“Bicycles and Tricycles”, The Orb
“Bicycles and Tricycles”, The Orb, Sanctuary, 2004
The Orb have been at the forefront of electronica since 1990, which gives them pioneer status in the genre. The current lineup of Alex Paterson, Simon Phillips, John Roome and various collaborators are nearly revered.
If you are an Orb fan, you will probably like this CD. Those new to their sound may not. It might be that what sounded great ten or so years ago seems dated now. “Bicycles and Tricycles” has great dance music on it, with heavy beats that don’t quit and imaginative frameworks. However, danceable music is not always listenable.
“Aftermath” has Soom-T rapping over the beats. “The Land of Green Ginger” and “Prime Evil” feature stories narrated by Neville Jason, the first a fairy tale and the second a sci-fi/horror concoction. Duncan Mackay adds trumpet to “Orb is (shopping version)” and “Hell’s Kitchen”. And a harmonica is added to “Tower twenty-three (spud v kreature mix)”.
Most of the eleven tracks follow the same pattern. There is a slow opening with synthesizer melodies, and then the beats come in. The beats here may not be standard ones, but they do not break any ground for originality. Too many of the tracks sound like Tangerine Dream Goes to a Disco. The angularity of the beats confines everything to repetitious four-four patterns.
The last two tracks, “Kompmaina (grooved ware mix)” and “Dilman” forgo the strong rhythms for nice ambiences that create an ethereal mood in their relatively short playing times.
--Dave Howell, 7/04
(This article first appeared in the FMSound music site.)
The Orb have been at the forefront of electronica since 1990, which gives them pioneer status in the genre. The current lineup of Alex Paterson, Simon Phillips, John Roome and various collaborators are nearly revered.
If you are an Orb fan, you will probably like this CD. Those new to their sound may not. It might be that what sounded great ten or so years ago seems dated now. “Bicycles and Tricycles” has great dance music on it, with heavy beats that don’t quit and imaginative frameworks. However, danceable music is not always listenable.
“Aftermath” has Soom-T rapping over the beats. “The Land of Green Ginger” and “Prime Evil” feature stories narrated by Neville Jason, the first a fairy tale and the second a sci-fi/horror concoction. Duncan Mackay adds trumpet to “Orb is (shopping version)” and “Hell’s Kitchen”. And a harmonica is added to “Tower twenty-three (spud v kreature mix)”.
Most of the eleven tracks follow the same pattern. There is a slow opening with synthesizer melodies, and then the beats come in. The beats here may not be standard ones, but they do not break any ground for originality. Too many of the tracks sound like Tangerine Dream Goes to a Disco. The angularity of the beats confines everything to repetitious four-four patterns.
The last two tracks, “Kompmaina (grooved ware mix)” and “Dilman” forgo the strong rhythms for nice ambiences that create an ethereal mood in their relatively short playing times.
--Dave Howell, 7/04
(This article first appeared in the FMSound music site.)