over the past few years, to the traditional sound of an english summer, the drone of lawnmowers, the smack of leather on willow, has been added a new noise
''Levar Burton''
what were the skies like when you were young?
''Rickie Lee Jones''
they went on forever, th-
when i-
we lived in Arizona, and the skies always had little fluffy clouds in em and, ah,
they were long and clear an
there were lots of stars
at night
and, ah, when it rained it would all turn-
it- they were beautiful
the most beautiful skies as a matter of fact
the sunsets were purple and red and yellow and on fire
and the clouds would catch the colors everywhere
that's -- it's neat
because i used to look at them all the time
when i was little
you don't see that
''Sample''
layering different sounds on top of each other
layering different sounds on top of each other
''Rickie Lee Jones''
little fluffy clouds
little fluffy clouds and
little fluffy clouds and
little fluffy clouds and
you don't see that
you might still see them in the desert
the most beautiful skies as a matter of fact
purple and red
purple and red and yellow and on fire
The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 1991 debut album The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld pioneered the UK's nascent ambient house movement, while its UK chart-topping follow-up U.F.Orb represented the group's commercial peak.
Beginning as ambient and dub DJs in London, the Orb's early performances were inspired by electronic artists of the 1970s, most notably Brian Eno, Cluster, and Kraftwerk. The Orb have maintained their signature science fiction aesthetic despite numerous personnel changes, including the departure of Cauty and members Kris Weston, Andy Falconer, Simon Phillips, Nick Burton, and Andy Hughes. Paterson has been the only permanent member, continuing to work as the Orb with Swiss-German producer Thomas Fehlmann, and later, with Martin "Youth" Glover, bassist of Killing Joke. Paterson's unauthorised use of other artists' works has led to multiple disputes, most notably with Rickie Lee Jones.
During their live shows in the 1990s, the Orb performed using digital audio tape machines optimised for live mixing and sampling before switching to laptops and other digital media. Featuring colourful light shows and psychedelic imagery, their performances often incited comparisons to Pink Floyd, whose guitarist, David Gilmour, later collaborated with them on the album Metallic Spheres in 2010.
Their seventeenth studio album, Prism, was released on 28 April 2023 by Cooking Vinyl.
