One Big Moment feel a bit rushed, there's a slight 'Radio Edit' quality to both of them. Whereas Orbital in their pomp would happily take 10 plus minutes over a track like The Girl With The Sun In Her Head, building up patiently in a way that's at the same time totally inevitable sounding. I want at least five more minutes of Where's It Going, and a longer outtro in particular. (Remixers, MOUNT UP!)

Hi Matt! I have to agree with you here. This is my fav track off the album but it's ending is far too abrupt. It deserves at least another 2 minutes to ease down from the heady crescendo that the track has taken us to and the same can be said about One Big Moment and the very quick fade out from the vocals on Wonky too.

[legspin]

http://www.inthemix.com.au/music/52556/Orbital_Wonky

[memly]

Hi Turnipfish, thanks for the great review!
I was waiting for a few other forumites to go as deep as you did... but they let me down

I have heard the album a good few 100 times now, and I think you are spot on in every aspect of the review, infact I couldnt do any better myself.

I was initially worried after hearing Straight Sun and the DJ friendly Wonky, but Straight Sun has grown on me and I cant get enough of Wonky now, Lady Leshur does a great job of lifting the track.
For me, it is behind Brown/Insides and MON, its great to hear Orbital songs again where the percussive elements feel like they have really been thought over; intricate and evolving.
The album has a great feel to it, it seems to flow very well for me from the start to the finish, ramping up the excitement as you listen through it.
100% agree with the track lengths of One Big Moment and Where is it going?

Overall I am very happy with the output.
Not a big fan of New France, but I have grown quite attached to the melody that hugs the second part of the tune.
Beelzedub is awesome!