Orbital - Optical Delusion. 17th February.

[purlieu]

 

Last time I was wary of a new Orbital record it was Wonky which turned out to be good, so this could still be fine. But...

1. Ringa Ringa (The Old Pandemic Folk Song) (feat. The Mediaeval Baebes)
2. Day One (feat. Dina Ipavic)
3. Are You Alive? (feat. Penelope Isles)
4. You Are The Frequency (feat. The Little Pest)
5. The New Abnormal
6. Home (feat. Anna B Savage)
7. Dirty Rat – With Sleaford Mods
8. Requiem For The Pre Apocalypse
9. What A Surprise (feat. The Little Pest)
10. Moon Princess (feat. Coppe)

Almost all vocal tracks? Not sure about this at all.

All bundles come with a limited edition bonus CD, but there's no word on what it contains, and it won't be available separately. So if you want it, you have to buy a bundle with the CD and vinyl. As someone who just likes buying music because I actually listen to it, I'm not keen on the idea of being formats I won't actually listen to just to get the bonus. £37, great.

Singles with Sleaford Mods:

 

Still, it's got John Greenwood artwork, which is... something.

[purlieu]

Christ, that new single was the longest three and a half minutes of my life.

Hopefully the bonus disc will be instrumental versions. Although I still resent having to pay £37 to get it.

[Pirtek]

You beat me to it!

I reserve judgment for the new album.

18 minutes ago, purlieu said:

it's got John Greenwood artwork, which is... something

Yeah! Thier best artwork is by him.

[Pirtek]

21 minutes ago, purlieu said:

Almost all vocal tracks? Not sure about this at all.

That doesn't bother me. I liked the 8:58 album for that reason.

[springymajig]

2 hours ago, purlieu said:

Still, it's got John Greenwood artwork, which is... something.

I would pay good money for a John Greenwood artbook. I don't believe one exists sadly...

[springymajig]

2 hours ago, purlieu said:

 

Ummm... well... I actually really liked this... 

[Extralife]

Guest appearances - ugh.

[Rubin Farr]

it's grim up North

[toaoaoad]

3 hours ago, purlieu said:

(The Old Pandemic Folk Song) (feat. The Mediaeval Baebes)

This is as far as I read

[Pirtek]

Well I prefer Dirty Rat to Head and Shoulders 

[purlieu]

13 hours ago, Pirtek said:

That doesn't bother me. I liked the 8:58 album for that reason.

I think I've listened to it twice, I only really bother with the instrumental disc.

I'm hoping some of them will be like the Zola Jesus and Alison Goldfrapp features, going for wordless textural vocals rather than actual songs. Other than the two Grant Fulton ones in the '90s I don't like any of their past attempts at doing 'proper' songs (Illuminate, Frenetic, Wonky, all the stuff on 8:58, this new thing), so my hopes are really low. Which makes the idea of spending £40 on it for the bonus disc even less appealing.

[Pirtek]

I didn't mind proper lyrics on 8:58, but I do agree with you that the best lyrics are the wordless ones on an Orbital track.

[purlieu]

Fucking lol at the political slant of the single and some of the album titles and yet apparently there's an "Amazon exclusive bonus tracks" version.

[purlieu]

Great, even more versions to collect!

https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/orbitals-optical-delusion-is-6-in-the-sde-surround-series/

Super-limited BluRay version with surround sound mixes, the Amazon bonus tracks and, so far, the only place with the instrumental versions. It can only be ordered for two weeks. As someone who doesn't have the facilities to play BluRay through my main hi-fi setup, this means that my current purchase option to get all the tracks is: buy a CD+2LP+bonus CD bundle from the band, a CD from Amazon so I can actually play the bonus tracks, and then the BluRay so I can listen to the instrumentals somewhere down the line. That's £71 plus shipping. What a fucking joke.

[purlieu]

They also always champion environmental issues, and yet to get every track here they're asking you to buy three CDs, two LPs and a BluRay. 

Edited October 21, 2022 by purlieu

[mcbpete]

Sometimes you get lucky on hmv.co.jp or ototoy.jp for deluxe/bonus versions available in a more environmental (possibly!) digital format

Though it does mean trying to navigate a Japanese site with google translate .... and sometimes they refuse to let you buy it.

orbital.bandcamp.com plz....

[purlieu]

They've added a CD + bonus CD option to their official store, means I won't have to buy the vinyl at least.

[Pirtek]

2 hours ago, purlieu said:

, even more versions to collect!

In Sides/ Snivilisation Dolby Atmos, yes. Optical Delusion, er no.

[Pirtek]

And instrumental versions in the blu ray version!

[Pirtek]

Also, while Optical Delusion is a 10-track album, there is a special 13-track CD edition, with three bonus tracks, that is exclusive to Amazon in the UK. However, the blu-ray features all three of these bonus tracks (‘The Crane (feat. Dina Ipavic)’, ‘Year Of The Bat’ and ‘Lost In Time’) in full Dolby Atmos, 5.1 and both stereo mixes! I have to say, these tracks are all fantastic; there is zero drop in quality and I agree with Mark Ayres when he said to me “They should have been on the main album!”. ‘Lost in Time’ in particular is rather moving. It has a lovely ‘music-box’ intro before the syncopated rhythm comes in with vocal samples. It’s a lovely end to proceedings

[purlieu]

Yeah, I think I'm just going to stick to the CD + bonus from the official store, and then the Amazon one, and sell the original album from their store as it'll be redundant. The fact that I have to even consider doing this is still fucking ridiculous. Especially for three tracks. 

[Pirtek]

I know! It was the same with the Hmv bonus disc for Monsters Exist!

[Pirtek]

Two tracks from the new album are on here:

 

[perunamuusi]

I don't  know if that would be fun even if you were his mate and in the room skinning uo and drinking

[watmmisdead]

hahahahah

haha

hahahaha