Orbital

After orbiting near the top of electronic-music crop circles for a decade and a half, the bit-meddling siblings of Orbital have reached the end. Though the thought that it’s over may bring some down, Blue offers plenty of ups.

Blue‘s second track, “Pants,” proves who wears them in the Hartnoll family: techno legends Paul and Phil. “You Lot,” definitely one of the album’s highlights, samples Christopher Eccleston’s The Second Coming monologue. Clockwork Orange‘s transsexual composer, Walter/Wendy Carlos, was obviously on Paul’s brain when he began humming what would later become “Bath Time” in an actual bathtub. “Acid Pants,” featuring fellow sibling duo the Sparks, alludes to Orbital’s acid-house origins, and Dead Can Dance’s Lisa Gerrard is a perfect choice for this swan song’s final songbird.

Blue is the kind of crafty work that will make bedroom producers green with envy.