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The Fires of Ork - PW 07 (also AW 035) Release Date: 15 September 1993 Limitation: 500 The Fires of Ork I 7.45 Gebirge 21.23 Talk to the Stars 11.38 The Facts of Life 18.26 The Fires of Ork II 6.25 all tracks written by Pete Namlook & Geir Jenssen
The Fires of Ork is a 5-track disc. Two of those tracks, Fires of Ork I & II, are "ambient" 4-on-the-floor themes for darkened dancefloors. A subtly eerie synth melody is accompanied by the phrases, "Burning with the fires of Ork" and "deep thunder rolled round their shores..." These are the words of the lead replicant Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer, sp?) paraphrasing William Blake in the film Blade Runner. Nice tracks, deep bass pumps are around 120 bpm. I'd say that these are similar to some of the more beaty Patashnik tracks. However, Gebirge is 20-minutes long, spacey and less beaty sort of like Polar Sequences, but different (i don't yet own Substrata so i can't compare). Another track, The Facts of Life, also samples from Blade Runner. The track Talk to the Stars is also pretty nice and has a female voice whispering to you. This track is similar in mood to the two title tracks. Hope this helps. I think it's about time Geir and Pete got together to make Fires of Ork 2.
(review by no@h)
As I'm fortunate enough to own a Fax original of this one (but also know that it's knocking about as a reissue on an alternative label) I thought another opinion might be of interest. Great cover incidentally - a sort of cosmic equivalent of Van Morrison's Common One.
Anyway, to business ... the title track (pt.1) starts off as a bit of sonic manipulation then quickly turns to IDM with the introduction of mid-tempo rhythms which provide the coherence. The voice paraphrasing William Blake (replicant Roy) also put me in mind of Embody by Bill Leeb & Rhyhs Fulber (aka Synaesthesia) - a superb "space ambient" release which incidentally includes the tracks Outland and Hemisphere!! However, I digress. Next up, the beatless Gebirge slows the pace considerably and takes us into the heavens - very repetitive yet it works well because of the relaxing atmospherics. This time the voice is foreign (PK's tongue) and it gives the mood a distinctly dark edge. Talk to the Stars is a fine example of the ambient/techno blend and includes a sexy voice suggesting we "make love to the wind"! For me, the strongest track is The Facts of Life - another relaxing structure which builds around a haunting melody, underpinned by (not too syrupy) strings. Snippets of rhythms and eerie effects are introduced, occasionally and subtly, serving to enhance rather than to break the mood ... dreamy stuff indeed. Finally to a reprise of the title track which rides along on the "deep thunder" of a pulsating low-end bass/kick-beat combo.
I have to admit I'm not familiar with Geir Jenssen's work but, like Noah, I'd say a second collaboration between him and PK would be more welcome than another Jet Chamber!
(review by Paul Milligan)
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