Opening the inaugural Cardiff Music City Festival on 27 September, electronic juggernauts Leftfield and Orbital will grace the stage in co-headlining harmony. Both forming in the late 80s UK, the two groups were – and continue to be – highly influential on rave culture, taking their innovative beats mainstream in a Britpop-saturated era. India Munday cuts both acts down to five.
Halcyon And On And On – Orbital
One of Orbital’s biggest tracks, featuring the vocals of Kirsty Hawkshaw from Opus III’s It’s A Fine Day and samples from Yes’ Leave It, 1992 single Halcyon is a hauntingly perfect dance track. Dedicated to Paul and Phil Hartnoll’s mother, who was addicted to prescription tranquilizers when they were young, its video features Hawkshaw playing a lonely, tripped-out housewife. Clocking off at almost 10 minutes, floaty, nonsensical vocals balance out thumping synth and basslines with goosebump-worthy results.
Phat Planet – Leftfield
Leftfield – formed as a duo of Neil Barnes and Paul Daley, with the latter dropping out when the project was revived in 2010 – are known for their (positively) earsplitting live shows with immense sound systems. The thought of Phat Planet’s shuddering two-note bassline live is enough to bring a roof down – and that’s exactly what happened in 1996 when the duo played at Brixton Academy, leading to their apparent ban from the venue. First composed to soundtrack a memorable surf-themed 1999 TV ad for Guinness, Phat Planet was repurposed for Leftfield’s second album Rhythm And Stealth; its combination of thumping bass and bleep-bloop noises feels like racing through a sci-fi video game on acid.
Chime – Orbital
Recorded under the stairs of the Hartnolls’ parents’ house, if the creation of Orbital’s 1989 debut single Chime calls Harry Potter to mind, the result too is wizardry of a sort, supposedly costing less than £1 to produce and sporting one of the bounciest, most magical rhythms conceivable. During a period where raving was demonised, the song brought acid house onto homely TV screens and was the centrepiece of Orbital’s trailblazing Glastonbury 1994 set. Hailed as the British answer to Derrick May’s Strings Of Life, when the brothers performed it on Top Of The Pops they were instructed to mime in accordance with the show’s policy at the time. Choosing instead to stand in silence as their backing track played on, Orbital would have to wait six years for their next TOTP appearance.
Open Up – Leftfield
John Lydon and trance music might not be the first combination on everyone’s mind, especially at a time before big name vocalists on dance tracks were an established gambit – but boy, did it work. The Sex Pistols frontman’s psychotic anti-establishment “burn Hollywood, burn” vocal refrain, over a pulsating bassline and driving beat, added up to become one of Leftfield’s biggest songs, with 1993’s Open Up sounding almost like a prototype for The Prodigy’s Firestarter. Further high-profile Leftfield collaborations would follow, with Roots Manuva’s contribution to Rhythm And Stealth’s opening track Dusted a fan favourite.
Satan – Orbital
As rave anthems go, this Orbital classic possesses multiple rock connections. It was first recorded in 1990, the same year as metal band Judas Priest were in court accused of planting backwards Satanic messages in their music. The Hartnolls nodded to this farcical episode in the track’s opening sample – a bellow of “SATAN! SATAN! SATAN!”, taken from the intro to Texan rock absurdists Butthole Surfers’ Sweat Loaf. In 1996, a live version peaked at number three on the UK singles chart, and the following year Orbital rerecorded Satan with Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett, for the soundtrack of superhero film Spawn. It remains a staple in their live sets, but they tend to mix it up a lot now – although they’ve not quite yet developed the knack of playing it backwards in order to summon a horned red fella in your bathroom mirror.
Leftfield + Orbital, Utilita Arena Cardiff, Fri 27 Sept.
Tickets: £45. Info: here
words INDIA MUNDAY
