The Orb have been around for quite a while and have put out a lot of music over the years. Founded in 1988, they've gone through a lot of changes yet made a lot of amazing music. Seventeen years and thirteen albums later, they are still going strong. I remember going crazy hearing one of their classic tracks called Blue Moon and rushing out to buy that album. Yes that was a long time ago and now they have just came out with their new album called Okie Dokie: It's The Orb on Kompakt. From the press sheet, this album is described as a "lovingly conjured collection of songs brought together like a collage".

The first half of this album consists of mostly minimal techno and schaffel/shuffle styles of music The Orb has loved. The album kicks off with Kompilikation featuring the minimal theme trodding through layers of synths and focusing on the subtleties.

Next track comes up in the form of Lunik TM that starts off with layers of warm ethereal sounds before going dark. After the shift in the mood of the track, the vocals come in courtesy of Schneider TM take over along with a pretty synth loop to compliment the varying moods.

The first track to come around with a steady beat and one of the highlights on this album is Ripples. It's a great catchy minimal track with slow driving sleazy beats and a touch of atmosphere. This track was featured on the sample EP called Komfort yet this version is re-edited and shorter in length.

'Ripples is an awesome minimal track and perhaps one of the best tracks in that realm I've heard in a while. '

A curveball is thrown with the next two tracks Captain Korma and Kan Kan with a more danceable tempo. Captain Korma is probably the most danceable of them all and could even work as a good progressive number. Thick throbbing beats dominate Kan Kan whilst synths and stabs carry the track. What follows is Rolo which starts with a voice loop and sound effects followed with pretty synths to make a nice chillout track. Beautitude is yet another laid-back tune that uses much variation and layers it up with synths galore and a drum-loop to top it off. Cool Harbour perks things up as the "final" minimal track with a catchy synth line over linear drum-loop yet is never monotonous by any means.

The latter half of Okie Dokie takes the listener back to their roots with guest appearances from Kompakt's ambient guru Ulf Lohmann and by Schneider TM. Traumvogel is the marker track in the shift of things that starts out calmly with atmospheric synths, various instruments, and miscellaneous sound effects rounding out the track. Because/Before is a lush, warm track that is absolutely beautiful with Tin Kan following similar suit. The final three tracks are best described as sound-scapes of atmosphere and sound effects. In the final two tracks Falkenbruck and Snowbow, the listener would recognize a sample from a couple of the preceding tracks in the first half.

'This album is an exploration of sounds, effects and some beats put together with the utmost care and attention to detail.'

With a lot of albums, there's usually a couple of tracks you enjoy with the rest as okay and considered "filler" tracks or some of them sounding the same. It's not the case with this CD. Each song sounds quite different from the other and offers many twists and turns. From start to finish, the productions of these tracks as well as the programming layout of the CD are top notch.

Full track-listing:

01. Komplikation;
02. Lunik TM;
03. Ripples;
04. Captain Korma;
05. Kan Kan;
06. Rolo;
07. Beatitude;
08. Cool Harbour;
09. Traumvogel;
10. Because/Before (Sibirishce Music);
11. Tin Kan;
12. Kompagna (Zandic Mix);
13. Falkenbruck;
14. Snowbow.