Sunday Sounds: Orbital

Orbital is made up of two brothers from a small town in England called Sevenoaks, in county Kent. The music they make is equal parts serene and frantic and made up of entirely synthesized elements.  However, Orbital’s music was among the first electronic music where I was able to identify an emotion without having to relate or compare it to a more traditional counterpart.  The synthesizer line in some of their songs elicits the same emotional response for me as a softly strummed acoustic guitar.

I consider their song, “Halcyon On + On” to be their magnum opus, the pinnacle of their career. They produced great music before this and great music after, but nothing else quite like it.  It builds and recedes in waves, and for as intricate and complex as it it is at its’s peak, the song is an interesting exercise in minimalism.

If you’re looking improve something this Sunday, consider doing it with less, by taking things away instead of adding.