This is not a new record having being released in 2009, but it is new to me and so I thought worthy of sharing it as I really enjoyed it.

William Orbit will not be a new name to many with my first exposure to his music being back in a dim and distant 90s when I got sent his Water From A Vine Leaf on Geurilla Records (and excellent label of the day). He’s produced for loads of people not least Madonna on her Ray Of Light and MDNA albums…both very good records by the way and which get regular play here at Hifi Pig towers.

Orbit’s music can be labelled, if that’s what you want, as sort of ambient pop, and My Oracle Lives Uptown continues this theme, with perhaps more of a nod to the pop than the ambient, but that’s not to suggest that this isn’t a record worthy of your attention…it is and I’ve played it on heavy rotation since I downloaded it from Linn Records. It’s sort of the kind of tunes you’d expect to hear in a trendy city centre bar full of beautiful young people with itchy noses and weak bladders.

There’s not a lot to say about My Oracle really – It’s all very nice music (VERY NICE) and it sort of unobtrusive and inoffensive. I’m perhaps suggesting this is a boring album, but I reckon that is doing it an injustice, it’s more that it’s all very… nice… beautifully produced and quite clever, but without ever really grabbing you by the throat and saying “listen to me!”.
It’s the kind of record you are going to put on whilst pottering about or not paying too much attention to anything and I found it perfect to pop on whilst working. I imagine it would have been (and perhaps still is) popular with folk wanting to show off their system.

Link

Stuart Smith