Customer Reviews

Vol. 1 - Auntie Aubrey's Excursions Beyond the Call of Duty

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

 

 

If you like the Orb's more spaced out stuff, you'll like this. It's very ambient and chill. Its great to relax to, or if you're in deep listening mode you'll appreciate the interweaving layers of complexity that "appear" simple. The beautiful mix of Satellite Serenade by Keiichi Suzuki is by itself enough reason to buy the CD. This is a complex and rather experimental CD however- don't expect catchy dance tunes.

This is a collection of the Orb's Best remixes. I recommend the 2001 release which includes Dave Stewart's "Lily was Here". The remix is an Orb classic. Here is the best of the Orb remix projects. Long, indulgent remixes of popular early 1990's songs, this album represents the best of the Orb's remix work. Disc 1 is the highlight. Material, Keichi Suzuki, and Killing Joke sound like they were made to be played together. An impeccable Orb mix.

Here is an essential set of Orb remixes. The 2001 RELEASE is the best choice (as opposed to 1996) as it includes the Orb remix of Dave Stewart's Lily was Here. It is not often written in the cyberspace discussions of Auntie Aubry's, but the 2001 release cut out Depeche Mode and Erasure in favour of more obscure Orb remixes. The result is perfect. Disc One is without flaws, from the long spralling mix of Killing Jokes's "Democracy" to the obscure ambient mix of "Secret Squirrel" this album is a gem. The second disc is a bit more eccentric, but still worth a listen.

This is great headphone music.And for those that like to take a musical journey this album is great.Lots of organic and generated sounds. For the Orb fan.

Some Orb albums are great (U.F.Orb, Orbus Terrarum) and some merely good (Pomme Fritz, Cydonia). This album falls into the latter category. I had a sense of "deja vu" when I first listened to this album - like I'd heard it all somewhere before. Some of it I had - in its original form.

This doesn't sound like a collection of remixes, though: it sounds like a proper Orb album, albeit one that sounds like it was made on auto-pilot. However, every noise Orb has ever committed to tape is worth having. Just buy the essentials first.

If this release is like the original pressing, you may be astonished to find out that most of the tracks are NOT IN STEREO. That may or may not matter to you. For me, the Orb is such "headphone music" its almost incomprehensible that an Orb remix collection could be released in mono. Some of the better mixes are indeed in stereo--but those are the ones that are widely available elsewhere (like on the "Excursions in Ambience" collection.)

This album was first released way back in 1996. I bought it then, and found a lot to like on the first disc. The remix of Suzuki Kei'ichi's "Satellite Serenade" was great, but now that the song has made the rounds on other compilations (including Sasha and Digweed's 'Northern Exposure'), it's lost its freshness. "Mantra," a wonderful song by Material, is given the ultra-deluxe treatment here, and an already-great original is turned into something even better. Stunning. "Democracy" (overlong) and "Fast Forward the Future" (dated) help round out an absorbing listening experience. Fity-two minutes of electronic goodness. "Higher Than the Sun," a classic chill out track, is adequate, but should have been better. "Ambient State" promises to be one of the best Oh-my-god tracks ever produced, but lasts all of 46 seconds. In a way, that's worse than not having included it at all.

Then something goes horribly wrong. The final track on disc one is miserable, and the trend continues. From day one, I found the second disc-- from start to finish-- to be entirely unlistenable. Unimiaginative, dated (even then), and boring, the numbers start sounding phoned-in. After a fantastic buildup, everything falls flat.

Recommended only to completists (now that five years have passed since its initial release). Those first tracks are remarkable, but it all adds up to a great EP followed by lots of static.

I just bought this album, making the first of any ORB cd's that I own. I'm not even finished listening to track 2 yet but I can tell you that so far, it is definately in stereo... I'm not sure what these people are talking about unless this is a new version...

I only gave it 3 stars because I haven't heard enough of it yet to make an educated decision.