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Orbital was an English Techno duo from 1989 until 2004 , consisting of brothers Paul and Phil Hartnoll. The name was taken from the Raves that occurred in the late 1980s near the M25 Orbital Motorway that circles London . They were initially influenced by early Electro and Punk Rock . CAREER Early years In 1989 , Orbital recorded a track called ''Chime'' on their father's cassette deck. It was released on Oh Zone Records in December 1989 , and re-released on FFRR Records a few months later. The track became a Rave anthem, reaching number 17 in the UK charts, and earning them an appearance on Top Of The Pops , during which they wore anti- Poll Tax t-shirts. A few singles and EPs followed, and their first Self-titled Album , a collection of tracks recorded at various times, was released in late 1991 . In late 1992 the ''Radiccio'' EP barely reached the UK top forty, but it included probably their most well-known song, '' Halcyon ''. The song featured a backwards sample of Kirsty Hawkshaw from ''It's a Fine Day'' (a chart hit for Opus III earlier that year), and B-side ''The Naked and the Dead'' was similarly based on a line from Scott Walker 's rendition of Jacques Brel 's song ''Next''. ''Halcyon'' was dedicated to the Hartnolls' mother, who was addicted to the Tranquiliser Halcion (Triazolam) for many years. The duo's popularity grew rapidly with the release of their second album, titled '', "...where time becomes a loop". The album reached #28 on the UK album charts, staying in the top chart for fifteen weeks. ''Halcyon'' was remixed for the album, as ''Halcyon + On + On''. The first two albums are commonly known as "the green album" and "the brown album", after the colour of their covers. 1994 breakthrough Orbital won a . The third album '' Snivilisation '' was released in August 1994 . Alison Goldfrapp provided vocals on a couple of the tracks, including the single ''Are We Here?''. This track also included a sample from ''Man at C&A'' by The Specials . Among the remixes of ''Are We Here?'' was ''Criminal Justice Bill?'' - four minutes of silence, a reference to the Criminal Justice And Public Order Act 1994 , which was in part intended to clamp down on the rave scene which had given birth to Orbital. The other track with Goldfrapp vocals, ''Sad But True'', was remixed for the ''Times Fly'' EP, the band's only release in 1995 . The single '' The Box '' was released in April 1996 , reaching #11 in the UK, and its parent album '' In Sides '', released in May 1996 , became their second top five album. It revealed a less obviously dance-oriented sound than previously, and had more in common with soundtrack music. As with the previous album, there was a vague theme of ecological disaster and dissatisfaction with society. The following year, the duo contributed to film soundtracks ('' The Saint '', '' Event Horizon '') and enjoyed the biggest singles of their career, with a live version of ''Satan'' and their reworking of the aforementioned ''The Saint'' theme both reaching #3 in the UK. Later albums 1998 saw a return to the studio to work on their fifth album '' The Middle Of Nowhere ''. This was released in 1999 , becoming their third top five album, and was a return to a more upbeat style, with Alison Goldfrapp returning on vocals, and included the single ''Style'' featuring the Stylophone . In 2000 the single ''Beached'' was released from the soundtrack to the film '' The Beach '', mixing the brothers' musical style with a melody by Angelo Badalamenti and the words of Leonardo DiCaprio from the film. 2001 's '' The Altogether '' featured guest vocals by the Hartnolls' brother-in-law David Gray , a sampled Ian Dury , and a version of the '' Doctor Who '' theme. It was to be their last album for FFRR, and had a mixed critical reception. The following year, '' Work 1989-2002 '' collected various singles from ''Chime'' onwards. Orbital split up in 2004 . They played a final series of gigs from June through July 2004 at the Glastonbury Festival , the T In The Park Festival in Scotland , the Oxegen festival (formerly known as Witnness ) in Ireland, and the Wire Festival in Japan , concluding with a live Peel Session gig at Maida Vale Studios in London on 28 July 2004 . The release of their seventh and last original album, '' The Blue Album '' (which, unlike the untitled previous green and brown albums, was actually named ''The Blue Album''), coincided with this final wave of shows. The album featured Sparks (on ''Acid Pants'') and Lisa Gerrard (on the final single ''One Perfect Sunrise''). Following the break up Paul Hartnoll continues to record music under his own name, including tracks for the new ''Wipeout Pure'' game for the '' PSP ''. He released his first full length solo album, entitled "The Ideal Condition" on the ACP record label in June 2007. Phil Hartnoll formed a new electronica duo, Long Range , with Nick Smith. Their debut album, "Madness and Me", was released on their own label, Long Range Recordings, on August 6 2007 . He lives in Brighton with his three sons, Louis, Milo and Conrad. Orbital released a 2 CD/DVD compilation on 11 June 2007 . The collection contains over 2 hours of music recorded from the group's performances at the festival over the course of a decade of appearances there. POLITICAL COMMENTARY Orbital sometimes incorporate political and environmental commentary into their music. The track ''Forever'' on '' from the 1982 Lindsay Anderson film Britannia Hospital , in which he lambasts humankind for its destructive ways; and the track ''You Lot'' on the '' Blue Album '', features a confrontational, partially Vocoded anti- Genetic Engineering sample from Christopher Eccleston , originally from the TV two-part series '' The Second Coming '' written by Russell T Davies . They recorded ''The Girl With The Sun In Her Head'' from ''In Sides'' using ) from ''Snivilisaton'' and ''Dŵr Budr'' ("dirty water" in Welsh ) and ''P.E.T.R.O.L.'' from ''In Sides''. VIDEOS Orbital have put much effort into the videos accompanying their music. Tilda Swinton starred in the video for ''The Box''; and they released a DVD version of ''The Altogether'' with a video for every track, with Brian Cant starring in the track ''Waving not Drowning''. SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY Albums
Singles/EPs
Compilations
Orbital are sometimes confused with The Orb , a similarly named band that has also been very influential in the realm of electronic music. In its early days, The Orb often did Remix es of other artists' songs and called the result an "Orbital Mix", but these remixes have nothing to do with the band Orbital. The Orb stopped this practice after Orbital became popular, hoping not to cause any more confusion. Featured songs
NOTES the orbital song "crash and carry" was featured in the movie "shopping" from the year 1994 EXTERNAL LINKS
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