Orbital - In Sides (Saint)

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Free Music Notes for In Sides (Saint)

Free Music Review: the definitive non-electronic electronic album
Hit: 5 Stars

This album, while made exclusively with electronic sounds and instruments(aside from perhaps a guitar on The Box-and i can't even tell if that's real or electronicly done), can not be called pure electronic music with any clarity. Sure, it's got all sorts of crazy sounds that you won't hear in any other music, but the effects are not the point, unlike so much other electronica(and even much of Orbital's other work). Orbital is not trying to impress you with the cool sounds they get their computers to cough up. They're trying to make expansive, imaginative music that they would not be able to make through traditional means. As such, this album truly doesn't belong in the 'dance music' aisles of music stores, where it is bound to be ignored by most music fans and will likely disappoint the dance fans who buy it because they saw it recommended as a classic TECHNO album, as I did. If you're looking for a great album of definable techno, this is not it.
However, if you are willing to take some time to let this grow on you, you will be very satisfied, as Orbital has made some of the most brilliant music i've ever heard, in any field. The songs have layers of sounds and keep evolving, so that they do not grow boring and provide a more rewarding listen. What's more, the constrained use of effects make the songs easier to connect with emotionally, which can be difficult to do with techno and electronica. This is best illustrated on Dwr Budr,
which has an awesome section of layered ambient-ish synths and effects that give the song a sensitive feel right of the bat. The song then shifts into a section that has very few effects-only a keyboard rythym that gives the song a mysterious air that would not be possible if Orbital was loading the song with a bunch of fancy, arbitrary effects. A similar style can be heard on the first half of The Box, with its slow drum pattern and dark, minimal effects, which lend the song its intended dark feel, or on several sections of Out There Somewhere..or pretty much anywhere in the album, come to think of it. It is this approach that makes this album so affecting and effective.
The album's only flaw is that it can be difficult to understand; casual music fans will be flustered by the strange sounds, and electronic fans may be disappointed by the constrained use of cool effects. However, persistence will reveal the depth and genius of this album(and i'm talking months, not days or weeks-i've had the album for months, and i only now really understand it enough to write about it). This is not a classic techno album-but it is a great music album.

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