July 2003 - Orb - mailman.xmission.com

Re: [Orb] little B&T discussion
by Ramon . 14 Jul '03

14 Jul '03

My biggest complaint about the B&T album is that you can clearly notice that the sounds are very digital and it would not surprice me if all of it is done with software/VSTi's. I can for sure tell the difference in soud quality (of synths used in the songs) between this and for instance the UBTUW album. It must be something inescapable, not to use any of the fine analogue synths we love so much. I mean, have a good listen to the synths on B&T, And you will see what i mean.. *sigh*... I can hear the same thing on the new album of FSOL.. :-( Are they all obsessed by software? Arv _________________________________________________________________ MSN Zoeken, voor duidelijke zoekresultaten! http://search.msn.nl

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B&T first listen review (pt2)
by Ben May 14 Jul '03

14 Jul '03

7) Now here: beginning is cool. I like the chords. What an interesting montage. I like the bells too. Curious to see how or if these elements ever resolve. Ahh! Around 2 mins in they do. Very nice. Some really quiet and subtle stuff in here. Me likes. The ending is a bit abrubt. 8) Abstractions: What an apropos name. Crunchy again. I like that element. Ack! That bassline is atrocious. And then all of the sudden its gone. Am starting to write this song off as a loss. Hrm well the annoying bassline is only there for a second and I like this emotive vocal sample. Ok so it's not a total loss. Again, rather abrupt ending... 9) LUCA - orbish, but not so impressive. Oh wait it changes in the middle. Better now. 10) Compania: Reminds me of BoC kinda. I like this one. Its a good interlude track, altho it seems rather ill-placed at this point in the album. 11) Tower 23. Not bad. I don't mind it, but I don't love. I'm surprised people are complaining about the harmonica sample. I mean, sure it's an obvious towers of dub reference, but it's also used in a different way. Just a short sample. 12) Dilmun: This is my favorite track on the album so far. Atmospheric and beatless. Pretty and awash in synths. This track is very relaxing. Me likes a lot! All in all, my complaints are thus: The songs don't all have very well defined beginnings or endings. And not like with UFOrb where they all bleed together. Its just like they couldn't decide how to edit the thing down and so went with the path of least resistance. There is no unifying thread which draws the whole album together, but I feel also that this is appropriate for a CD which is not a DJ mix. I mean sure it would be cool if they all blended together, but these tracks are so divergent that it wouldn't lend itself well to that. All in all I think it's a fair effort from alex et al. Given the complaints in here I had imagined it would sound like a bunch of cats being strangled inside a huge echo-filled gymnaseum. But I don't think it's half bad. Maybe it's not as good as Adventures or some of the early stuff, but I've seen this group through other permutations I didn't like (Eg: pomme fritz) only for them to surprise me in the future. I have very high hopes for the MadOrb album, and there are certainly some tracks on here which I like a lot. Bring on the remix 12"s!!! I want to see what these tracks do when used as starting points rather than end points. _________________________________________________________________ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963

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B&T first listen review (pt 1)
by Ben May 14 Jul '03

14 Jul '03

Caveat: I am writing this as I listen to each track, giving my first off the cuff impressions. 1) From a distance: I can see why this track has generated so many mixed reviews. It's kinda uplifting in an anthem-ey way which I find a bit grating; the melodies are a bit progressive (ICK!). And that bassline? Reminds me of the friggin vengaboys. I can see why alex et al would include the rooster track just as a humorous harking back to the past, but other than that its purpose is lost on me. Also there's a synth line in there somewhere which reminds me of a band-aid commercial "I am stuck on band-aid, because band aid's stuck on me." All in all, sorta cool, but I would expect better. 2) land of green ginger: I've heard this one before as I have the 12" single. I liked it then and I like it now. 3) Hells kitchen: Might be the MP3 copy I am listening to, but the bass sounds a bit murky and overdriven. I dont mind this track. I dont think I would have guessed it was an orb song if I didn't know beforehand. 4) Gee strings: I think I should mention that I have sort of an affinity for tech/minimal house. So already I like this track from the first 30 seconds. Lets see where it goes... A minute and a half in I am wishing I had this track on a one-sided 45RPM pressing so I could play it during outdoor summer sets. Yes it's repetitive, but show me ANY house music which isn't ;) The ending is silly. I would probably skip it in a mix. 5) Prime evil. I like this song! I wish the beat were a bit more syncopated, but other than that I like it. Catchy, nice vocal samples, some cool static-ey basslines. Its cool... 6) Orb is: Some cool production. Catchy, not too bad. The horns in the beginning are a nice segue from prime evil. Some nice crunchy drums, like the kennedy sample. This track has the syncopation I felt was missing from prime evil! How odd... This reminds me a lot of the DJ Krush and Toshinori kondo album, in character if not almost in substance. Oh my it's rather short eh? _________________________________________________________________ Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

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RE: [Orb] bacon and tomato
by Ben May 14 Jul '03

14 Jul '03

>Expensive to keep? In what way? You mean service and stuff? I got a few >analogue synths (and a lot of digital stuff as well ofcourse) and they >always outrun the digital synths or plugins. What do you mean by "outrun?" >When i listen to old records of the 90's by the Orb I hear a lot of >analogue sampled stuff and acoustical instruments. This gives songs more >depth and structure. More than using just synths and drumloops.. Am i just >growing old here?? :-) Not exactly. Your complaint is not one of format, it's one of effort. One can come up with synth noises that are extraordinarily cool by starting with a series of simple waves, saving them to DA, manipulating them a lot, and mapping them to midi. This will yield awsome synths, but is an incredibly tedious and time-consuming process... I think people tend to focus too much on the whole analog versus digital thing. I mean look at what people like cylob can do with just with a 303 and a couple of other very primitive digital devices! As far as I'm concerned the limitation is not with the equipment per se, but rather with the musician himself and his knowledge and ability with his tools. There are tradeoffs on both sides: Analog is a lot more plastic in terms of what you can do with it, but also limited in terms of what each particular synth is capable of producing. Digital allows WAY more flexibility in overall function, but is more limited within each function. You could go on and on with the comparisons, but the important thing to realize is that ANY synth is going to have advantages and drawbacks. That is a given. My point is, it's possible to make really good music on analog or digital, just as it is possible to make terrible music on both analog or digital. To blame the format is pointless and misleading. Would you blame a sander for an improperly finished floor? I mean maybe the sander WAS a piece of shit, but is that the sander's fault? Nope, it's the fault of the fool who chose to use a piece of shit sander. Or maybe one he didn't know how to use... Instruments by themselves are solely vehicles. It is the musician who breathes life into them. _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

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re: BAD, BAD LIST
by Alan 14 Jul '03

14 Jul '03

You make me upset you bad people. Rachel's really cool (as best as I can tell). Posting people's personal shit for ANY REASON on this type of public forum is more than enough reason to be banned for life. Asshole. I come back from a weekend of hard work and good music to read this kind of shit. You seriously suck, Otto. ... and on topic, I'm looking forward to this positive review. I'm waiting for a real pressing of the album before I write my review (btw, does anyone know if there is an official release date for B&T in the U.S.?) though I stick by my statement of really liking half of it a lot. www.psychicreform.com Change your mind. "Look at the past 25 years. We went downhill, and if people don't realize it, they don't have their fucking eyes on ... In 1960, when I came out of prison as an ex-convict, I had more freedom under parolee supervision than there's available to an average citizen in America right now... God almighty, what have we done to each other?" --Merle Haggard (June, 2002)

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FW: another flame from MR LEARN AND UNEVOLVE
by angry troll [OT] 13 Jul '03

13 Jul '03

MR LEARN ed AND EVOLVE d SPEWED FORTH THIS SHIT: "You shit you reported me didn't you? I never did anything. If you would of checked out the code first you would realise it was bogus. Did you really think that the person that hacked you would have admitted it to you (and the world) on a weblist, and then make it so easy for everyone to find his location - you dumb fuck. You can add another "humiliation" to your list of "plagiarism and belittling of other people". I just hope I don't loose my job - fuck "

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nightmares on wax remix
by DEEJAYRENO＠aol.com 13 Jul '03

13 Jul '03

the doors greatest hits also was released on wax , the riders on the storm rmx was worth the money i paid for it

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Six Degrees
by Alan 12 Jul '03

12 Jul '03

Six Degrees is a fantastic label. The lead guy does a weekly spot on one of the radio shows on npr (Weekend All Things Considered). I've gotten several things from them and my favorites are the last Suba album and the Tribute to him. Great stuff. You're a lucky girl, Rachel. www.psychicreform.com Change your mind. "Look at the past 25 years. We went downhill, and if people don't realize it, they don't have their fucking eyes on ... In 1960, when I came out of prison as an ex-convict, I had more freedom under parolee supervision than there's available to an average citizen in America right now... God almighty, what have we done to each other?" --Merle Haggard (June, 2002)

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FUCK OFF CUNTS!
by learn&Evolve 12 Jul '03

12 Jul '03

FUCK OFF CUNTS! r. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.

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RE: [Orb] question and clock talk
by John Goerner 12 Jul '03

12 Jul '03

What are you doing putting someones information out on a public list? Thats just wrong dude. And who cares if its a new label or not? John G. -----Original Message----- From: Otto Matic [mailto:o_matic@yahoo.com] Umm,... Six Degrees Records is NOT a new label . It has been around for years. I dont know who is telling you what. Obviously you have been misled, or you are intentionally misleading us for some reason. I have about 30+ cd's form thier lable and the earliest one that I have is from 1995. So they have been around for at least 8 years.

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