I will stop posting combinations of Orb/William Orbit/Orbital when I stop finding Orb/William Orbit/Orbital singles.
The Orb
Blue Room
Blue Room (Radio 7)
Blue Room (Excerpt 605)
Towers of Dub (Mad Professor Remix)
That first version of “Blue Room” is indeed the full uncut version. For those of you who may not know, that means it’s 39 minutes and 58 seconds long.
The Orb made a 39 minute and 58 second long song because that was the longest a song could be in the UK ans still count as a single. I wonder how long a song can be on iTunes and still count as a single? Since I often see 10 or even eight minutes songs on iTunes limited to “album only” purchases, I’m going to assume it’s a lot less than 40 minutes.
I posted these tracks long ago, after I found them on another blog. However, that blog was only hosting 192 kbps versions. These rips, taken from my recently acquired 2CD Blue Room single that I found at Amoeba, are encoded at 256 kbps; which is why the uncut version is 73.2 MB big. Don’t be a dick and download it repeatedly. Unlike most MP3 blogs, I actually pay for bandwidth.
Orbital
Funny Break (One Is Enough) (Layo & Bushwacka! Up Remix)
Funny Break (One Is Enough) (Layo & Bushwacka! Down Remix)
What’s so funny about it?
Okay, so I’ve listened to these two remixes about twenty times now. I love both of them, but I oddly have absolutely nothing to say about them. If you like them I suggest you check out Bushwacka’s remixes of Depeche Mode’s “Dream On.” They both feature great basslines.
More 90s/early 00s electronic music next post, which may be tomorrow! Or it may be next week. Who knows, I sure as hell don’t.
Thanks for the Blue Room, which brings two unexpected surprises for me. I know the track through the bonus disc which came with first US pressings of UFOrb. That disc contains an Edit, a remix by Frank de Wulf, and the full length version, as well as a remix of Assassin.
The surprises are (1) Radio 7 is a longer mix (4:08) than the Edit (3:12), and (2) Excerpt 605 is exactly that, an excerpt from the full length version – I always sort of assumed it was the same as the Frank de Wulf mix, which is an actual remix, completely different. One other point of note: the full length version on the bonus disc clocks in at exactly 40:00.
And the UK charts authorities changed the maximum single length as a result of the Orb. 40mins was supposed to be for all tracks, not one track. You’ll notice UK singles from this date have fewer mixes, especially on the CDS.
Ctel is right, it was a reaction to new rules that were made in the UK for singles. IIRC at the time people started to notice they could spend a few pounds on a single that had 60 minutes of of the title track and various remixes and b-sides but a full reissue album that might be 40 minutes would cost much more than that? Does not compute, people complained and things changed with the advent of the multi – single (part 1, 2 and sometimes part 3) for the same single.
Towers of Dub (Mad Professor Remix) is an awesome thing.