Orbital - Halcyon On and On [1993]

Artist(s)
Orbital
Release title
Halcyon On and On
Label name
Internal
Release year
1993

dmgtz96

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
2,640 Posts
1,499 Thanked
Ambient house/ambient techno song that is basically trance. One of my favorite examples of early trance.

Strangely, it appeared in a few movies, including Mean Girls. See 5:10 onwards:
 

Archon

Gagi
TranceFix Crew
Jun 27, 2020
3,913 Posts
2,809 Thanked
Lovely stuff. You can't even tell when it was released! Evergreen stuff, sounds so good even today.
 
  • Thanks
Reactions: Hensmon

Hot Tuna

Senior Member
Aug 24, 2020
417 Posts
383 Thanked
142 Paul van Dyk Avenue
It was originally released as just "Halcyon", which was a slightly longer mix and a little less clubby. The name comes from their mother's struggle with the medicinal tranquilizer 'Halcion', which is reflected in the music video:



It samples Opus III (vocalist: Kirsty Hawkshaw) - Fine Day, which had made it to #5 in the UK charts the previous year. They played the "la la la..." vocals backwards to make Halcyon. When they perform the track live, Orbital have a habit of playing additional samples of Belinda Carlisle - Heaven Is A Place On Earth and Bon Jovi - You Give Love A Bad Name on top:

 

Hensmon

Admin
TranceFix Crew
Jun 27, 2020
3,109 Posts
2,606 Thanked
UK
Nice knowledge drop, cheers

Would personally be pissed if they dropped the Heaven Is A Place On Earth sample on the track if I was seeing it live. That's money back territory.
 
  • Thanks
Reactions: dmgtz96

SecondNature

Member
Oct 27, 2020
148 Posts
107 Thanked
USA
Website
soundcloud.com
It samples Opus III (vocalist: Kirsty Hawkshaw) - Fine Day, which had made it to #5 in the UK charts the previous year. They played the "la la la..." vocals backwards to make Halcyon.
That's awesome, I never knew that it was the vocalist for "It's A Fine Day." I love that song, too.
 

Recharge

Elite Member
Sep 26, 2020
1,004 Posts
544 Thanked
Age
38
I felt nostalgic today and decided to check the song/thread.

Somehow I missed those remixes. The John Hopkins remix is a bit too much for me, any other song I would've liked it, bit this song is sacred to me. The Logic1000 is great, keeps homage to the 90's sound with adding a bit on top like a remix should.