It may be a stretch, but techno might be finally approaching the pre-dawn moments of its next era. The masses will tire eventually of the faceless electro-beats being thrust upon them by those white label fiends shut up nice and cozy like high above them in their vaguely lit sanctuaries. A real shift in the momentum of popular dance is inevitable. And when those who care enough to chronicle these things start to look back and draw lines between the all the genres and the various points of distinction, Orbital might just be one of the outfits that makes the grade.
But first the differences between the knob twiddlers and the craftsmen have to be firmly established. The wooden legions of the techno-by-numbers school are still at large (sixteen counts of this, add a new sample, sixteen counts of that, etc.). And while their acid tested techniques might preserve one or two blissful moments on the dancefloor, they're more often a protracted way for the DJ to amble over to the smart drink bar for a refill, while you the patron are left thirsting for some vitality. Enter Orbital.
Never mind that one of the brothers Hartnoll is a frightfully normal person with kids and all, or that the duo have a clearly non-hedonistic concern for the environment, but instead take note that they've actually done things like headline the infamous Glastonbury festival in the UK and by all accounts kicked...er, bottom. And then there's the sheer baked-in goodness of this record's lead track, "The Girl With The Sun In Her Head" (recorded entirely with solar electricity that Greenpeace provided a la carte), which is possibly the choicest bit of techno to be hatched this year. It comes to life with deceptively torpid and anonymous whoosh sound before blossoming into a lively space age ramble with crisscrossing synth lines, agile rhythms, and a fluid and barely tangible bass line.
What Orbital seem to keep ever present in their frontal lobes is that even the most nimble footed of their followers probably appreciate having their attention drawn and sonically cultivated while they simultaneously stress their newest set of activewear out on the floor. And while most of the hoopla surrounding bands of this ilk usually remains forever UK-centric, if you have a look at a couple of the recent radio charts for the past month or so you might notice that Orbital's sublime single "The Box" has made a few well-respected add-lists of late. For all its Dr. Who like flavourings, the deep trance-like hook gets a fair amount of mileage even in its extended incarnations. Available with a limited U.S.-only EP that's quite worth hunting for, In Sides may be one of the few audio placards out there gesturing towards the future.
