Bicycles & Tricycles

I was looking forever for this song after seeing the video in Japan. Finally found it on this CD and I'm happy with that. but none of the other songs on the CD sound anything like From A Distance, so that's why 3 stars.

Relax -cool ambient dub funk. Nothing over the top -but some interesting and original twists on the formula.

I would say that, on a coarse-grained sort of analysis, there have been three main phases so far for the Orb, this latest album belonging to the third of those phases. The first phase began when the artists essentially invented (culling, of course, from earlier influences) ambient techno as it exists today in all of its annoyingly labeled and demarcated forms. In those olden days for electronic music--i.e., the early nineteen-ninties--repetitive beats were the norm, and the Orb came along and produced multiple, complex and "spaced-out" layers in their songs, creating (believe it or not) atmospheric techno, stuff that could actually be enjoyed outside of the dance-hall and appreciated as works of art in their own right.Then came (my personal favorite of the group's changing style) the more experimental and complicated second phase, beginning with Pomme Fritz and ending with the (arguably) unmatched ambient masterpiece Orbvs Terrarvm. Losing the assistance of the former partner Thrash seemed to have a large effect on the group's commitment to less-beat-oriented-and-more-delicate-sound-dedicated approach, as the following LP Orblivion (the beginning what I call here the third phase) marked a return to oldOrb-style techno while keeping the mastery over complicated layering that was their trademark sound by the second phase, not to mention the amusing sampling that made for transitions between tracks. But by this stage, tracks became much shorter (losing the expected, Orb-esque exploration of a musical idea through fifteen minutes of odd samples and atmospheric synths) and by the time this phase reached Cydonia, Paterson et al. began trying on lyrics for size (not the best lyrical work in the world, but the music on its own more than made up for the lyrical slack; besides, there have been worse electronic acts whose attempts at lyrical work have failed far more miserably than in this album (see, e.g., FSOL's The Isness)).Bicycles and Tricycles is an album that has much of the qualities unique to this latter phase, but it also has the feel that it is only a sort of first draft by the Orb's own set precedent. For one, the album lacks much of the complexity that is standard in almost all of their earlier works, with the exception of their first album. Tracks such as "Gee Strings" move on and on without much of the background randomness that is characteristic of similar pieces as "Asylum" or "Ghostdancing." Also, something about the mixing of the album just doesn't feel like a typical Orb album--the proportion of bass and treble is not right on a few tracks ("Prime Evil" seems this way to me, at least). Moreover, much like Cydonia, this album has less an organized, coherent theme as does the earthy, natural Terrarvm or the spacey, alien U.F.Orb. Instead, B&T has the feel of a collection of very separate, small articles the crew had been toying with for some time but had not developed into their own full form, and this leaves the listener with the sense of having been briefly introduced to some set of random thoughts rather than taken through a whole treatise, as was the usual effect of their previous work.All of that aside, there are certainly tracks that make B&T a worthwhile collection. "The Land of Green Ginger" makes a reappearance (originally on the Back to Mine installment), this time with a slight make-over on the narration and a more island-style ending. "Hell's Kitchen" is very unlike any other Orb piece I am familiar with (with the possible exception of "Promis"), but is nevertheless an enjoyable track. The closing "Dilmuin" bears some similarity to the elegant, minimalist Speith piece "You Don't Fool Me," while the two-part "Orb is" & "Now here" (this latter on the Japanese release only) has a clear political theme, which is unusual for this particular group. All in all this album marks a good ending to the third phase for the Orb, and hopefully indicates a return to the beginning of the cycle (the sooner to the second phase, the better).

I have been a fan of The Orb for quite some time, patiently waiting year upon year for albums that had been finished but not released. Any person will tell you that this can be frustrating at times, but if you enjoy a group enough you will put yourself through such tortures. This particular album had been finished for somewhere around two years before its release here, but I do not feel that the wait was all for naught.Dr. Alex Paterson seems to be willing to head back towards the group's roots, cutting down on the number of radio-friendly tunes with vocals and more traditional song structure as was seen on this album's predecessor, Cydonia. I personally feel this album is much more true to the feel and tone of the Orb anthology.There also seems to be a stronger emphasis on breakbeat patterns in this album when compared to releases in the past. I for one am a big fan of breakbeats and find them to work perfectly on this disc, especially on my favorite track Prime Evil. There is even a song that could be described as trip-hop, with rhyming laid over the beats. Most of the reviews have given this song a negative tone (Aftermath), but I think that is because there are not a large amount of Orb fans that really listen to hip-hop or anything of the sort. The song isn't that bad, people. It's just something The Orb has never done before. Not all songs fall under this description, but this is certainly a more beat-oriented Orb album than most. Especially when considering the more ambient works they have done (Orbvs Terrarvm, Pomme Fritz, etc).Very very die hard Orb fans I'm sure will find something to complain about, it seems they always do. While it may not be their most original work, it certainly left me feeling content and has been listened to many times since it was purchased. To anyone that is looking at buying an album of The Orb, I highly recommend it. I used to be very critical of electronic music, blowing it off without really giving it a chance. The Orb changed all that for me. It was unlike anything I had ever heard before, the ultimate "gateway drug" music. Considering the man has a Doctorate in Sound Engineering, it is no surprise. Long Live The Orb!

As I have the benefit of hindsight I can now comfortably state that I believe this is the best Orb album of their career. The 'Ultraworld' debut was magnificent, 'UFOrb' was okay and everything following that album I did not care for until the wonderful 'Bicycles & Tricycles'. Just in case anyone cares, I didn't like the albums that followed this until the awesome collaboration with David Gilmour that was 'Metallic Spheres'.Before hearing the album I had low expectations, there'd been some confused releases, Youth was missing and Thomas Fehlman (whose work I believe to be highly over rated) was part of the team. As soon as I hit play I was a goner, it has an immediate pull and filled me with justified optimism. I'm sure Orb fans were surprised by this album as it treads new sonic territory, the second track has an MC rapping! Even more surprising, it works. The variation does not end there, whilst the trademark Orb characteristics are present their style has expanded, stronger techno elements and lovely bass massaging dub. They are often wrongly viewed as ambient masters whose works are conducive to trancing out and let's be honest, sending you to the world of nod. Yes there are some of those elements, particularly the latter portion of the album but it is an engrossing listening experience. I've not yet tried it but I'm positive this will be an incredible listening experience with headphones. Of course it works best as a whole and when the tracks are so very good that's an easy thing to do.I don't blame those who have been put off by the really awful stuff they've done, Pomme Fritz almost had me abandoning ship but if you feel that way, go on, give them another chance, 'Bicycles & Tricycles' will have you back on board.

Excellent music in the best format (Vinyl LP)Although the best of all is that the complete order arrived without the additional costs that DHL forces Amazon customers to pay (currently), having pre-paid the shipping.This order was my last free order of artificial expenses created by DHL (dhl-Chile)

This was an impulse buy after hearing No Sounds are Out of Bounds. There are a number of superb chill-out tracks here. Well worth a listen

Good Album.

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