ORBITAL

A Beginner’s Guide (London)

Pioneering UK electronic duo Orbital’s popularity shows little sign of waning. Their latest album, 2023’s Optical Delusion, hit the top 10 and this April, they played to a huge Coachella crowd on a tour celebrating their first two albums. Thirty-five years into their career, then, now seems as good a time as any to bring out a compilation which, as per its title, will predominantly act as a taster for those new to Orbital.

With a sleeve designed by Julian House, also co-founder of the Ghost Box label, A Beginners Guide certainly looks the part, and pairs early classics by the Hartnoll brothers – Chime, Belfast, Lush 3.1 – with lesser-known aural morsels like Remind or The Girl With The Sun In Her Head. Shame the mighty and ever-apt Impact (The Earth Is Burning) is not included here, but there is the John Barry-ish The Box and, naturally, the Butthole Surfers-sampling, John Carpenter-on-steroids monster that is Satan.

A couple of newbies, Dirty Rat and Ringa Ringa, show Orbital still have that Crass-like defiance in their bones, coupled to Kraftwerk’s inventiveness. A Beginner’s Guide is essential for new listeners, and could be a good reminder for the converted too. 

words DAVID NOBAKHT