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Orbital Information
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'Orbital' was an English techno duo formed in 1989, consisting of brothers Paul and Phil Hartnoll. Orbital took its name from the raves that occurred in the late 1980s near the M25 orbital motorway that circles London. The band is widely considered to be among the most influential dance artists ever.
Early years
In 1989, Orbital recorded a track called "Chime" on their father's four-track and got it signed to Oh Zone Records. When it was re-released on FFRR Records, it became a rave anthem, a UK Top 20 hit in early 1990, and a benchmark for the rest of their career.
They eventually became known for their live shows, wearing their trademark head-mounted flashlights behind banks of equipment, and giving an improvisational element to live electronic music as the brothers mixed and sequenced their tracks on the fly.
Their third album, Snivilisation, features vocals from Alison Goldfrapp on two tracks.
Soundtrack work
Orbital remade the theme tune to the 1997 film The Saint. The song "The Box" also appeared in that film. "The Saint" is featured on some editions of In Sides, their fourth album. They also made a version of the Doctor Who theme tune, featured on The Altogether. They also created the original soundtrack for the film Octane, and collaborated with composer Michael Kamen on the soundtrack album of the film Event Horizon. Orbital created the song "Technologicque Park" for the film xXx in which they actually appear during the night club/rave sequence. A shortened version of Orbital's song "Halcyon + On + On" was the theme to the 1995 film Hackers and was featured in the soundtracks for 1995's Mortal Kombat and 2004's Mean Girls.
2004 and beyond
Orbital split up in 2004. They played a final series of gigs from June through July 2004 at the Glastonbury Festival, the T in the Park Festival in Scotland, the Oxegen festival (formerly known as Witnness) in Ireland, and the Wire Festival in Japan, concluding with a live Peel Session gig at Maida Vale Studios in London on July 28, 2004. The release of their seventh and last original album, The Blue Album, coincided with this final wave of shows.
Paul Hartnoll is continuing to record music under his own name, including tracks for the new Wipeout Pure game for the PSP. Phil Hartnoll is concentrating on DJ gigs and is also collaborating with other electronica artists.
Trivia
*Orbital are known for incorporating political and social comment into their music. For example, "Desert Storm" on their first album is a response to the first Gulf War, while much of their fourth album In Sides is inspired by ecological themes. On a more personal level, "Halcyon" was inspired by a family member's tranquiliser addiction. They also have a few songs that relate to environmentalism, such as "Dŵr Budr" ("dirty water" in Welsh), "P.E.T.R.O.L.", and "Kein Trink Wasser".
*Orbital is sometimes confused with The Orb, a similarly named band that has also been very influential in the realm of electronic music. In its early days, The Orb often did remixes of other artists' songs and called the result an "Orbital Mix", but these remixes have nothing to do with the band Orbital. The Orb stopped this practice after Orbital became popular, hoping not to cause any more confusion.
*Phil Hartnoll is brother-in-law of David Gray, and Gray did guest vocals on the track "Illuminate" from The Altogether.
Selected discography
Albums
*Orbital (aka the Green Album) (1991)
*Orbital 2 (aka the Brown Album) (May 1993)
*Snivilisation (1994)
*In Sides (1996)
*Event Horizon (OST) (1997)
*The Middle of Nowhere (1999)
*The Altogether (2001)
*Work 1989-2002 (Singles/Rarities Collection) (2002)
*Octane (OST) (October 2003)
*The Blue Album (June 2004)
Singles/EPs
*"Chime" (1990)
*"Omen" (1990)
*"Satan (III EP)" (1991)
*"Midnight/Choice" (1991)
*"Mutations" (1992)
*"Radiccio" (1992)
*"Lush" (1993)
*"Peel Session/Diversions" (1994)
*"Are We Here?" (1994)
*"Belfast/Wasted" (1995)
*"Times Fly" (1995)
*"The Box" (1996)
*"Satan Live/Satan Spawn" (1996)
*"The Saint" (1997)
*"Style" (1999)
*"Nothing Left" (1999)
*"Beached" (In collaboration with Angelo Badalamenti) (2000)
*"Funny Break (One is Enough)" (2001)
*"Illuminate" (2001)
*"Rest" (2002)
*"Play" (2002)
*"One Perfect Sunrise/You Lot" (2004)
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