The Orb: The Dream

There's

always been a hokey streak to The Orb that doubles as a kind of wry self-awareness

in the right conditions, even at the most phantasmagorical extremes. Or has

there A little mystery of the sort is desirable, even necessary, but The

Dream has a habit

of dashing the murky, dreamy Orb world in ways that aren't ideal. Angled as a

"return to form" by a group whose principal soundsmith is nearing 50, the album

traipses through a capable post-rave haze with lots of dubby hesitations and

methodical beats. But many of the samples are perplexing or just plain bad: A

quotidian phone call in "A Beautiful Day" sounds like a failed attempt at humor

a la The Office,

and then comes "DDD (Dirty Disco Dub)" with a diva-articulated take on the Hare

Krishna chant. It's not a good idea, to say the least.