The Orb - Abolition of the Royal Familia

Maybe it’s cause I’ve been inside too long; maybe it’s cause I’m high. Maybe it’s cause of both.

Really grooving to their new album at the moment. Alex seems to have found a great writer in Rendell and has a stellar line of of guests. First non-Thomas album I’ve liked all the way through.

i personally didn't like it. I don't do drugs except alcohol so that could be a problem here.

Nothing groundbreaking, but some really catchy songs that are very well produced.

def diggin this one, can agree w 1st post (First non-Thomas I've liked all the way thru too - good mix as well on it)

wait, no digitals. only streaming!? mweh

couple of good tracks in there. some good ol' uforb vibes on a couple of them. also some more housey tracks. not sure what to make of those. give me a call when digitals are avail

the real orb would’ve called it Orbolition

  On 3/30/2020 at 10:08 PM, goDel said:

. give me a call when digitals are avail

Digitals are avail  

Well this was nice surprise ..... Despite the really horrible single/video, despite no sign of Fehlmann, and despite the pretty cringy title this is actually quite good. Quite a lot of non-Orb sounding ambient tracks -  The Afros, Afghans ... track in particular is lovely, and thankfully very little of the garish pop/dub that seems to appear on the non-Fehlmann Orb albums (Aside from the aforementioned Single/opening track)

A few unnecessary 'silly' samples ruin a a track or two (convinced that's pretty much all Alex contributes to Orb tracks - the track's already completed and he just triggers samples at random from his 'recordings of drug stuff and silly news and that' folder over the top), but apart from that - pleasantly surprised and quite a mighty length (especially the deluxe digital version I nabbed from Boomkat)

  On 3/31/2020 at 8:09 PM, mcbpete said:

Digitals are avail  

Well this was nice surprise ..... Despite the really horrible single video & mix, despite no sign of Fehlmann, and despite the ham-fisted title this is actually quite good. Quite a lot of non-Orb sounding ambient tracks -  The Afros, Afghans ... track in particular is lovely, and thankfully very little of the garish pop/dub that seems to appear on the non-Fehlmann Orb albums (Aside from the aforementioned Single/opening track)

A few unnecessary 'silly' samples ruin a a track or two (convinced that's pretty much all Alex contributes to Orb tracks - the track's already completed and he just triggers samples at random from his 'recordings of drug stuff and silly news and that' folder over the top), but apart from that - pleasantly surprised and quite a mighty length (especially the deluxe digital version I nabbed from Boomkat)

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I dig the opening track!  Daze has been stuck in my head for days.  

But yes -- this album was a really nice surprise and keeps getting better with repeat listens.  While I know Alex is notorious for "just dropping samples" (and it does sound like it here at points), I think he has learned a lot from Fehlmann production wise.  I definitely can hear a Thomas/J Dilla influence coming out on a lot of these tracks with some of the looped orchestral and instrumental samples.  Anyway, it is clear that this Rendall guy has chops - look forward to seeing where this project continues to go into the future.  

Could really do without the run of anonymous-sounding house tracks at the beginning. I almost turned off. Thankfully the ambient and dub stuff later almost makes up for it - some of the most well-rounded productions under the Orb name since the '90s. Agreed that there are touches of Fehlmann influence, only without the overtly Kompakty dub-techno production. The dub stuff is definitely the most impressive of this style since the mid-'90s. Generally impressed, but those four opening tracks are really fucking tedious.

Going to have a listen to the 'dub' bonus album in a bit. 

I enjoyed a few of the mixes better in the dub bonus version than the main one (Daze seemed less annoying, The Weekend It Rained Forever stuck to the lovely ambient Jello - Pequill sound for a bit longer). You could probably do a good ol mix'n'match to make a cracking version of the album.

I just checked the video and the first couple of tracks and hated them but I guess I'll go listen to the later tracks also if they are better..

I think the opening run of tracks are great - Hawk Kings in particular. Just fun, upbeat tunes.

  On 4/1/2020 at 1:08 PM, zkom said:

I just checked the video and the first couple of tracks and hated them but I guess I'll go listen to the later tracks also if they are better..

Yeah, no. Just going to pass this one. It's poppy in a way that I really don't like. Just the whole production is very plastic and artificial.

But I went and bought the "More Tales from the Orbservatory" album that is much more to my liking and I somehow didn't have yet.

Given that half the album is quite droney ambient, 'poppy' seems a strange descriptor.

  On 4/2/2020 at 10:45 AM, purlieu said:

Given that half the album is quite droney ambient, 'poppy' seems a strange descriptor.

It's just how it sounds to me. Maybe "poppy" is a wrong word but it's more mixed like modern dance music instead of ambient or dub. Sounds like cheesy psydub and I don't like it. It's just a preference and I'm not really saying if it's right or wrong.

Also there are maybe 3 real ambient tracks? Pervitin and the last two?

Pervitin, Afros Afghans and Angels, the first part of Shape Shifters and Slave Till U Die. So yeah, not quite half. 

Not to criticise your opinion or anything obviously, I just thought it was an odd way to describe those tracks if nothing else, as they're quite textural ambient.

Not their best work, but pretty damn good stuff. I like it more than No Sounds Are Out of Bounds. Daze is a fantastic track

  On 4/2/2020 at 1:18 PM, President Squidward said:

Not their best work, but pretty damn good stuff. I like it more than No Sounds Are Out of Bounds. Daze is a fantastic track

Tried relistening to No Sounds yesterday and could barely get through it. Maybe a couple decent tracks, but overall a huge mishmash. The Thomas tracks there are pretty lackluster actually.

Abolition keeps getting better with each listen though. Loving it.

Deluxe version up on bandcamp.

I'm happy there are new Orb tunes, and in general the album is a pleasant listen, but I've gotta be honest. Any time The Orb comes up I get violently upset that there hasn't been an Orbus Terrarum repress. I want it on wax SO bad, but can't justify the $100-$200 price tag on discogs. 

  On 4/2/2020 at 3:19 PM, thumbass said:

 

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Not sure I needed a 15 minute review, but the dude is pretty spot on.

Love Daze.

  On 4/2/2020 at 9:15 PM, Friendly Stranger said:

I'm happy there are new Orb tunes, and in general the album is a pleasant listen, but I've gotta be honest. Any time The Orb comes up I get violently upset that there hasn't been an Orbus Terrarum repress. I want it on wax SO bad, but can't justify the $100-$200 price tag on discogs. 

Yeah I have a copy, but it’s in pretty rough shape. Beautiful package though - would hope a repress would stay true to original album art.

Just listening now, first couple of tracks were pretty bland, a few nice orchestral samples were the only things of interest, next two were still a bit middle of the road, but better. Agreed though that despite the blandness it's still much better than all the other recent non-Fehlmann stuff. Fifth and sixth tracks are decent, very pleasant background music if nothing else.

https://www.echoesanddust.com/2020/03/the-orb-abolition-of-the-royal-familia/

...rest of the album was better, pretty good overall, but not a classic. some of the dubby parts were a bit cheesy, but nothing too bad.