Orbital – Radiccio

If you're curious, there were two contemporaneous DJ service edits of Halcyon I've found, both flawed though.

https://www.discogs.sie.com/release/653684-Various-Master-Beat-Volume-Five
Great arrangement, but has some BPM sway throughout the track. Avoid if you're big on beatmatching.

https://www.discogs.sie.com/release/596671-Various-Roadkill-104
More plain arrangement, and shorter. However the BPM is rock solid, no issues there.

In 1992, the south of England’s answer to the Gallagher brothers rebounded from ‘Midnight/Choice’’s failure to chart, marking a triumphant return to the Top 40 with their ‘Mutations’ and ‘Radiccio’ EPs. Their 11-minute masterpiece 'Halcyon' opens the latter and is rightly renowned as a sunset special, with Paul and Phil Hartnoll using all tools at their disposal to access a new domain of sonic experience: its lightness and limpidity is rare in the world of electronica, as is its ability to sustain the listener for the entire duration.

A fantastic release! Although buyer beware mine was sealed and is somehow pretty scratched up - possibly a manufacturing defect?

Cool reissue for people who missed the Great Halcyon and The Naked And The Dub back in the days... I miss here the special icon that could be Deepest as a real new and very good version of Deeper with the Great Tilda Swinton

after years of listening to halcyon through streaming, i finally heard it on vinyl for the first time today and it was such a transcendent experience. vinyl really does make your favorite music sound better and god bless orbital for crafting this timeless track for the masses.

I’m all about the epic intro on the album version. I don’t care for the other mix on this record. It’s possibly my favourite electronic track ever committed to vinyl. Well, it’s a cheaper copy on this sampler 12” from 2005 if you don’t want to fork out for the brown album

https://www.discogs.sie.com/release/622553-Desyn-Masiello-Balance-008-12-Sampler-Part-Two

… f’ck me - £154 for the re issue 😧

"Halcyon" is just so much better than the later album version ("+ On + On") that everyone knows. More restrained and on the right side of the cheesy/euphoric-divide. That rare rave gem with a touch of melancholy.
Why the US version of this EP goes for $100 and this hovers around $15 is just one of those discogs mysteries.

Try mixing the acapella ending of Halcyon into a pad-filled intro of another proggy track, when the Opus III vocal gets louder by the end, it can work wonders with other tracks.

Years later edit: Just for example, try it with "Insomnia (Monster Mix)" by Faithless. I couldn't believe my ears when I got it on vinyl.

Anybody know if this came with a inner bag for the record? I bought it used without, but the sleeve feels like it’s supposed to come with a inner bag. Radiccio 2 feels smooth and probably was without a bag.

Sunday has the Classic Goa Trance sound and is the standout track for all dance genres for the year 1992. Great track.