Eric Frans wrote on Mon, 29 Apr 96 20:00:16 BST :
quoted 2 lines I was considering getting this myself. Would someone mind posting a> I was considering getting this myself. Would someone mind posting a
> track listing with song times? Plus a little review might be helpful.
From my review posted to the list on Saturday 20th :
Orbital - The Box (internal)
Boy, there's been some controversy about this one on idm. this EP
consists of 4 tracks with no further information than the EP title
and all the various legal and credits. I must admit that Orbital are
by a long stretch not my favourite artists, yet most of their work
has considerable charm for me, but they tend to draw things out,
often losing my interest 3/4 through a given track. My opinion on
"Snivilisation" generally agrees with the individual who recently
posted that he felt it works better as a whole than as individual
tracks. For me, "The box" is a clear evolution onward from "Sniv"
and "Are we here", by no means a complete turn of style, particularly
in terms of rhythms. The first track seems to use a number of broadly
familiar motifs, and the end result is actually quite soundtrack-ish,
also with hints of a Sabres-ish metallic edge. This comes to the fore
in the second track, which builds to almost gothic horror movie
proportions, though it doesn't really ignite for me. The third
version is much funkier, more dancefloor oriented and my favourite
off the EP, sparser than 1, but by no means stripped, and more "up"
than 2. Track 4 is basically track 1 reprised with some lush female
vocals and the dodgy male vocal (probably not quite as terrible as
that on the "Volume" excursion "Wasted") which you may or may not be
able to ignore. Right at the end is a brief but beautiful whistled
passage of the main melody from the track.
A strange but by no means bad EP and one which bodes mixed messages
to me of their forthcoming material. There are some cool sounds in
here and the last thing Orbital are doing is standing still. I await
with interest the new LP.
__________
________.__/_____ _||_/ James Skilton aka Steady J
_[]/_____________[.__\____-_ DJ and Party Animal
| | Part Time Hedonist
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