William Orbit continues making great music
William Merrill | San Antonio, TX United States | 12/23/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Although he ended his Strange Cargo series a few years ago, this new William Orbit collection could fit into that series pretty easily. It's a very nice set of mostly instrumental, mostly electronic themes, often with a steady dance beat and always with an intriguing melody. What you expect from Orbit are interesting sounds, and Oracle does not disappoint. Take the jazzy keyboard riff that opens and anchors "Neutron Star," for instance. It's a perfect counterpoint to the light, wordless female vocal that floats above the song, and fits in well with the echoing "guitar" line that pops up periodically in the song. (I put guitar in quotes, 'cause who knows if it's an actual guitar being played there or another keyboard effect?) Although most of the themes are basically electronic dance tracks, he does vary the content somewhat. For instance, after a spacey into, "Hydrajacked" gets mildly funky with its sharp bass line and psuedo-Chic guitar sound. The very next cut, the hoppy, finger-snappin' title track, has a mild Cornershop vibe. It always comes back to the shimmering synth textures, though, which for me is a very good thing."