High 5 - LOR
For our latest installment in High 5 series we welcome our friend and astonishingly talented artist from Belfast, Lunar Orbit Rendezvous aka LOR. LOR picked 5 tracks that had big influence on him as an artist. To give it a special personal touch, LOR wrote a small write up for each of the tracks.
Orbital - Belfast
All the tracks I have chosen for this feature represent some of my influences and greatest loves in electronic music, and there is little more fitting in this regard than this track by Orbital, named after my home town. Moreover, this is particularly relevant to me right now as I had the pleasure of seeing them perform the track “Belfast”, here in Belfast, last week. It was my first time seeing Orbital live and they didn’t disappoint.
Ro70 - Baloon Above Java
Another major influence on me, in more recent times, has been Roman Flügel. I am also grateful to count the Frankfurt maestro as an active supporter of my work. This is one of Mr Flügel’s pseudonyms, which I think he used mainly around the turn of the millenium. The whole Ro70 album is an interesting listen, perhaps a little more experimental and hard-edged than his current work. Baloon Above Java is one of my favourite tracks.
Kraftwerk - Europe Endless
This is the first Kraftwerk song I ever heard. As a teenager I used to work in the HMV record shop, and I remember the distinctive artwork of “Trans Europe Express” standing out on the discount rack... I bought it and the gamble payed off! The memory of listening to the crystal-clear chiming arpeggios at the beginning of the song, on a bright winter’s morning, will stay with me.
Plastikman - Kriket
I guess this Plastikman track is around the same vintage as “Belfast” by Orbital. Both Orbital and Richie Hawtin’s Plastikman work have plenty in common - reliance on the staple dance music boxes (808 / 909 / 303) and a taste for experimentation - but I would say that where Hawtin’s work differs is his taste for ultra-minimal, almost bleak sound worlds... on occasion he takes repetition to an extreme where very few dance music artists dare to go, challenging the listener to stay with him and see where it will take us.
Aphex Twin - IZ-US
Alongside the “Windowlicker” single, the “Come To Daddy” 8-tracker which Aphex Twin released at the end of the 90s absolutely blew my mind. I’d been enjoying the work of Daft Punk, Chemical Brothers, Orbital and the like but when this album came along it was a truly “WTF??!” sort of moment. I couldn’t concieve how some of these tracks had been created and subsequently spent a lot of time trying to work out how! In actual fact, the track I’ve chosen here is really one of the least adventurous on the album, but it’s the quieter, less experimental ones the have really lasted the distance for me.