orbital’s long range

I was checking out the Orbital live album that showed up recently (which is retailing new for a whopping $39.98 at another on-line retailer’s store!) and it led me to another act I hadn’t heard of before. Long Range is the brainchild of Phil Hartnoll of Orbital and Nick Smith, and its pretty freakin good.

I have never been a huge Orbital fan beyond a few tracks so I wasn’t expecting much. We have 3 of their singles (they have not released a full length yet) and each has at least one standout track - Which Way Now and the Long Range Club Mixes of Madness and Me or Vultures Over Cryodon. This stuff is atmospheric techno in the best possible way, think Underworld or Minilogue. It made my day. The other mixes are decent too, but I don’t care much for Lie Down.

Other random electronic goodies:

I also discovered The Toxic Avenger through an electronic music pod-cast. The track you want here is actually the B-side, Escape (not the gawdawful Bloody Beetroots mix though). It reminds me a bit of Vitalic or Para One.

Some of these Aphex Twin/Hip-Hop mashups were pretty good. Others didn’t work quite as well. I particularly like the Snoop Dogg one (Drop Alberto Like It’s Hot).