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Track Listings
| 1. One Big Moment |
| 2. Straight Sun |
| 3. Never |
| 4. New France (Feat. Zola Jesus) |
| 5. Distractions |
| 6. Stringy Acid |
| 7. Beelzedub |
| 8. Wonky (Feat. Lady Leshurr) |
| 9. Where Is It Going? |
Editorial Reviews
2012 album from the undefeated champions of British electronic music, their first new album in eight years. Recently reunited following a long sabbatical, Paul and Phil Hartnoll are back on fighting-fit form and ready to reclaim their title as lightheaded lords of the dance arena. Both timeless and contemporary, heartwarming and exhilarating, Wonky puts a vividly modern spin on their signature blend of richly melodic, deeply emotive Electronica. Confident, energized and eclectic, Wonky already sounds like the duo's finest album to date. Gleaming, whooshing, shimmering tracks like 'Straight Sun' and 'Stringy Acid' instantly tap into the warm-blooded rush and restless bounce of classic Orbital. ADA.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 32 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
After patiently waiting 8 years, Orbital has impressed and pleased me once again!
April 10, 2012
By BarryK
Format:Audio CD
Orbital has been my all-time favorite artist(s) ever since Snivilization meandered through my eardrums. My passion for electronic music all started because of the Hartnoll brothers. Their mastery of manipulting layers upon layers of music to create the numerous journey's they have taken me on and continue to do just simply amazes me and I never want it to end. 2004 was a rough year knowing they were parting ways. I always hoped and expected they would eventually reunite for mine and everyone else's listening pleasure. That time has finally come!
When I first heard the album title, I immediately had to find out what the heck is "wonky" . Come to find out, wonky music actually originated in 1997 and took off around the US and Glasgow, Scotland. Here's a description of wonky music from my research:
"Though wonky music is united by the tendency to use unstable mid-range synths and unstable time signatures, every wonky music scene has its own specific traits in sound. The American wonky 'street bass' scene is influenced by broken beat and jazz music and the music itself has organic feeling, while the Glasgow aquacrunk and Bristol purple sound scenes are influenced by the sound of crunk, chiptune, electro and instrumental grime/dubstep, respectively. Aquacrunk is also characterised by the slow rhythm, basslines, that are described as 'morphing', and the use of synths." For more info, search wonky yourself.
Before I begin to write a review of Wonky, let me share my overall review of their past works so you can gauge where I'm coming from and what hits home for me the most regarding the Hartnolls works of art. I use the basic iTunes 5-star system and calculate a straight average so the possibility of a fractional star (i.e. 3 1/2 stars) for an individual track is not possible. Also, some of the non-songs (i.e. Input Out on the Brown Album), I decided to exclude in my calculating of the overall album rating. I have done my best to be overly critical and unbiased in my reviews due to the fact that Orbital is my all-time fav artist. So, here are my current album ratings (as of 4/11/12):
5.00 - In Sides*
4.90 - Snivilization
4.88 - Brown Album
4.33 - Blue Album
4.30 - Green Album
4.25 - Middle of Nowhere
3.91 - The Altogether (Disc 1)
Here's some additional Hartnoll works and how I scored them:
5.00 - In Sides (Bonus disc)
5.00 - Diversions EP
4.22 - Madness & Me (Long Range: Phil Hartnoll & Nick Smith)
4.09 - The Altogether (Disc 2)
4.00 - Ideal Condition (Paul Hartnoll)
* This is 1 of 7 "perfect" electronic albums I currently own in my electronic collection, which is slowly approaching 400. DJ Shadow's "Endtroducing...", Manuel Gottsching's "E2-E4", Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians", Aglaia's "Three Organic Experiences", Global Communication's "Pentamerous Metamorphosis" & Spicelab's "A Day On This Planet" are the others.
On to Wonky...
One Big Moment - I couldn't wait to hear track 1 since Orbital tends to start off with a bang on their albums (Belfast, Forever, TGWTSIHH, Transient). So it begins... a Snivilization beginning... it has 5 star potential power instantly. I'm soooo anxious only to then be a tiny bit dissappointed. Too bad the One Big Moment only lasted just over a minute. It's a very, very good track but I felt it was missing something. It never climaxed for me and I felt I wanted more of a journey. - 4 stars
Straight Sun - Holy cow! The second this track started, I had chills and goosebumps and when a track does that to me (which isn't too often), it's very special. Straight Sun never let me down and is perfect in it's entire state. I feel this will be one of my all-time fav tracks from Orbital down the road when all is said and done. It starts off with a Kein Trink Wasser feel (one of my fav tracks) and just keeps going and going and going...simply euphoric! - 5 stars
Never - I had heard this since the Hartnolls released this track for free prior to Wonky's release and I immediately loved it. However, I refused to listen to it more than twice because I wanted to fully experience Never on the album and see how it flows with the rest. After the rush of Straight Sun, I feel the Hartnolls had to bring you down from such a rush and just go for a breathtaking drive (which is the vision from Never's video). I really have no desire to watch music videos (especially electronic) because I don't want the artists thoughts to influence mine and how I experience their music. Anyhow, Never is another standout track. - 5 stars
New France - Seeing another female guest appearance on an Orbital track (Halcyon, One Perfect Sunrise, Dwr Budr, Nothing Left) I surely expected greatness yet again. I'm sorry but it wasn't quite there for me. The vocals seemed lacking and the track just never goes anywhere for me. Still a solid track no question but def lacking the firepower. 4/10/12 update: For some reason, this track has been lingering in my head the past 2 days. I'm not sure if it'll ever reach 5 stars for me but I think it's growing more and more on me. - 4 stars. 6/1/12 update: It's offical... I love this track more and more everytime it comes on. - 5 stars.
Distractions - Wow!!! Another amazing piece of work. It didn't blow me away as much as Straight Sun but it still brought chills to my body, which was the only other track on Wonky to do so. As I'm writing this, I can't wait to press play on track 5 again. Outstanding! - 5 stars
Stringy Acid - Another solid track that uses classic Orbital synths from back in the day, but...it just didn't go anywhere for me. - 4 stars
Beelzedub - This was Orbital's first attempt at Dubstep from what I had read. I am a big fan of Burial's Untrue (one of the dubstep albums I own) so after reading about how the track had strong influences from both Satan and Impact, I just had no clue what to expect...none. It starts off pretty heavy immediately and it just never loosens up. During my very 1st listen of the Beelzedub, my first impression was 3 stars, then 4 stars but after more plays, this track seems to keep growing and growing on me. You def gotta give this one pleny of time. I love it! I'd suggest playing Beezlebeat (from Altogether Disc 2) back-to-back with this one just to experience the similarities... - 5 stars
Wonky - Orbital and female rap? Ummmm...I don't know about that. I was probably the most nervous about this track from everything I heard and read. Paul and Phil will always reinvent and try new things because that's what great artists do. Even with my love for hip-hop (2nd to electronic), this track just does not work for me and is the only one I could see myself pressing "next" on. It may very well end up at 2 stars but for now I'll score it 3 since it's very early, a new Orbital experiment and I want my ears to give the Hartnolls and Lady Leshurr the time and respect they certainly deserve. - 3 stars 4/16/12 update: Ok, it's official, I do not care for this track at all so... it's officially 2 stars. 6/1/12 update: I'm starting to enjoy and tolerate this track so I'm moving it back to 3 stars.
Where Is It Going? - If Orbital knows how to start an album, then they damn sure know how to close one. From Midnight to Halcyon to Attached to Out There Somewhere to Style to One Perfect Sunrise to even the lowest scored album of The Altogether's Meltdown. Every single one of these ended in 5-star fashion in my opinion. Add to that it's a question... i.e. Are We Here? so I was prepared for another philosophical masterpiece... So after the title track, I really needed some redemption to close out this Wonky of an album. And...for the 1st time in Orbital's career, I did not get my 5-star closing power immediately. Just like track one, it started off with so much dang potential and it just never took me to its heights. This track might very well continue to grow on me but only time will tell. - 4 stars. 4/11/12 update: After playing the album another numorous times, I started to notice more and more of this track which leads me to a higher star requirement. Since I don't give half stars and I do feel this is a stronger track than Stringy Acid, I feel obligated to upgrade it to 5 stars. Also, is it just me, or do I hear a little Saint/Sinner midway through...? - 5 stars
So, there you have it. Wonky scores an impressive 4.56 which for now, has moved passed The Altogether (not too hard to do), Middle of Nowhere, Blue Album and the Green Album! So I'm in aggreeance with some of the magazine and other professional reviewers out there in that: Wonky is the best album since Snivilization/In Sides. And after 8 years, that is one impressive accomplishment. Since Wonky scores 4.56, I have rounded up to 5 (since amazon doesn't allow for half star ratings).
PS. Those of you still undecided as to which album to get, I strongly suggest paying the few extra bucks or euros and upgrade to the Digipack (Limited for US release) with the 5 live performances from Australia. In the past, I was reluctant to pay extra for live material since the tracks tend to sound the same (especially after the "Live From Glastonbury" album had some serious sound quality issues) but man, are these 5 tracks well worth the money. Not only do the 5 tracks hit almost an hour in duration but they contain enough variation of their original form to almost feel like a new experience.
Paul & Phil are both in better places now (which even they admitted not being in when producing The Altogether, Middle of Nowhere & Blue Album) so I'm pretty excited to see "Where Is It Going..."
When I first heard the album title, I immediately had to find out what the heck is "wonky" . Come to find out, wonky music actually originated in 1997 and took off around the US and Glasgow, Scotland. Here's a description of wonky music from my research:
"Though wonky music is united by the tendency to use unstable mid-range synths and unstable time signatures, every wonky music scene has its own specific traits in sound. The American wonky 'street bass' scene is influenced by broken beat and jazz music and the music itself has organic feeling, while the Glasgow aquacrunk and Bristol purple sound scenes are influenced by the sound of crunk, chiptune, electro and instrumental grime/dubstep, respectively. Aquacrunk is also characterised by the slow rhythm, basslines, that are described as 'morphing', and the use of synths." For more info, search wonky yourself.
Before I begin to write a review of Wonky, let me share my overall review of their past works so you can gauge where I'm coming from and what hits home for me the most regarding the Hartnolls works of art. I use the basic iTunes 5-star system and calculate a straight average so the possibility of a fractional star (i.e. 3 1/2 stars) for an individual track is not possible. Also, some of the non-songs (i.e. Input Out on the Brown Album), I decided to exclude in my calculating of the overall album rating. I have done my best to be overly critical and unbiased in my reviews due to the fact that Orbital is my all-time fav artist. So, here are my current album ratings (as of 4/11/12):
5.00 - In Sides*
4.90 - Snivilization
4.88 - Brown Album
4.33 - Blue Album
4.30 - Green Album
4.25 - Middle of Nowhere
3.91 - The Altogether (Disc 1)
Here's some additional Hartnoll works and how I scored them:
5.00 - In Sides (Bonus disc)
5.00 - Diversions EP
4.22 - Madness & Me (Long Range: Phil Hartnoll & Nick Smith)
4.09 - The Altogether (Disc 2)
4.00 - Ideal Condition (Paul Hartnoll)
* This is 1 of 7 "perfect" electronic albums I currently own in my electronic collection, which is slowly approaching 400. DJ Shadow's "Endtroducing...", Manuel Gottsching's "E2-E4", Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians", Aglaia's "Three Organic Experiences", Global Communication's "Pentamerous Metamorphosis" & Spicelab's "A Day On This Planet" are the others.
On to Wonky...
One Big Moment - I couldn't wait to hear track 1 since Orbital tends to start off with a bang on their albums (Belfast, Forever, TGWTSIHH, Transient). So it begins... a Snivilization beginning... it has 5 star potential power instantly. I'm soooo anxious only to then be a tiny bit dissappointed. Too bad the One Big Moment only lasted just over a minute. It's a very, very good track but I felt it was missing something. It never climaxed for me and I felt I wanted more of a journey. - 4 stars
Straight Sun - Holy cow! The second this track started, I had chills and goosebumps and when a track does that to me (which isn't too often), it's very special. Straight Sun never let me down and is perfect in it's entire state. I feel this will be one of my all-time fav tracks from Orbital down the road when all is said and done. It starts off with a Kein Trink Wasser feel (one of my fav tracks) and just keeps going and going and going...simply euphoric! - 5 stars
Never - I had heard this since the Hartnolls released this track for free prior to Wonky's release and I immediately loved it. However, I refused to listen to it more than twice because I wanted to fully experience Never on the album and see how it flows with the rest. After the rush of Straight Sun, I feel the Hartnolls had to bring you down from such a rush and just go for a breathtaking drive (which is the vision from Never's video). I really have no desire to watch music videos (especially electronic) because I don't want the artists thoughts to influence mine and how I experience their music. Anyhow, Never is another standout track. - 5 stars
New France - Seeing another female guest appearance on an Orbital track (Halcyon, One Perfect Sunrise, Dwr Budr, Nothing Left) I surely expected greatness yet again. I'm sorry but it wasn't quite there for me. The vocals seemed lacking and the track just never goes anywhere for me. Still a solid track no question but def lacking the firepower. 4/10/12 update: For some reason, this track has been lingering in my head the past 2 days. I'm not sure if it'll ever reach 5 stars for me but I think it's growing more and more on me. - 4 stars. 6/1/12 update: It's offical... I love this track more and more everytime it comes on. - 5 stars.
Distractions - Wow!!! Another amazing piece of work. It didn't blow me away as much as Straight Sun but it still brought chills to my body, which was the only other track on Wonky to do so. As I'm writing this, I can't wait to press play on track 5 again. Outstanding! - 5 stars
Stringy Acid - Another solid track that uses classic Orbital synths from back in the day, but...it just didn't go anywhere for me. - 4 stars
Beelzedub - This was Orbital's first attempt at Dubstep from what I had read. I am a big fan of Burial's Untrue (one of the dubstep albums I own) so after reading about how the track had strong influences from both Satan and Impact, I just had no clue what to expect...none. It starts off pretty heavy immediately and it just never loosens up. During my very 1st listen of the Beelzedub, my first impression was 3 stars, then 4 stars but after more plays, this track seems to keep growing and growing on me. You def gotta give this one pleny of time. I love it! I'd suggest playing Beezlebeat (from Altogether Disc 2) back-to-back with this one just to experience the similarities... - 5 stars
Wonky - Orbital and female rap? Ummmm...I don't know about that. I was probably the most nervous about this track from everything I heard and read. Paul and Phil will always reinvent and try new things because that's what great artists do. Even with my love for hip-hop (2nd to electronic), this track just does not work for me and is the only one I could see myself pressing "next" on. It may very well end up at 2 stars but for now I'll score it 3 since it's very early, a new Orbital experiment and I want my ears to give the Hartnolls and Lady Leshurr the time and respect they certainly deserve. - 3 stars 4/16/12 update: Ok, it's official, I do not care for this track at all so... it's officially 2 stars. 6/1/12 update: I'm starting to enjoy and tolerate this track so I'm moving it back to 3 stars.
Where Is It Going? - If Orbital knows how to start an album, then they damn sure know how to close one. From Midnight to Halcyon to Attached to Out There Somewhere to Style to One Perfect Sunrise to even the lowest scored album of The Altogether's Meltdown. Every single one of these ended in 5-star fashion in my opinion. Add to that it's a question... i.e. Are We Here? so I was prepared for another philosophical masterpiece... So after the title track, I really needed some redemption to close out this Wonky of an album. And...for the 1st time in Orbital's career, I did not get my 5-star closing power immediately. Just like track one, it started off with so much dang potential and it just never took me to its heights. This track might very well continue to grow on me but only time will tell. - 4 stars. 4/11/12 update: After playing the album another numorous times, I started to notice more and more of this track which leads me to a higher star requirement. Since I don't give half stars and I do feel this is a stronger track than Stringy Acid, I feel obligated to upgrade it to 5 stars. Also, is it just me, or do I hear a little Saint/Sinner midway through...? - 5 stars
So, there you have it. Wonky scores an impressive 4.56 which for now, has moved passed The Altogether (not too hard to do), Middle of Nowhere, Blue Album and the Green Album! So I'm in aggreeance with some of the magazine and other professional reviewers out there in that: Wonky is the best album since Snivilization/In Sides. And after 8 years, that is one impressive accomplishment. Since Wonky scores 4.56, I have rounded up to 5 (since amazon doesn't allow for half star ratings).
PS. Those of you still undecided as to which album to get, I strongly suggest paying the few extra bucks or euros and upgrade to the Digipack (Limited for US release) with the 5 live performances from Australia. In the past, I was reluctant to pay extra for live material since the tracks tend to sound the same (especially after the "Live From Glastonbury" album had some serious sound quality issues) but man, are these 5 tracks well worth the money. Not only do the 5 tracks hit almost an hour in duration but they contain enough variation of their original form to almost feel like a new experience.
Paul & Phil are both in better places now (which even they admitted not being in when producing The Altogether, Middle of Nowhere & Blue Album) so I'm pretty excited to see "Where Is It Going..."
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By W. R. Jones
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I enjoyed this CD a lot... it brought a smile to my face, which is all a musician can hope for when creating a great piece of music.
The live disc did not disappoint either, great stuff as well.
Packaging is typical Orbital, very clean, artful, odd.
If you are an Orbital fan this is a must-have, if not, you should be.
The live disc did not disappoint either, great stuff as well.
Packaging is typical Orbital, very clean, artful, odd.
If you are an Orbital fan this is a must-have, if not, you should be.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Golden Tiger
Format:Audio CD
Last couple albums were pretty..eh..boring and sucky...not sure what happened there. NOT this one! THIS ALBUM ROCKS!!!!! So far I LOVE Straight Sun and Distractions, whole album is great though. Definite listen.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great comeback album
Only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that I hate the "Wonky" track 8 featuring Lady Leshurr. Great album despite that track.
Published 1 month ago by Ryan P. Nugent
5.0 out of 5 stars
Solid!
A fan of the Orbital since the 90's, I ran out an bought the 2 CD set of Wonky to fill my collection. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Technomancer
