To dance fans of the '90s, the sight of a pair of twin flashlights, bobbing in time to the most sublime techno ever heard, could mean only one thing:
Orbital were on-stage. The brothers
Phil and
Paul Hartnoll earned a fearsome live reputation wherever they played early on, and did more to further the cause of British techno in a live setting than anyone else.
Live at Glastonbury is a two-CD/one-DVD audio-visual document of the duo's magic. The set is mixed to sound like one career-spanning set (although it was recorded between 1994 and 2004), and it includes nearly every one of
Orbital's career milestones: "Impact (The Earth Is Burning)," "Are We Here?," "Attached," "The Girl with the Sun in Her Head," and "Walk Now." The recording quality is good, and the set comes with only one caveat: while it does translate the fevered energy (and rave whistles) of an
Orbital performance, the drums thud too much for comfort. ~ John Bush