MIDDLEOFNOWHERE

NME - "...This, if you want, is therapy. As the boundaries of the future and the beyond are slowly mapped and planned, it's the confines of the skull the Hartnoll brothers are delicatly probing here..." Muzik - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...The corkers do outweigh the duffers. It's an Orbital album, after all..." Rolling Stone - 3 1/2 out of 5 - "...[Orbital] has evolved away from its techno, dance-floor-driven rave roots into digital elegance designed for armchair grooving....The effect is more relaxed, even playful..." Mojo - "...there's a sense that Orbital have rediscovered the luscious melodic sense that pervaded their early work..." Entertainment Weekly - "...NOWHERE - which has the goods to become this summer's feel-good record - will soon be 'everywhere'." - Rating: B+ CMJ - "...uphold[s] Orbital's reputation for melodically and texturally complex rhythm symphonies....a beautifully constructed work of piston-pumping drum patterns and playfully intertwining synth lines." Spin - 7 (out of 10) - "...THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE picks up where 1996's IN SIDES left off- stirring soundtrack music in search of a movie....enjoyably old-fashioned....In the high-turnover world of dance culture, Orbital...[craft] tunes that sing in your heart." Q - Included in Q Magazine's "50 Best Albums of 1999." Melody Maker - 4 1/2 stars (out of 5) - "...Their best yet." Q (1/00, p.85) - Included in Q Magazine's "50 Best Albums of 1999." Rolling Stone (6/10/99, p.124) - 3 1/2 out of 5 - "...[Orbital] has evolved away from its techno, dance-floor-driven rave roots into digital elegance designed for armchair grooving....The effect is more relaxed, even playful..." Spin (7/99, pp.128,130) - 7 (out of 10) - "...THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE picks up where 1996's IN SIDES left off- stirring soundtrack music in search of a movie....enjoyably old-fashioned....In the high-turnover world of dance culture, Orbital...[craft] tunes that sing in your heart." Mojo (4/99, p.92) - "...there's a sense that Orbital have rediscovered the luscious melodic sense that pervaded their early work..." Muzik (5/99, p.82) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...The corkers do outweigh the duffers. It's an Orbital album, after all..." NME (4/3/99, p.38) - "...This, if you want, is therapy. As the boundaries of the future and the beyond are slowly mapped and planned, it's the confines of the skull the Hartnoll brothers are delicatly probing here..." Melody Maker (4/3/99, p. 37) - 4 1/2 stars (out of 5) - "...Their best yet." CMJ (6/14/99, p.26) - "...uphold[s] Orbital's reputation for melodically and texturally complex rhythm symphonies....a beautifully constructed work of piston-pumping drum patterns and playfully intertwining synth lines." Entertainment Weekly (7/30/99, p.74) - "...NOWHERE - which has the goods to become this summer's feel-good record - will soon be 'everywhere'." - Rating: B+

THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE is an instant electro classic, courtesy of Orbital's Paul and Phil Hartnoll. This is techno for the armchair and the out-there raver, music that combines the sublime vocals of Alison Goldfrapp with thumping breakbeats and old-school techno bleeps and keyboard sounds. Ever since the success of "Chime" in 1990, Orbital have remained the undisputed kings of "intelligent dance" and, five albums later, MIDDLE OF NOWHERE proves that they haven't lost their touch.
The album retains the repetitiveness inherent to much dance music, but around this Orbital deftly weave strong melodic lines that constantly develop and evolve, thus giving even the album's longest tracks a sense of shape and structure. MIDDLE OF NOWHERE also has a great sense of unity--the expansive "Way Out", featuring glorious vocal and trumpet solos, rolls seamlessly into the bleepy-bloopy sounds of "Spare Parts Express". "Know Where to Run" and "I Don't Know You People" are darker, more harshly techno-driven tracks, although the latter is also Orbital's first to feature live drums and guitars. Whether or not you are an electro-connoisseur, MIDDLE OF NOWHERE is accessible and endlessly enjoyable.|