Hit Pick

Orbit Service releases Space & Valium, its first full-length album, this week with a pair of shows: Friday, February 1, at Boulder's Penny Lane, with This Film, and Saturday, January 2, at the Crowbar with Fort Collins's DJ F and This Film. The swirling, ambient aspects of this Denver four-piece place it in otherworldly, and often dark, realms -- the band describes its music as "a soundtrack for a dying world" -- but there's a healthy respect for melody that keeps the group's songs tethered to the earth. Keyboardist Ingvald adds an effervescent layer of pop and hiss to lilting compositions, while vocalist/guitarist Randall Frazier's melancholic drone recalls fellow skygazers like Luna, Swell, Giant Sand and Big Star. Smart, expansive and provocative, Orbit Service demonstrates that spacey doesn't always mean aimless.