Back to Mine
The Orb--aka Dr Alex Paterson--is a likely candidate to host an installment of DMC's eclecticBack to Mineseries. A former roadie forKilling Jokeand an original acid house/ambient stalwart, his musical tastes are notoriously wide and often surprising. Given a blank slate to work with, there was always a good chance he would fill it with intriguing and diverse sounds. And indeed he has. He begins withAphex Twin's swirling, mystical breakbeat monster "Polynominal-C," before dipping into slow-mo territory withCharles Webster's languid jazz lullaby "Be No One." After these contrasting openers, we get the driven ethno-house ofJuno Reactor's driven "Nitrogen Part 1," the epic ambient workout of B12's "Interim," humorous hip-hop with Creatures's "Ow Much!," and soaring soul beauty from theChi-Litesclassic "Have You Seen Her?" Add to thisThomas Fehlmann's aquatically strange "I Wanna Be a Fishy," the breathy beauty ofJulee Cruise's "Falling," and the Orb's own "The Land of Green Ginger" and you have one varied and entertaining compilation--something not too common these days.--Paul Sullivan