Intuitive Music

The Orb

British band formed in 1991 leaded by producer Alex Paterson, which became one of the most representative electronic ambient acts during the 90’s.

The Orb has hosted different members onboard, including Thomas Fehlmann, Jimmy Cauty, Kris Weston, and Andy Hughes. They are known as one of the most creative bands of ambient music and are regular users of sampling with a remarkable tendency for progressive music, under the influence of 70’s artists like Pink Floyd, Brian Eno, Steve Hillage, and Tangerine Dream. The Orb have also fusioned big doses of ethnic music and dub.

In 1989, the Orb released their first EP “Kiss” under the influence of New York’s Kiss FM. After this release Alex Paterson started DJing extensively around London later he got a residency at the reputed Land of Oz, the chill-out room at Heaven club. That same year, the Orb released a 22-minute single entitled nothing less than “A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From the Centre of the Ultraworld”. The single reached the U.K. charts. Shortly later the duo split in acrimony during the recordings of a new album and Jimmy Cauty removed Alex Paterson’s contributions to the album and released the remainder in the album “Space”.

After recruiting Killing Joke’s Youth, and sound engineer Kris Weston (aka Thrash), the Orb released the double debut album “Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld” in 1991 with critical acclaim. A year later the album “U.F.Orb” surprisingly reached the UK charts with the 39-minute track “Blue Room”.

In 1994, the Orb released their first studio album in his new deal with Island records, “Pomme Fritz”, which reached number six on the UK charts despite of the bad critics. The same year was released the double-album “Live ‘93″ including a mix of live recordings that featured the reputed percussionist Simon Phillips. That same year, Alex Paterson and Kris Weston took part in the album project FFWD (Fripp, Fehlmann, Weston and Duncan) along with guitarist Robert Fripp and Thomas Fehlmann. This was followed by Weston’s departure from the Orb, being replaced by Thomas Fehlmann.

In 1995, was released the album “Orbus Terrarum”, which was followed by “Orblivion”, featuring a remix of Jean Michel Jarre’s single “7-13″. After the retrospective double-album “U.F.Off” (1998), the release of following studio album “Cydonia” (2001) was delayed for two years with the consequence of having leaked on the Internet some time before it’s official release in a different version.

2004 supossed an unexpected change in the ambient sound of the Orb with the release of “Bicycles & Tricycles”, which was more oriented to hip hop. The Orb has counted with a good number of guests collaborating with them in their works like System 7, with whom Paterson also collaborated, Youth, and Trash. They have also remixed for numerous artists, including Depeche and Yello.