Ten Great Albums From 2015, #8: The Orb Moonbuilding 2703 AD (Kompact)
For years, reviewers have called The Orb some variation of “dance music’s Pink Floyd”. This isn’t unfair. Both acts have a canon of heady, spacey, cerebral songs that are less about the sing-along and more about the journey into the stratosphere. Heck, they even collaborated with David Gilmour. And both have a dense catalog that still surprises after repeated listens.
A glance at their latest work (their tenth since 2000!) reveals another Floyd-esque characteristic: a few long songs that comprise an entire album. Moonbuilding 2703 AD features only four tracks, but an entire album’s worth of music (the shortest still clocks in at over 9 minutes). This is the kind of structure albums like Floyd’s Animals was known for. And when the tracks are this rich, quality trumps quantity all day long.
A loose concept album seemingly centered around the colonization of space, mastermind Alex Paterson once again helms the mighty mothership into the darkest and most beautiful nether-regions of the unknown. Far from a whimsical thrill ride, this is a measured exploration of worlds unseen with a meticulousness that would make the Mars rover blush. Truly, during one track (“Lunar Caves”) you can almost see the craters of the alien surface beneath you.
I’ve seen the word “ambient” used too often in association with The Orb, but to the uninitiated, this sends a misguided impression. Yes, there are atmospherics galore, but the rhythms propel the listener ever-forward as if to say “enjoy the scenery, but we’ve got to move along. There’s so much more we need to discover.”
