The Orb :: Baghdad Batteries (Orbsessions Volume III) (Malicious Damage)

(January 2010) I was very excited to hear about this – I’m a rabid Orb fan. I realize they made some mis-steps here and there, but lately there’s been a return to the fun of the old Orb in the new Orb. I’m happy to say that this record completes their trip back to their roots that began on The Dream. Main Orbert Alex Patterson and Berliner Thomas Fehlmann have helmed the Orb’s last decade at least, and they were starting to lose the plot. 2004’s lazy Bicycles and Tricycles and the follow-up, the ill-advised dip into schaffel, Okie Dokie Its The Orb on Kompakt committed the crime of being flat out boring. This was unheard of for Paterson & co, they had, to this point, always been at least worth a listen (excepting maybe a couple of the badorb.com releases).

The Dream was something else. Jumpy and dubby with a gleeful sense of the old humour, The Dream was a return to form, to high points in Patterson’s oeuvre like Orblivion and Live ’93. It was the pop side of the Orb, the sunny afternoon on E. Baghdad Batteries completes the picture, being entirely instrumental and aimed directly into outer inner-space. Back are the spacescapes of Pomme Fritz and Orbus Terrarum. Back is the dancehall dub of U.F. Orb. This is more like a greatest hits album with all new tracks, each track echoing an earlier but not necessarily better corresponding track. Baghdad shows the other side of Orb, the hazy chill, a relaxed paranoia, if you will. Taken together, the two albums are a full update on all aspects of the Orb’s muse.

Perhaps the best way to come to Baghdad Batteries is to start at the beginning. Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld comes out and, along with Chill Out by the KLF, invents ambient house. Full of grab-bag samples and minimal actual “music,” Adventures contains everything the Orb would become in its two compact discs. U.F. Orb takes the kosmiche out of the equation and replaces it with Jamaican Dub. Smokers rejoice. Pommes Fritz shakes off the nigel hipsters who hopped on the bandwagon with its deliberately avant garde and “difficult” sound. Orbus Terrarum injected some emotion, and the Orb were at their peak. 1997’s Oblvion and to a lesser extent 2001’s Cydonia keep the spaceman/freak flag flying. But then they lost the plot a little, stopped innovating and chased the new sounds of the times instead of forging ahead like they had in the past. It was a critical time for them, because the musicians they influenced were past snapping at their heels and had moved into Orb’s place in the pop consciousness.

I think that Patterson knew what was happening. I’m glad he found his muse again. The old, familiar atmosphere is everywhere. Consistently solid, The Orb are building on their previous album’s successes. I raise my glass and my hopes that this new year, with all its promise, will bring another brilliant Orb record. Until then, this is just as good.

Baghdad Batteries (Orbsessions Volume III) is out now on Malicious Damage. [Listen & Purchase]

• Malicious Damage
• The Orb