"The Dream"
Out JUNE 17TH 2008
Q: What do Killing Joke, KLF, Primal Scream and The Cult all have in common?
A: In some way all of the above have been intertwined or have sporned from one of the UK's most groundbreaking and soul affirming ambient house music duos of our time. Pioneers who paved the way throughout some of the 1980's and much of the 1990's during a time when hallucinogenics and free love were the foundations for the nightclub and music loving masses. Innovative artists such as The Orb provided the concrete and a soundtrack that solidified an entire culture and generation who embraced a time when ecstacy was still good and the beats just kept on coming.
The Orb's music speaks the language of the psyche and of the soul. Various "psychedelic soldiers" of our time have been given their comeuppance in recent years. Many new acts have quite rightly tipped their hats in the form of their sonic creations, toward those who have inspired them during the birth and boom of rave and electronic music.
The Dream simply encapsulates The Orb's original quest to pay homage to their personal musical obsessions since they first put a needle to vinyl. While exploring new sonic territories, they have created the perfect album to accompany ones life, whether it be on the couch as day breaks or on the beach as the beats break. The Dream guarantees the listener a soothing but sometimes pounding journey, leaving you rejuvenated, re-inspired and realizing the universe isn't so ugly nor lack luster after all.
The Orb hadn't gone away nor are they making a come back. Both Alex Paterson and fellow founding member and musical partner simply known as Youth, have been collaborating frequently in London again and are now ready to release another spellbinding album. Created purely upon the need to work together. Much like many recent "comebacks" from bands who have kept us waiting for nearly a decade, the theory that when there is a demand, one must instantly supply isn't a theory many take too seriously. For the wait on something to grow organically and to reappear when the time is right is far more beneficial to the creator and his audience. Simply reaffirming the ideals that artists such as The Orb can take as much time as they choose, particularly when the results are like their 2008 release, the epic and "retro-fresh" album The Dream.
The Dream was created without pressure from record companies or the studio. As with previous albums, the basic Orbs nucleus includes guest singers and players on the scene, including System 7's Steve Hillage, who goes back to the earliest recordings, Battersea toaster-singer Eric Walker aka “The Corporal” and vocalists Aki Omori [the Japanese singer who appeared on 2001's Cydonia], singer Andy Caine from the W.A.U.! days, and renowned soulstress of course, Juliet Roberts who, according to Alex, is “the cherry on the cream on the gateau on the bed of Smarties.”
After spending some time exploring their own individual creative endeavors that consequently gained them further critical acclaim, it didn’t take them long to realize that they are a stronger force when together. Alex starting popping round for old times sake and inevitably, this turned into throwing musical ideas around again. What the pair soon discovered that, although trends and technology have changed immeasurably, the bond between them was still as strong as ever, along with the thrill of throwing together disparate elements and drawing from mutual inspirations to forge something startling and, indefinably, The Orb.
That certain Je ne sais quoi that very few musicians can say they've experienced throughout their lives and careers. A unique and magical quality that defines the innovators from the imitators. This was a factor to strong for them to ignore once they reunited again in Youths London based studio.
Alex and Youth didn't set out with master plan to reinvent nor trade in their much loved and listened to sound for a newer revamped and dare we say, hipper sound many are drawn to today. Their goal, or Dream if you will, was to simply collaborate together and do what they do best when in the studio as a team. The Dream is a perfect tribute to a time that many hold dear in their memories, a time that some would call their own personal "60's", where the dance floor was their Woodstock and the DJ was someone’s Dylan. An era and a sound that had an impact on an entire generation. The Dream is destined to take one straight back to that uber-comfy chill out lounge, late night/early morning come down state, transporting one to a pleasant, more trippier and somewhat star-tinted, galactic and gurn friendly place. A place not to be forgotten for many.
This release provides a return to the original spirit, which spawned the first two classic albums, The Orb's Adventures In The Ultraworld and U.F. Orb. Working with former Dreadzone studio-wiz Tim Bran and a handful of prestigious musical guests, Alex and Youth created another fine piece of work, staying true to what they know best, and that's being The Orb.
Back to the Future
The Orb has been a long and surreal trip, starting in the 80's when Alex and Youth went to school together, however it soon turned out that they were learning more about drink, drugs and punk instead of arithmetic and grammar like most kids. A mutual and magnificent meeting of the minds took place and from there on out, Alex and Youth continued to hang.
When Youth achieved notoriety as bassist in apocalyptic post-punk band Killing Joke, Alex was the roadie, howling the Sex Pistols’ “Bodies” or Stooges' “No Fun” during encores. By the mid-80s, Alex moved in with Youth at the Coach House on Wandsworth Common. For years, Alex and Youth had been enthralled and inspired by tapes of New York's groundbreaking radio stations KISS FM, WBLS, and WKTU. From these tapes the lads would mash up and edit the tracks into wild, extended soundclash masterworks which predated sampling and the aural anarchy of acid house.
It was in Alex's tiny bedroom that the foundations were laid for many-a-groundbreaking and gurn provoking acid house tunes to come. By this time, "old mucker" Jimmy Cauty (KLF), who'd been in Youth's post-Joke band Brilliant, was on board and joined Alex in a string of marathon DJ sets in the chill out room at London's earliest acid house clubs like Land Of Oz and Trancentral.
Alex and Youth started the W.A.U.! record label and 1989 saw The Orb's Kiss EP released in the UK: Not long after Jimmy departed to join KLF and Alex went on to sign with Big Life and worked with, among others, engineer Kris 'Thrash' Weston and Youth on the first Orb album.
By this time, Youth was busy on a string of other projects which included building his Butterfly studio and Dragonfly record company, both ambitious projects which later ran aground. Meanwhile, Alex was dealing with his new chart-rider status and soon signed to Island Records. He then spent the 90s willfully steering The Orb into whichever strange waters he felt like taking it, sometimes with dark and twisted consequences.
Skipping forward a few years to 2006, Youth started building another studio at the end of his garden, across Wandsworth Common from the old Coach House: The Dreaming Cave [maybe referencing the transcendental Aboriginal dream state which inspired Kate Bush on The Dreaming]. During that period, Youth also produced albums including Primal Scream's Riot City Blues and, most recently, the return of The Cult. What was still so undeniable and impossible to ignore however, was the compelling force the lads felt to reconnect in a studio to start breathing new life into what they worked and cared so much about for so long. The Dream was born and The Orb is with us, once again.
THE DREAM OUT JUNE 17TH 2008
The Dream
1 The Dream [The Future Academy Of Noise, Rhythm And Gardening Mix]
2 Vuja De
3 Something Special
4 A Beautiful day
5 DDD [Dirty Disco Dub]
6 The Truth Is…
7 Phantom Of Ukraine
8 Mother Nature
9 Lost & Found
10 The Forest Of Lyonesse
11 Katskills
12 High Noon
13 Sleeping Tiger & The Gods Unknown
14 Codes
15 Orbisonia
www.theorb.com
www.myspace.com/orbisms
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