Orbital Back To Mine label: dmc released: 06.25.02 our score: 3.0 out of 5.0 buy it: here

Orbital have long been hailed for their more "intellectual" approach to creating electronic music. Since their debut, Orbital have strived to create truly magnificient compositions with their music, rather than opting for the more dance-friendly four-on-the-floor formula so many other electronic acts dip into. Their approach tends to result in some truly astonishing music, obviously drawing from a rather eclectic array of musical influence. It's this array of influence which makes their entry in the ever-popular Back to Mine series such an interesting, yet disjointed effort.

Since its inception, the Back to Mine series has been considered one of the premier choices for impressive, eclectic, chill-out mixes by the top names in the electronic music field. The problem with the series, however, is that they have begun to seem to be little more than disquised attempts at outdoing others in who can come up with the most eclectic mix. While not necessarily bad in concept, the series has slowly moved towards compliations rather than true mix albums.

It's this "compilation" quality that lends itself most to the dissonance inherent to Orbital's entry. On one side of the coin is the fact that the disc encompasses a widely varied musical variation; there's everything from ska to reggae to classic 70's rock here. Upon listening to the disc, one can easily discover just where Orbital is coming from in it's electronic endeavors. This widely varied musical selection, however, is one of the discs major failings. Rather than pursue an air of laid-back malaise, Orbital flngs the listener from one jarring track to the next.

The Back to Mine Series has, from the start, been defined as a series of relaxing, chill-out sessions from major artists. Somewhere along the line Orbital must not have gotten the memo. Either that, or we never received the memo that Back to Mine was abandoning its signature sound in favor of "this is my favorite music that you've never heard because I'm cool and you're not" compilations lacking any sense of focus and direction.
08-Aug-2002 8:11 PM

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