International Festival Of Music Producers And Sound Designers

The Orb

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The Orb was founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty, who are absolute pioneers of ambient house. Their idea of electronic music are slower, more spiritual rhythms. The Orb will perform during the 10th Soundedit Festival. They will play on October 25th at the Wytwórnia club in Łódź, supporting Orbital.

Over the years, the members of The Orb have changed, with only Alex Paterson surviving all the turmoil. His musical career began in the early 1980s. At the time, he worked as a technician for Killing Joke. Alex’s childhood friend Martin “Youth” Glover played and continues to play bass in the band. The musician was awarded “The Man with the Golden Ear” statuette in 2012.

After leaving the Killing Joke crew in 1986, Paterson met Jimmy Cauty and the duo started performing together as The Orb at London’s legendary The Land of Oz. Their music experience naturally turned into recordings. Patterson and Youth then founded WAU!/Mr. Modo Records.

In 1990, they released their classic single “Little Fluffy Clouds”, which uses fragments of Steve Reich’s “Electric Counterpoint”. The song now sits in 275th position of the “New Musical Express” list of the 500 most important songs of all time.

In 1991, The Orb recorded their first album “The Orb’s Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld”, which also included the single. In 1992, their single “Blue Room” reached the eighth place on the British charts. It’s unique because the song is almost 40 minutes long! The Orb promoted this single performing on the famous “Top of the Pops”. The musicians were dressed in space suits and played chess.

In July 1992, another album, “U.F.Orb” was released. The album climbed to the top of the British sales charts. Music critics were astonished, as they thought that the age of prog rock (a pigeonhole they tried to put The Orb’s music in) was over. Despite their success, The Orb’s members preferred to avoid “personal” advertising and did their utmost to make their compositions the focus of attention.

Both albums are now considered to be classics of electronic music. During this period Alex Paterson also became famous as the co-author of the unparalleled “Higher Than The Sun” by Primal Scream.

During the live performances of the 1990s, The Orb used tape audio devices optimised for live mixing, and then gradually switched to laptops and digital media. Despite changes in the way they performed, The Orb stuck to their light, psychedelic visualisations. It was for this reason that the critics started comparing The Orb with Pink Floyd.

The following years brought new albums, sold out concert tours and the status of a cult group, especially among amateurs of intoxicating substances. Their singles and albums almost always ended up at the top of both the charts and the sales lists. With their innovative 1997 album “Orblivion”, The Orb also conquered the American market. The musicians also started composing film soundtracks. Thomas Fehlmann, producer and member of The Orb, has also mixed Depeche Mode and Sigur Ros.

In 2010, the group received an order from Royal Opera House in London for an opera entitled “Moonbuilding with the Orb”. That same year, The Orb released the album “Metallic Spheres”, which was recorded in collaboration with David Gilmour.

In 2016, members of The Orb performed their debut album “Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld” live for the first time to celebrate their 25th anniversary at the Brixton Academy. During the concert, Paterson and Fehlmann were joined by their original collaborators who helped create the magic of this music: Steve Hillage, Miquette Giraudy, Andy Falconer, Hugh Vickers, Tomzie Green, David Herman and the real punk rock icon Paul Cook (Sex Pistols), who had a huge influence on The Orb.

The Orb released their fifteenth and latest studio album “No Sounds Are Out of Bounds” in June 2018.

David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Steve Hillage (Gong), Jah Wobble (PiL), Lee Scratch Perry and Robert Fripp (King Crimson) are just some of the outstanding artists with whom Alex Peterson has worked as a producer, arranger or composer.

The Orb will appear in Łódź during the 10th Soundedit Festival. The band will perform on Thursday, 25 October 2018 at Wytwórnia Club (ul. Łąkowa 29).

On October 26 (Friday), the cold wave legend The Opposition and cult club Morcheeba will take to the stage. On October 27 (Saturday), Mery Spolsky, Nosowska and Giorgio Moroder will perform. On the same night, the “Man with the Golden Ear” award ceremony will take place.

The passes for the Soundedit Festival, covering Friday, Saturday and Sunday (October 26-28, 2018) at PLN 230 can be purchased at: ticketmaster.pl, bilety24.pl and biletomat.pl. Tickets for Thursday, with performances by The Orb and Orbital, cost PLN 110. Tickets for other days (Friday, Saturday) also cost PLN 110. Passes and tickets can also be purchased at the Wytwórnia Club ticket office (ul. Łąkowa 29, tel.: +42 639 55 55, bilety@wytwornia.pl), as well as at Empik, Media Markt, Saturn chains.

I Am The Sound! – I am the sound. I am a tone. I am the music. Welcome to the 10th Soundedit, welcome to Łódź!

Photograph: press kit Soundedit

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