Orbital - The Altogether 5.1

Orbital

More than just a visual accompaniment to Orbital's sixth album, The Altogether 5.1 is a radical new phase in the development of how music is enjoyed in the comfort of one's home. Initially the reason behind the project was not the chance to produce trippy visuals to enhance the already trippy music, but an opportunity for the duo to re-create their entire album in full surround sound. However, not wanting simply to release something sonically amazing, the DVD holds a wealth of hidden features and specialist footage that captivates and confuses with its mishmash of diverse imagery. Each track on the album has several alternate visuals: the first track, "Tension", for example, has a spinning montage of all things that go whoosh, or, alternatively, there's a chance to see a live performance with the visuals as a backdrop. The only previously released footage is the actual video for the first single, "Funny Break (One is Enough)", which also has an accompanying documentary on the "making of" explaining a few of the weirder effects (people popping out of suitcases or bubbling about with bottles of water). The short film to complement "Waving Not Drowning" goes a little too far in re-creating a scene from Playschool, complete with trip through the window to see how compact discs are made. The audio highlight is a 25-minute version of "Meltdown" as used for Scott Walker's showcase a few years previously. However, since the original piece was choreographed so well for live performance (which was not filmed), at Orbital's request there is no moving image for the entire piece, just a static image of some scary-looking sound equipment.

The special features, such as alternate angles and a choice of audio mixes, are superlative--if you can find them from the bewildering main menu where functionality takes a backseat to stylish graphics. The Altogether 5.1 is a revolution in interdisciplinarity captured on disc. It's interactive, too, since puzzling out how to access certain scenes or find new ones will keep anyone amused for many repeat viewings. --Georgina Collins