Coming together in Kent in 1989, Phil and Paul Hartnoll, collectively known as Orbital, have had something of a strange ride. After over three decades of starts and stops, the brothers are back for their first album in nearly five years, with the release of Optical Delusion, out February 17^th. 

Starting off with a bang, “Ringa Ringa” (The Old Pandemic Folk Song)” opens with a classic drum and bass groove, complimented by deftly crafted vocal samples and digital piano melody, creating an upbeat, if unique, soundscape, inviting the listener to dance.  

Robotic in a literal way, “Day One (feat. Dina Ipavic)” blends dark techno with the industrial, coming out with a driving, dystopian sound made up of beats and electro squeaks that sound like they were created by Soviet computer programmers before the Wall fell.

“Are You Alive (feat. Penelope Isles)” is traditionally melodic. The drum machine and digital piano provide a fine backdrop for Isles’s all-too-human vocals, expressing heart-breaking truth and vulnerability in lines like “I really don’t wanna get fucked in a working world.” 

Frequency (feat. The Little Pest)” goes full UFO, opening with spoken audio tracks that can only be described as ‘alien’ coming up regularly through the rest of the runtime. even as the drum machine and sampler take over, for a surprisingly mid-tempo track, full of Sci-Fi laser sounds. 

Back to their melodic Dance roots, “The New Abnormal” could make a statue move. High tempo and catchy like the flu, the typically impeccable drum machines are joined by synth instruments and exoplanet wails. 

“Home (feat. Anna B Savage)” brings things back down again with a more relaxed drum and base style that, while less frenetic for parts of the track, is no less motivating, Savage’s vocals only help to carry things along. Coming in hard with driving bass, accompanied by a cockney rap vocal and disco keyboards, and later drum-machine and techno-beats, “Dirty Rat – with Sleaford Mods” is perfectly prepared Dance fare that could fit in at the best clubs and Raves. 

“Requiem For the Pre Apocalypse” belies its title, managing to be oddly upbeat, with few signs of doom and gloom over the five-minute run time, getting downright bright at many times with tasteful coral pieces, and ethereal synth galore in the last three minutes or so. Then again, it could be a linguistic double-bluff, a requiem done for something that is already dead and gone. 

Perplexing as it is pleasant, “What A Surprise (feat. The Little Pest) features a collage of different sounds, from deep drums and synth strings to spoken vocal tracks and theremin wails, packing a maze worth of twists and turns into just over three minutes. 

“Moon Princess (feat. Coppe)” is surreal in the truest sense, hitting the ears like the soundtrack to a dream after too much curry. Traditional Indian instruments and styles abound, adding to the more expected beats and rhythms of British Post-Acid House.

Image credit: Kenny McCracken

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Now, back to our regular music programming.

The first highlight for ADE By Night this Friday evening is an intimate pre-dinner listening party at the Nes 118 mansion with Deezer, the French online music streaming service. For this evening, a.k.a. the Barbershop, Deezer’s global dance, electronic, and alternative music editor Robin Wilms selected a small collection of unreleased albums: “Jdid” by Acid Arab, “Thirst” by Sebastian (about time!), “Balance” by Armin van Buuren, “Yearnite for the Infinite” by Max Cooper, “Magdalene” by FKA Twigs, and a few others. This unique space has a bit of a steampunk vibe, with retro furnishings and grey/green undertones. As we sip on cocktails, unrushed, listening to these great unreleased tunes, some people are sitting back in barber chairs, getting styled by Amsterdam’s best.

A quick tram ride from Amsterdam Central Station is the main concert hall for contemporary classical music, called Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ. Up a bridge that hangs over the water pass, around the corner, through the lower deck is the Sudbeat x The Soundgarden day party. Dutch DJ and producer Dimitri, the innovator of hi-tech-soul (Detroit sound-infused techno) who started spinning way back in 1987, is playing all day in the Bimhuis area, a round-shaped room with cascading low steps. Back down on the sunny indoor Deck with sweeping views on the water, is Amsterdam-based Miss Melera, playing her flavor of melodic techno to a packed room of dancers, basking in the sunlight.

The rooms and levels in Muziekgebouw are unusually situated across the mixed building levels, some can only be accessed by one staircase, others by another, and across the balcony, overlooking the Deck, is a small Chappel where Sudbeat X The Soundgarden artists from across the globe are taking turns. At around 5 pm Gustin, the resident DJ and promoter for Nick Warren’s The Soundgarden Ibiza, stepped up to the tables spreading his unique blend of pumping, tech-prog, funk-fuelled house music. Many of these producers have been around for decades, defining the electronic music genre and building the foundation for what we are listening to today, so it’s quite special to be here, watching the masters effortlessly do their thing.

Further inland and later into the night an obscenely large group of people are gathering in the Scheepsbouwloods’ warehouse space for a DGTL all-nighter. Known for throwing some of the best parties and festivals around the world Amsterdam-based DGTL is one of many organizations putting an effort into making a sustainable impact on the global festival landscape. When purchasing a drink an extra euro is charged for a reusable plastic cup which you can then commit to for the rest of the night, a system used during many events at ADE. Losing a cup would cost you a euro more per drink while ending the night with one will earn you a recycling token, what it could be used for, however, we never figured out.

The venue is split into two rooms: a smaller one that looked like an oversized shipping container, out of which jam-packed dancers are spilling all the way into the food court-type area, and the big room, which has its own bar, a perpetually sticky floor, cool lights, and TV’s hung under the sealing. The mid-programming treat is Orbital, an electronic dance music brother duo (Phil and Paul Hartnoll) from England (cover image). Orbital have been around since the 80s and have an extensively impressive resume. The duo is known for their memorable live shows which – much like today – feature a creative imagery showcase and live improvisation by the DJs. Fittingly to the day’s green motif Orbital begun the set with “There Will Come a Time” which opens with a monologue by professor Brian Cox (English physicist): ‘There are few certainties in science, but one fact of which we can all be certain is that one day we will die. Our atoms won’t disappear, they will return to the Earth.’ – one of many environmentally and politically-charged songs we hear tonight.

Just around the corner Amsterdam’s smallest festival, aptly named Festifest, teams up with Berlin’s Wilde Renate crew for a wild ADE dance party at the Noorderlicht Café. As we approach the venue its greenhouse-style shape greets us with warm lights and a casual outdoor sitting area, a few brave souls relaxing around a fire pit. The coat check is outside and the inside is hot like an Arabian desert, packed wall to wall on the main floor. The balcony has a much more relaxed vibe with a handful of people laying back on the couches, a couple quite literally napping, and a small group of people dancing in the circle.

“Beer please.” The bartender nods in acknowledgment as if he just scanned me for tasting notes and read my mind. I hand over my recycling token (given to me by security at the entrance), he hands over a pint of lager. Looking over the balcony ledge the energy around the DJ is infectious and you cannot help but dance as well. Taking us into the sunrise are Kornél Kovács, PEAK & SWIFT, Johannes Albert, Alison Swing, and SHMLSS, casually spinning a mix of house and techno, mixing in their particular takes on tracks like Wiley’s “Boasty,” Robin S’ “Show Me Love,” classics like Mr Fingers “Can You Feel It” and even “Ghostbusters.”

The post ADE goes green with DGTL, Sudbeat x The Soundgarden, and a Festifest green house dance party appeared first on Quip Magazine.