Track Listing

1. Styrofoam Meltdown
2. Chocolate Fingers
3. Baghdad Batteries
4. Raven's Reprise
5. Dolly Unit
6. Super Soakers
7. Suburban Smog
8. Orban Tumbleweed
9. Pebbles
10. Woodlarking
11. OOPA

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5609 in Music
• Released on: 2009-09-07
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .12 pounds

Customer Reviews

A grown-up new Orb album
Despite being sub-titled "Orbsessions Vol 3" ("Orbsessions" being the name of the Orb's compilation of old rare material), "Baghdad Batteries" is a 100% brand new album from The Orb.

This is a serious and straight-forward album. It's atmospheric and brooding minimal techno. People who liked "Okie Dokie It's The Orb On Kompakt" will enjoy this as well, the way in which tracks gradually progress can be really compelling

However people looking for the quirkiness of some of the older Orb albums might be disappointed. Gone (almost entirely) are the diverse vocal samples and the slightly comic spot sound effects. There are hints of 'the old Orb' in the last track "OOPA", and "Dolly Unit" shows just a touch of the reggae and dub influences that were so clear in the first few Orb albums.

The inlay has more humour than the album itself- the booklet explains what a "baghdad battery" is, and also provides some useful tips on how to grow lemons.

Despite the lemon instructions, it seems The Orb (currently Alex Paterson and Thomas Fehlmann) want to be taken seriously. So what you get here is a very mature and sensible Orb. Worth a listen, but in a chin-strokingly serious rather than fun way.

More of the same
This is an album of new material, despite the Orbsessions label. This is more a return to the minimalistic ambient sound of earlier albums. I can't recall what tracks sounded like what, as it all runs into each other - ambient landscapes give way to chattering beats, mixed low, and then a dub rythmn breaks in. Looped samples and guitar riffs appear and disappear. These changes are the only indication that track has changed. This is more like the Orb I like rather than the failed experiments with poppy songs and loud dance beats.

Spacey soundtrack album - but no 'fun' elements to speak of
The Orb have always shifted between eclectric brilliance and commercial tom-foolery, so I pre-ordered expecting another compilation of rare outtakes etc.

However this is an ambient affair by Paterson/Fehlmann that occasionally harks back to Alex's earlier ambient excursions, but rarely inspires a smile. It's beautifully packaged (well done Mal Damage team, always spot on) and equallywell produced, the attention to detail in the recordings is really good. However musically it is very much the soundtrack it states it is on the rear cover, so tracks meander nto eachother and don't always develope as much they could.

A thoughtful listen, then.....