Customer Reviews

Okie Dokie It's the Orb on Kompakt

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Orb was about the most inventive thing out there in Electronic music. Groundbreaking. Even the older generation of hippies knew what was going on with this stuff. You could use the Orb to either tune in OR tune out. Orb has always suprised me, most of the time in a very positive way but it was clear through the last few albums that Orb was more into production and big sound, perhaps trying to recreate the success that the song Little Fluffy Clouds brought them. Orbs best efforts sound like a far out musical stream of consciousness. It can be mello like Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld or Orbus Terrarium or hard edged and unnerving like Pommes Fritzes. Either way, the good stuff gets into your head.

Orbs' new album returns to the "organic" sound that their early albums had and relies less on production and MUCH more on effect AND cohesiveness. Definitely more analogue than digital. Definitely on the laid back side of sound.

What you dont get here is catchy tunes or memorable cuts that stick in your head forever. What you DO get from Okie Dokie is the blissed out sound that you welcome at the END of the night and from beginning to end you'll find that this is one of their better, musical concept albums, keeping you engaged no matter how much your pillow becons.

I dont think there is anything ground breaking about this effort...You've heard the genre before, but here, Orb proves that they are the modern masters of Electronic/Psychedelic music and are still capable of suprise without alarm.

There are two recent Orb disks out- this one and Orb Sessions Volume 1. This is the better, more consistent collection, taking the tracks from the last several years Alex has been at the Kompact label. On Okie Dokie..., the sound is more ambient that other Orb disks- closer to the spacey Alex Patterson solo projects than the dub-oriented Orb of "U.F. Orb". Yet this album breaks new ground in creating an ambient dance sound. There is a subtlety that will engage the listener, making this a good iPod album. At one point, I thought I was listenting to an updated Tangerine Dream track called "Tangram," yet this is no throwback or copy-cat disk. Okie Dokie... satisfies my electronic ambient hunger that has developed over the last couple of Orb projects. Orbies will undoubtedly pick up both new disks, and Orb Sessions Vol. 1 has several must-have tracks, but over all I predict this one will spin in the player more often.

I thought this album was pretty good. The first time I listened to Okie Dokie, I wasn't disappointed. After the let-down album "Cydonia", I felt that with "Bicycles and Tricycles" the Orb was on its way of getting back on track. Yet, there still is that track on "B&T" with some rapping (why?). Okie Dokie revives that cool characteristic sound that we know the Orb possesses. If you are a devoted fan, you know what I'm talking about. It's a great disc that shows the latest direction the Orb is taking with music. Great beats, soothing sounds, and awesome melodies can be found. It starts out with great beats and let's you down slowly. Okie Dokie is that disc which you can put in the player and just press play.

Gotta jet. Later.

I'll admit that I haven't paid much attention to The Orb for many years. The classics "Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld" and "U.F.Orb", remain their ultimate classic innovative projects (including the various remixes and non-commercial releases surrounding those two albums). "Live 93" got old fast because it was just repeating too much previous work, and then I tried "Pomme Fritz", "Orbvs Terrarvm", and "Orblivion" (which did have a few gems, but too many weak spots as well), and I just eventually gave up on The Orb. Many other releases followed where I only read the CD jacket but never cared to buy anymore. I played some snippets here and there but nothing really captured my attention like the first two Orb albums did.

I did give "Cydonia" a try and I even bought it ("used" of course, so I didn't really risk much). I thought "Cydonia" was okay, not the greatest, but certainly more interesting than everything from "Pomme Fritz" forward. Then I actually paid full price for "Bicycles and Tricycles". I don't know what compelled me to do that. Maybe I just wanted to make sure I walked out of the CD store having bought something. Anything!

On "Bicycles and Tricycles", Alex has recorded probably the most ignorant rap track I have ever heard. Any rap track, that sounds angry, especially from a woman, is so damn annoying!. What's more, a "rap" track doesn't belong here anyway. That's not Orb music! But anyway, that stupid song ("Aftermath") greatly reduced the appeal of the album "Bicycles and Tricycles" for me, and continues to justify my opinion that The Orb is no where's near as great as they were with "Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld" and "UFOrb".

I don't know why The Orb feels that they have to have a speaking part in the middle of their albums although I do like the american guy on "Bicycles and Tricycles" talking about his observation of "pretty girls used for advertising". That was kind of cute, hell, that could have easily been me talking. However, the speaking part on "Cydonia" was confusing and annoying.

But alot of people here are saying that this new CD of "Okie Dokie" conjures up memories of The Orb's earlier days. I just don't see it. Maybe more of their middle years, perhaps. What was unique about "Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld" and "U.F.Orb" was that the main theme of those two albums are about Outer Space, Lunar Modulars, Interplanetary Space Travel, Space Station Communication, Super Novas, Dark Stars, Astronauts, etc. You know, our "not so distant future". It's the absence of these space themes that make me feel like this is no longer The Orb that they should always be. Plus The Orb use to be able to make tracks flow together more smoothly. That was an art in itself. All these tracks here on "Okie Dokie" seem like they could just end as they end, and start a new track as they start. No spacey ambience whatsoever. The otherworldly flow that they use to create so well is just not there anymore. And all these tracks here are much shorter so the "trance" concept has diminished as well. The feeling of floating, with no gravity, and just the simple but beautiful cold, dark, terror of being "out there", is gone. The first two Orb albums had a sound that was "larger than life". So much vastness and depth. Everything afterwards just seems like we've never left the ground. Never left the room. No otherworldly adventure to explore or fear.

I'll say that this album is fairly decent, but it's no landmark album, or any kind of respectable comeback of the days of old, that I can recall.

I'd like to see Alex Paterson try to do another Orb album where he takes us back to outer space, and tries to revive the cold terror of the unknown worlds of outer space. He should try doing an album called "U.F.Orb II: Another Ultraworld Adventure!" Commercially, the album title alone would bring many of the earlier Orb fans back. Hell, it worked for Jean Michel Jarre with "Oxygene 7-13" and Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells II (and even III)".

Give that a try Alex, see what happens. Even Pink Floyd might pay attention. Selling out to your glorious past is the American way to stay alive. Take us back to the future, Alex!

Fans of early Orb should check out Tomita and just about anything from Jean Michel Jarre.

Repetitious electronic grooves can get a surprising amount of mileage when thoughtful programing fluctuations compliment spacey situations- at least somewhat atoning for his passed-off previous release.

...how bad Bikes and Trikes was.

Those who prefer the more spacey, electronic soundscape work of The Orb to the monotonous trance beats may find this an enjoyable album. It took me a while to get around to listening to it. After the headache inducing Bicycles and Tricycles, I had deleted The Orb from my list of artists worth following up. However, I happened to hear Traumvogel and on the strength of that bought the album in the hope that it wasn't a lonely gem in a desert of stones.

I wasn't disappointed - in fact, I enjoy most of this album, which is unusual for me in an album by The Orb. There are a couple of recycled tracks, most notably Cool Harbour, but do not be detered by that.

A good album to listen to carefully in a darkened room with headphones or the surround sound system. Good piece of work.

I have all of the Orb's albums, and was also hoping this would be a good addition to the library. It's much more minimalist in sound and experimentation, closer to something you'd expect from Aphex Twin. There is not as many variety and sonic textures as you would find in even Orblivion or Orbus Terrarum. It does have its good tracks, but some are just downright monotonous. If you are a massive Orb fan, though, you may only be slightly disappointed.

Awesome. I've been a big fan of the Orb for a long time, but started to sort of lose them right around the Aunt Aubery's CDs. Cydonia was okay, but not worth the admission price, and I never even bothered getting Bicycles and Tricycles, as I'm trying to avoid hearing this rap song everyone keeps talking about.

This album is fantastic. The Orb feels right at home on the Kompakt label. If you've never heard anything else from Kompakt and you like this CD, I suggest you check them out. I'm not sure who influenced who here, but Orb and Kompakt go together on this CD like peanut butter and jelly. It might be my new favorite Orb CD.

I agree with a lot of the previous reviewers that this isn't the best Orb effort and maybe doesn't have some of the 'fun' that previous discs had. Also, since some of these tracks have been previously released as singles (my biggest complaint would be ANOTHER version of 'Cold Harbour'? For big Orb fans this would be the 3rd or 4th cd it's appeared on!!)it lacks the flow of previous albums. That said, it's a great collection of all of what the Orb does best, great ambient, fabulous beat-driven techno, and some experimental flourishes. And if you saw the US tour that they did recently, it's clear that they are still into what they do (at last at the Brooklyn gig) and among the best live acts in the genre. I'll continue to buy anything the Orb releases, and 'Okie Dokie...' is certainly a quality addition to their incredible catalog!

Hey now...the Orb is amazing. I would never ever say anything bad about them in any way...and I love this new album, totally beautiful! and now for the sweet 'diss: the track "Rolo" sounds like they ripped off a sample from prefuse 73's beautiful song "afternoon love in" from his first album. I was like, hmm...why would they do this? Alex Patterson is known for finding the most obscure samples. UNTIL NOW! I can hardly believe I'm dissin the Orb, but hey it's gotta be done if they're gonna be loose about their samples. peace!