Dum Pendebat Filius

A new feature, readers, inspired by the bloggers at Liberal Avenger. I’m offering you three songs to download and enjoy at your leisure.

This week, you get three tracks by Orbital.

1. Steel Cube Idolatry (6.01 MB, 06:34)
This track appeared on certain releases (not, alas, the American one) of Orbital’s first LP (usually called “The Green Album”), which appeared in September 1991. I think this is by far the best track on that first album, far superior to the popular hits “Chime” and “Belfast.” It’s an early example of Orbital’s use of female voices, which was to become something of a trademark.

2. Times Fly (Slow) (7.31 MB, 07:58)
“Times Fly” never appeared on an Orbital LP, but was released as a single in April 1995. This track combines odd, almost unsettling percussion with a haunting melody and, of course, female voices. I’m quite fond of it.

3. Nothing Left (Short Version) (3.40 MB, 03:43)
“Nothing Left” appeared, in two lengthy parts, on the 1999 LP “The Middle of Nowhere.” It was also released as a two-disc CD single; this “Short Version” comes from CD2. I like it very much, because it contains all the essential elements of the sixteen-minute canonical version, distilled neatly down into 3 minutes and 43 seconds. It’s not a remix, but an actual distillation. You really need to be familiar with the whole thing in order to truly appreciate this version’s economy and punch, but it kicks more than a little bit of ass all on its own.

The files are only going to be here for a few days, so avail yourself immediately of this listening pleasure, this sonic bliss, friends.