Orbital - Snivilisation

Good records often have special memories you associate with them. Great records, however, make their own special moments. My special moment with Snivilisation came in the July of 2008 when I discovered the album happened to have almost the exact same duration as a train journey between Doncaster and Manchester Picadilly train stations. A cross-country train journey doesn't seem the kind of experience that immortalises a piece of music, but there was something oddly fitting about listening to Orbital's savage critique of modern society in the sterile blue-grey plastic confines of modern public transport.

This was Orbital's first commercial smash- it deservedly cracked the UK Top 5 in the album charts in 1994 after their legendary performance at Glastonbury. Years ahead of its time, it must have sounded absolutely cutting-edge then and was really the moment when Orbital broke away from the conventions of established dance music and went their own unique, brilliant way. It's also a surprisingly effective social commentary, as the Hartnoll brothers scatter the record with old sound recordings of freak shows and political diatribes alongside soundbites of advertisements for bourgeois services such as plastic surgery clinics and colleges offering philosophy courses. The amount of sneering irony they create through the most economical uses of samples, which never threaten to drown out the musical innovations, is astonishing.

It turned out that Snivilisation was about 12 minutes longer than the train journey, and as I stepped out into the vast, arched open space that is the Victorian station at Manchester, the air warm and still and golden with summer sunshine, the swirling euphoric strains of Attached made me feel as though I was floating as I walked off the platform and headed for my next train. A beautiful moment to close a quite brilliant album.

An overlooked diamond by P & P Hartnoll that sticks its head into ambient, electro, and trip hop. There's a gabber-esque question mark and a linear techno beat in there as well. Sad but true eccentuates an early Goldfrapp's voice and the breakbeat is "audiogenic" (unforgettable). Philosophy by numbers I think predates Drexciya, Anthony Rother, and all the electro revival (94!). The diversity may have been what caused the lack of sales, but the first three tracks work so well that the others seem like b-sides.

This was my first Orbital album, and while it's barely edged out by the Brown Album as my personal favorite, it will definitely be the most nostalgic one for me. Snivilisation is especially unique for its wide range of styles - from the totally bizarre breakbeats to aggressive techno to beautiful, lush soundscapes. Kein Trink Wasser is simply amazing - one of the all time best Orbital tracks, and the crown jewel in this already rich album.

Utterly fantastic album. I dare say this is the best, most cohesive record these two boys have released. Kicking things off with a great intro on 'Forever', loaded with atmosphere and that great vocal sample ("We waste, we destroy, and we cling like savages to our superstitions...") giving the whole album a conceptual feel. I think it tries to shed light on the ongoing conflict between religion and science which, ultimately, are the main reasons for our planet's loss of habitat and shameful distribution of wealth. The music, for me, contains many highlights like the stomping 'Crash And Carry', synth-laden 'Science Friction', 'Philosophy By Numbers' (again filled with great samples), the astounding piano techno of 'Kein Trink Wasser', the wonderful, dense percussion and jawdropping breakdown after about nine minutes of 'Are We Here?' ("What does god say?") and the ambient laden ending of the album with 'Attached'. Two songs rounding off this piece of art in a truly epic way. Nothing short of stunning, even now after I've been listening to it for like nine years.

This is my favourite album of all time, i have over 2,000 cd and LP's but i keep coming back to this album, ever time i play it i find a new sound and it make me tingle ever time. i have had this cd for about 7 years and it still sounds fresh, i just wish i made it.
If you dont have a copy of this then i am sorry but you just have to go out a get a copy.
Thanks to them hartnoll Boyz, Thanks for making me the person i am.