The Orb have always been hard to pin down. Sure, you can read up about them on Wikipedia, and you'll learn all sorts of terribly interesting facts about The KLF, Public Image Ltd, Killing Joke, Paul Oakenfold and just about every other electronic or post-punk act you might care to name other than The Orb. They're hard to pin down, so it's easier for the free encyclopedia that anyone can put slurs on (and all of their sources) to talk about everything that has gone on around The Orb rather than the group itself. And that's fine.

The Orb is only sort of a group. They're more of a group than, say, grandson, which is just Jordan Edward Benjamin being awesome enough for a whole band by himself, but probably less of one than Megadeth, which, in spite of just being Dave Mustaine and whoever he hasn't fired or terminally pissed off yet, still has some pretenses of being an actual band. The backbone of The Orb is Dr Alex Paterson, and he's happy to work with, as far as I can tell, anyone who can handle huge amounts of drugs without freaking out.

It's not fair to say their sound hasn't changed; that would imply that it ever stopped changing. What The Orb has is a thematic continuity, or maybe more appropriately a vibe. In the mid-90s, that vibe crystallized in what is probably The Orb's best album, Orblivion.

There's a lot I could say about Orblivion. I could talk about how it's shot through with funk inspiration that creates a tension with the elements of musique concrete that show through, or I could mention Stockhausen and Kraftwerk to prove that I Definitely Know What I'm Talking About. I could compare it to The Orb's earlier releases like Pomme Fritz and say something stupid about it being a More Commercial Effort. I could retell the story of Toxygene for the seven millionth time. Whatever.

Orblivion is dance music you can't really dance to, but it demands it anyway. It can be taken as a whole experience or listened to one song at a time and it all works either way. It's fun and playful and discomfiting at the same time. It's music that demands you do something, and that something can be dancing or working or driving or coming down or or getting in fights or paying very close attention to the music but you gotta do something.

The other thing you gotta know is that even if you haven't heard it, you've heard it. You've heard it in video game soundtracks, you've heard it in every electronic music act since the 90s, you've heard it in snippets, you've probably heard it in your dreams. The Orb's influence in general, and Orblivion's in particular, on fucking everything is undeniable, but there's still nothing else like the album itself. You've heard the Shadows, but Orblivion is Amber.

I dunno. Whatever. Who cares. Orblivion is as hard to pin down as the group itself. Toxygene whips ass it's all fantastic just go listen to it yourself.