The bald and the beautiful

music orbital the corn exchange, edinburgh by richard walker Most of the Orbital cliches are present and correct: two bald blokes with torches for eyes; extravagant light show designed for maximum sensory overload; Dr Who theme-music sample. All that's missing is the euphoria-inducing snippet of Belinda Carlisle's Heaven Is A Place On Earth and the critical acclaim that used to accompany every release by the one-time electronica pioneers.

Response to the Hartnoll brothers' latest album, The Altogether, has been surprisingly muted, and not just because it features a vocal performance by David Gray. They have been berated for being bland, boring, meandering and, most mystifying of all, not playing trance or whatever this week's essential dancefloor mutation is. All of this makes the band's current tour pretty vital. Even if Orbital's records have gone off the boil, the band has its reputation as one of Britain's most exciting live experiences to protect.

So there was no mistaking the very real relief with which the brothers ended a powerhouse 90-minute set in front of a soaking, cheering crowd who had greeted the new material with almost as much enthusiasm as they did the classic Chime. It was touch and go to begin with. The first few tunes splashed around prettily enough but took too long to reach nowhere special. A third of the way through, the set kicked in and, from then on, Orbital was as efficient a dance machine as anyone could wish for.

The new material was all well and good, but the highlights remained a frightening and furious Satan and the tribal powerhouse of Are We Here? Still not sure about that Dr Who sample though.

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