quoted 1 line Damn. William Orbit rules.
>Damn. William Orbit rules.
I was thinking that last night while listening to his Torch Song project.
The man knows how to use the full palette of sounds.
Some of the smoothest transitions and most lush combinations of sonic
textures anywhere. All set to some bumpin' psychedelic rhythms. The moods
are often quite subtle and multi-level, a factor often lacking in
electronic music (in any music, for that matter, but especially in popular
rave-o-matic techno by the numbers).
I wonder that William O is not better known.
Even among the ambient/idm cognoscenti, he's rarely mentioned.
WHY?
Answer me, damn it!
He's a virtual Van Gogh of our times!
Worship his shoes!
quoted 6 lines A couple of things I was curious about...
>
>A couple of things I was curious about...
>In the liner of Hinterland it is mentioned that it is part four of a four
>part series. Is this the W.O. SC I - III series? Or is it another
>series altogether?
>
Seems as if it's the third in the Strange Cargo series.
Beautiful graphics on the cover, no?
"What the HELL is that thing?"
quoted 2 lines If it is indeed SC IV, then why didn't he release it as William Orbit?
>If it is indeed SC IV, then why didn't he release it as William Orbit?
>
Too simple.
Evidently, in the first 3, Strange Cargo was just the name of the records.
In the latest, it's now the name of the artist / project, with "Hinterland"
the name of the record.
Reminds me of Peter Gabriel's first 3 records.
Remember, they were all named "Peter Gabriel".
Then - also on the 4th - he changed tactics, and subtitled the record
"Security". Well, only on a sticker on the shrink-wrap, so once this was
removed . . .
Anyway, an interviewer asked PG what his logic was.
He said he thought of these records as issues of a magazine.
So what changed?
Probably artistic innovation.
That is, record label suits said, "The next record, name it something, and
put a boring pop-pandering lucrative hook-filled annoying self-mocking
ironic single on it called 'Big Time' . . . or else."
So, PG did so, named it so, named it "So", told them to piss off, built his
own studio in the English hills with a glass floor over a stream in the
drum room, got his own record label going, found 500 amazingly talented
international musicians, and changed the world. And he still paid his
rent on time.
Oh, and then there was Led Zeppelin. Zoso, Symbols, Runes, Stairway,
whatever you want to call that record with the straw-bearing peasant.
I believe the official title was "Straw-Bearing Peasant", but everyone got
confused and thought the DJ said "Strawberry Pheasant" or "Strawberry
Phields" or "Philly Phanatic".
Yes, I know, it's not idm, but if I had a dollar for every idm/ambient/pop
song that sampled "When the Levee Breaks", I'd be Bill Gates. Scary
thought.
(Delerium, Enigma, Beastie Boys, Banco de Gaia - go ahead, name some more,
it's fun, I promise). You know, John Bonham set the drums up in the bottom
of an old stairwell to get that massive sound for the track. Don't try
this at home. Unless you are a drummer and live at the bottom of an old
stairwell, in which case you already know this trick.
quoted 3 lines Also, why does all the music (outside bassomatic)
>Also, why does all the music (outside bassomatic)
>sound the same (not that I mind)? What real difference do the people
>other than W.O. make in Torch Song?
It's a good point. I don't think the Torch Song name fits the new record,
really. The old Torch Song was more of a pop/disco thing, dance-floor
material without the atmosphere of this newer more meditative music.
quoted 1 line
>
You know, I have little respect for Madonna, even the New Sensitive
Childbearing Madonna, but she works with some talented people. Including
someone who used that "When the Levee Breaks Sample" for one of her remixes.
Remember which one? I can't, but I'm sleep-deprived, and what do you want
for the price of an Internet link?
See how it all ties together? But there's more - wait for it - William
Orbit does a smokin' remix of Madonna's "Justify My Love" on the CD-Single.
Trademark Billy O backwards drum rhythms. Sounds like that remix of
Enigma's "Mea Culpa" (Orthodox mix? Falling Shades mix?). In fact, i would
swear he did that "Mea Culpa" remix, but he's not credited.
Even better, and more impossible to find, is that remix by William Orbit of
"Radioactivity" by Kraftwerk. Only came out on big 12" stateside, and good
luck finding that now. I would rob Ghandi for a copy of the CD, though.
Even more weird, my favorite Anglo-Ukrainian band, The Ukrainians, who
sound just like the Smiths in Russian except they sing in Ukrainian and
they are actually half of the Wedding Present (remember all this, there
will be a quiz) just released a new single named "Radioactivity" for the
10th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster. Included on the single:
remixes of the Kraftwerk cut - maybe the Billy O version? I'll wait and
see.
Even still more strange: I'm Ukrainian.
The Twilight Zone Incarnate: The Ukrainians actually did Ukrainian
versions of Smiths songs, including "The Queen is Dead" and "Meat is
Murder" (which it is, just ask an Orbital).
Weirder still: I did the web site for the Ukrainians.
Stranger than fact or fiction, it has an address with samples and bio:
http://www.tryzub.com/Ukrainians/
It's not over until the babushka sings:
They will be touring North America in the summer.
Finally, the (family) jewel for those who have waded throught the above
virtual swamp of trivia without spontaneously induced hysteria or a sudden
bout of nymphomania:
The new record by Caroline Lavelle ("Spirit") sounds just like a William
Orbit record because it is. He did just about all the music. But then
Nigel Kennedy plays violin to Billy's techno grooves. Go figure. Sounds
like a hack, works like a charm. Guerilla grooves.
You can listen to samples of Billy O, Torch Song, Caroline Lavelle, Strange
Cargo, and some random hi-tech studio accidents at the William Orbit site.
But if you expect me to take the time to look up that url also, I'll fail
my finals. So someone else cough it up!
Don't trip over that record. At least not until you've heard it.
Zenon M. Feszczak
Remixologist