Futuristic Poetry – Avatar

Originally released in 1997 on Symbiosis records, this reissue puzzled me a bit. Back then, Orion was Jean Borelli and Mino Vaknin, who since left and it’s only (fairly) recently that Jean’s come back with more output under the Orion name. Still, when this arrived I stuck it into my discman and stomped on into town, and was amazed – the production here hasn’t aged a bit, and I’m wondering if this ever sounded this good back then as well? My guess is it did. I missed it the first time round and wish I hadn’t, and while it’s not up there with the Hallucinogens and Juno Reactors and Cosmosis-es-s-s of this world, it sits pretty well in your collection. Nazca Spider is gorgeously kaleidoscopic, taking you straight out into a musical field; Rooster is an epic, ever-twisting tunnel of UV and pills that are much better than they are these days… Funkadelic, dripped in lysergic treacle, Caracol’s analogue blancmange still sounds great now and Akeru’s midsection is jaw-dropping, while its end section reminds you that it didn’t just used to be all about peaks and drops and another peak. Elysium’s remix of The Source, and the 120bpm Highway sound more dated, but you can’t fault the ideas and the excitement that went in here. Tacked on at the end is 1999’s The 8th, which sees the boys head into more swirly, menacing territory, with perhaps some of the greatest energy ever seen in electronic psychedelic music. Futuristic Poetry is, then, a nice reissue made all the more significant because it’s a less obvious candidate than some other albums of its era. The production will dazzle you, the even and glassy sounds will delight you, and the music itself will make you impressed and depressed at the same time, as you wonder where all that oldskool excitement’s gone.