Orions Belte

One Liner: Mostly instrumental grooves walking a line between Black Keys and Khruangbin
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but instrumental rock, groove, throwback rock
Home: Norway

Poster Position: Third Quarter - Line 16
Day: Saturday
Weekend One Only.

Thoughts:  As an inveterate speaker of the English language, this band name both bothers and intrigues me.  No possessive?  Do you say that last word as "belt-ay"?  Did they name it after the cat's collar in Men in Black?  Did they name it after the 1977 political action film (which uses both the possessive and lacks the extra "e")?  What is up here?  

Well, maybe part of it is that they are Norwegian dudes, and their names each have weird stuff like the "o" with the slash through it or the "a" with the ball on top.  Oh wait, Wikipedia says that in Norway, that 1997 movie was titled as Orions belte!  There you go.  They love a movie in which a group of seamen from Norway find a Soviet listening station and they becomes targets for both America and Russia.  Which is about all we get to know about them because I am finding very little about them.  The guitarist and bassist met while backing up another Norwegian artist, realized they both dug sweet instrumentals, and then recruited drummer Kim Åge Furuhaug to join with his sweet ass A-ball, and they started making grooves.

Their initial album, 2018's Mint, is at its best (in my opinion) when it sounds like they are channeling the Black Keys and locked into a stone cold groove.  The top song is named after American boxer "Joe Frazier" and actually includes lyrics (unlike the other songs on this disc).  7.7 million streams.

Yeah, baby.  Sign me up.  Best song on the album without any doubt, but the whole thing definitely has a vibe/groove that is very pleasing to allow to spool out before you.  Their second-most streamed song is in a similar vein, a little surf-rocky in the guitar tones, but otherwise a crazy chill wander around an instrumental landscape.  That one is called "Bean," with 5.8 million streams.

Just flying over Jǿrkenställmǻngrådin as the groove melts your cares away.  That tune is off of their second album, 2021's Villa Amorini.  Their next album was apparently recorded during the pandemic, when they did live tiny video shoots all around scenic locations in Norway, which were apparently very popular at the time.  I was busy with my puzzles, I wouldn't know.

Next in 2021, each member released their own albums, but which are still listed on Spotify as Orions Belte albums, but the title of each is the band member's name.  Sort of interesting.  And in 2022 they released a massive mashup of all three of those.  I don't love that as much, a little more jazz-ish than I need.  2023 saw their next real album, entitled Women.  There are, in fact, two songs on there featuring women as guest singers, but for the most part this one is still more of the instrumental meandering.  It is nice.  Spotify makes it look like a new album is on the way, with three singles released in a row that all have the same red cover with the single's name in text in the same font.

I'd go watch this happen.  Feels like a nice way to chill out in between other stuff - find a patch of grass and a few friends and let something like "Lucid Dreaming" just wash over you.

A little bit of a Khruangbin vibe in there, but also its own thing.  In the real version of the song there is a little pedal steel firing in and through it.  Nice stuff.