Snapinho Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 Damn, quite a lot of options to choose from... Personally I think Orblivion is my favorite one, closely followed by Adventures from the Ultraworld and sometimes Orbus Terrarum is the one. Or maybe Live 93? I picked the albums off the Official Orb Discography and I actually found some ones I hadn't heard of before. I have most albums until Cydonia, because I get the feeling that the newer ones aren't really worth it... But I could be wrong, as I haven't thoroughly listened to 'em. Please do correct me! Also; what are your favorite songs? I have quite a few, I must say, depending on my mood... here's a few: Little Fluddy Clouds Perpetual Dawn Ubiquity Bedouin Salt Toxygene Outlands Oobe Towers of Dub Anyhoo, this is the place to worship Dr. Patterson and all his cute little friends. Please do so! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krelmatrix Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 Damn, quite a lot of options to choose from... Personally I think Orblivion is my favorite one, closely followed by Adventures from the Ultraworld and sometimes Orbus Terrarum is the one. Or maybe Live 93? That's the one for me. This album was my first real electronic love - months before I discovered goa. Adventures from Beyond the Ultraworld is probably my second. I barely remember somebody (my parents, maybe) buying the tape for my sister as a Christmas present shortly after it came out, and hearing it christmas morning in 1991 while we were opening our gifts with the family. Strangely, that was also the same year when we started making it a family tradition to get stumbling drunk on Christmas day....coincidence?? because I get the feeling that the newer ones aren't really worth it... But I could be wrong, as I haven't thoroughly listened to 'em. Please do correct me! A friend of mine gave me a copy of Orb on Kompakt (arrrr!), and it was actually pretty good. Nothing compared to the lushness of the old stuff, but I'd probably pick up a copy if I ran across it in the store with a few spare euros in my pocket. But I only listened to it once, so it's not a very deep impression. Anyhoo, this is the place to worship Dr. Patterson and all his cute little friends. Please do so! I heard him play a DJ set in Austin back in 1995 - I think he might have been touring as a DJ with Meat Beat Manifesto (it's a bit hazy that far back) and playing sets before and after they were on stage. He wasn't a great DJ (played some cool trippy drum & bass, though), but the majority of the crowd were there to hear him. A group of 5 or 6 of us went behind the venue afterwards and smoked Dr. LX up. I remember some really fucked-up guy (no, it wasn't me ) who was just standing there in reverence for a few minutes, then finally got up enough courage to ask Alex if he could touch his hands, with the most awestruck look on his face. Creepy! The guy probably found the roach from the joint on the ground afterwards and kept it preserved in a jar somewhere for all of eternity. His own personal Abba turd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapinho Posted August 22, 2006 Author Share Posted August 22, 2006 I heard him play a DJ set in Austin back in 1995 - I think he might have been touring as a DJ with Meat Beat Manifesto (it's a bit hazy that far back) and playing sets before and after they were on stage. He wasn't a great DJ (played some cool trippy drum & bass, though), but the majority of the crowd were there to hear him. A group of 5 or 6 of us went behind the venue afterwards and smoked Dr. LX up. 592127[/snapback] Hehehe, that's pretty cool indeed. I've never ever seen the Orb perform live, but I'd love to. I'm pretty lost about all the formation changes and also as to who is the most influential member (apart from Doktor Alex) but I know there's quite some discussion going on. Any favorite songs by the way? I am also expecting deep and meaningful replies from at least Seraph and Astro Cortex. Bring em on and enlighten me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towelie Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 orbus terrarum and favourite track is slugdub .. super cool bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krelmatrix Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 Any favorite songs by the way? Sticking with the Live 93 theme, I'd have to say that Plateau and Valley are my favorites. This is one case where I am not ashamed to admit that my taste in Orb tracks is most likely very related to the drug experiences I've had with these particular ones. I caught the Orb live only once - I forget the year, but it was somewhere around '98 or so...forget which tour it was. I was expecting some sort of complete stoner vibe in the concert (somewhere around 2000 people present), but they managed to transform the songs into extremely danceable material, and really had the crowd moving for a good portion of the show. I remember jamming out to a song at one point and suddenly realizing that it was a semi-uptempo version of Plateau. Absolutely wonderful. Now you've motivated me - I think I'm going to listen to Live 93 and Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seraph Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 ORBUS TERRARUM - By far their most psychedelic and hypnotic album... Perfect ! U.F.ORB - Cosmic, spacey ambience, their second best for sure ORBLIVION - This one is most commercial from their golden era but it is still so trippy ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bahamut Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 Orbus Terrarum track Plateau Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Elysium Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 Hard choice. They have done so many amazing releases. Among my favorites tracks are "Blue Room", Towers Of Dub, A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld and Perpetual Dawn but I voted: Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld Because of one little track that is the essense of ORB for me. Little Fluffy Clouds ¨ How were the skies like when you were young? They went on and on forever and When I, we lived in Arizona And the skies always had little fluffy clouds in them And, they were long, clear there were lots of stars at night And we were dreaming they'd all turn They they were beautiful The most beautiful skies as a matter of fact Ah, the sunsets were Purple and red and yellow and blue and firing The clouds would catch the glizzard That's it's neat 'cause I used to look at them all the time You don't see that Firing different sounds Firing different sounds Little fluffy clouds Little fluffy clouds Little fluffy clouds Little fluffy clouds How were the skies like when you were young? They went on and on forever and When I, we lived in Arizona And the skies always had little fluffy clouds in them And, ah, they were long, clear there were lots of stars at night And when we were dreaming they'd all turn They they were beautiful The most beautiful skies as a matter of fact The sunsets were Purple and red and yellow and blue and firing The clouds would catch the glizzard That's it's neat 'cause I used to look at them all the time You don't see that many clouds Little fluffy clouds Little fluffy clouds Little fluffy clouds When I, we lived in Arizona And the skies always had little fluffy clouds in them Th-they were long, clear there were lots of stars at night (The-the-the-the-they) And we were dreaming they'd all turn They they were beautiful The most beautiful skies as a matter of fact And the sunsets were Purple and red and yellow and blue and firing The clouds would catch the glizzard That's its neat 'cause I used to look at them all the time 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 blue and firing And red and yellow and blue and firing The clouds would catch the glizzrd And red and yellow and blue and firing You might still see them in the desert... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Matta Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 Never been a big Orb fan, but I remember enjoying Orbvs Terrarvm more than the other stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Astro Cortex Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 Aaaahh yes, The Orb They are actually the group that got me exploring the ambient genre, or more precisely, that lead me beyond the psy-ambient boundaries. For that alone, they deserve to be worshipped. I haven't heard really much of their stuff after Orblivion, but I have most of their releases up to there, and it's all top class electronica. U.F.Orb is the first one I bought, in 2002 I think, and the rest followed very quickly. I really can't choose a favourite album, as they never made the perfect album - just perfect tracks. And at the head of em all is the still unbeaten classic A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain that Rules from the Centre of the Ultraworld (Loving You) One of their earliest works and their most quintessential one to date. I wrote a review just for that track, you can find it in the '1990-1994' section. And then there's also: Blue Room (whether it be the album version, the full length 40 minute version, the one on Anthology 2,.......it's all just one BIG space trip!) O.O.B.E. Majestic Little Fluffy Clouds, of course! Back Side of the Moon Star 6 & 7 8 9 Plateau Slug Dub Asylum Passing of Time .... Evil Bro 39 is actually quite a weird album, as most of these live recordings seem a bit messy and directionless, in favour of a more spontaneous character, which makes it very interesting and adds a lot to the trippiness. It has grown on me a lot. The Orb are the masters of spontaneous sampling anyways; they steal quite a lot, but the outcome is always super cool, and most of all just uniquely Orb. Long live The Orb!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin OOOD Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 The Orb were never the same after Thrash left IMO. He was a true technical and creative genius, and his mark is all over the Orb's earlier material. True story: In 1995 or 96, Nigel calls me up before we were due to have an OOOD session at my house and asks "if my mate Kris can come and chill while we work"... turns out his 'mate' is Kris Weston aka Thrash, who Nigel has been doing some electronics work for. Kris has escaped London for a few days and is in a foul (yet polite) mood, presumably fuming at how he's been treated by Alex Paterson; he's just shaved his dreads off and wants nothing more, it seems, than to sit in my bedroom studio drinking cider while we prepare for a gig that weekend. The atmosphere in the studio is a little strained - Kris doesn't want to talk much about stuff, and when I ask him if he has any comments on what we're doing (after all, THIS IS ONE OF THE MEN RESPONSIBLE FOR U F fucking ORB!), he politely declines to venture an opinion, saying something to the effect of "hey, it's your music man, I couldn't comment". We all smoke. Kris gets drunk too, as does Nigel. That weekend Nige brings Kris along to the gig we're playing in Oxford Brookes Student Union... more cider, and Kris is seen chasing female students before disappearing for the afternoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heva Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 orb live 93 is one of the oldest cd's in my collection. It wins points purely for the cuteness of the album cover. Haven't listened to it for aaaages, but I might give it a listen for old times sake. Although I think it's been over-played, little fluffy clouds is a well nice track. A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld is also a good track name, phnaaaaaaarf! Yay for old-school classics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tox Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 orb live 93 is one of the oldest cd's in my collection. It wins points purely for the cuteness of the album cover. Haven't listened to it for aaaages, but I might give it a listen for old times sake. Although I think it's been over-played, little fluffy clouds is a well nice track. Yay for old-school classics 592675[/snapback] Same here! When I just got into mushrooms well over 10 years ago, that was the album that would always be the soundtrack for the "psychonavigation". One of the first electronic albums I really cherished aswell! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frontier Psychiatrist Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Little Fluffy Clouds, Toxygen, Asylum and A Huge Ever... are my favorite Orb tracks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qa2pir Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 U.F.Orb is my favorite, although I've only heard Adventures and Orbvs Terrarvm beside it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auryn Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 shhh, be quiet you people, this is supposed to be a place of worship! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Matta Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 shhh, be quiet you people, this is supposed to be a place of worship! 592882[/snapback] Or perhaps we could write in bleeps and swishes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auryn Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Or perhaps we could write in bleeps and swishes? 592889[/snapback] good idea... you do that, and I'll reply in sub bass anyway, back on topic. For me, Pomme Fritz is the ultimate Orb album. It's completely out there, especially track 3. That is just some of the weirdest sound ever recorded in a musical context. The Orb in general: the greatest ever electronic dub, period. Triumphs over everything else by sheer strength of imagination. Production-wise the quality is sometimes a bit iffy, but that just adds to the experience. The sound has a hazy dreamlike quality; if everything were to sound crystal clear in an orb track, your imagination would have nothing to do. Now it fills in the details. oh, and, although I noticed most of the votes go to the early albums, that is not to say that the later albums are useless. Cydonia, Bicycles & Tricycles and Okie Dokie are all well worth checking out as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapinho Posted August 23, 2006 Author Share Posted August 23, 2006 Yay, this thread is turning out exactly how I wanted it to. I still haven't heard any comments on the newer Orb albums, like Cydonia and Bicyles and Tricycles. What about them? Has anyone listened well to 'em, are they as good as their older work etcetera etcetera? I hardly believe it, but it's worth a try, right? @Colin: could you elaborate? I'm always interested in gossip and I've never quite understood the whole story behind the people that used to work as the Orb. I mean, who was who and who did what, etc. I remember reading a lot of stuff about Paterson being an asshole and him not being nearly as influential as everybody claims him to be. and @heva: you're quite right. I think Live 93 was my first Orb album as well and to date it still counts as one of my favorite album covers ever. Gotta love the sheep! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auryn Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Yay, this thread is turning out exactly how I wanted it to. I still haven't heard any comments on the newer Orb albums, like Cydonia and Bicyles and Tricycles. What about them? Has anyone listened well to 'em, are they as good as their older work etcetera etcetera? I hardly believe it, but it's worth a try, right? 592953[/snapback] hmmm, snaap, let's see. Cydonia has a very poppy feel, but has some very worthwhile tracks though. It depends a bit on how well you tolerate vocals. I guess if you can digest susumu yokota's more saccharine work, you can get into this. The last track "Terminus" will appeal to all orb fans though, it harks back to the Orbus Terrarum daze. Bicycles and Tricycles is a strange mixed bag. It has a lot of radically different tracks, some kompakt style tech-house, some beatless ambient, some slow dub beats, a hip hop track. Can't really call it a coherent album, but most of the individual tracks are worthwhile. Okie Dokie it's the Orb on Kompakt is just what it advertises, an orb album in the style of the german techno label Kompakt: warm atmospheres, chugging thick techno beats. I feel a sense of improvisation and lushness missing here though, as though the minimalistic techno aesthetic of Kompakt is a mismatch with the characteristic extravagance of orb productions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapinho Posted August 23, 2006 Author Share Posted August 23, 2006 Hey thanks, good comments! But I admit this: I almost always hate vocals. There are exceptions of course, but usually they're terrible. Although the Orb can pull it off. Loving You, FFS! It's wonderful! Same goes for Little Fluffy Clouds, but you can hardly call that vocals... Hmm. Well, I'm gonna have to check it out anyway, I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seraph Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 I almost always hate vocals. There are exceptions of course, but usually they're terrible. Although the Orb can pull it off. Loving You, FFS! It's wonderful! Same goes for Little Fluffy Clouds, but you can hardly call that vocals... 592969[/snapback] I agree, vocals sucks, not on their first album but more on the recent ones, especially CYDONIA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapinho Posted August 23, 2006 Author Share Posted August 23, 2006 Hahaha, I got myself listening to all my Orb albums again. Plus today I won Cydonia on eBay for ... let's see ... GBP 4,99 or EUR 7,36. Not bad, I'd say. np: Oxbow Lakes. Magical piano! Woohoo, the Orb rock!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 orb live 93 is one of the oldest cd's in my collection. It wins points purely for the cuteness of the album cover. Haven't listened to it for aaaages, but I might give it a listen for old times sake. Although I think it's been over-played, little fluffy clouds is a well nice track. A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld is also a good track name, phnaaaaaaarf! Yay for old-school classics 592675[/snapback] One of the oldest CD's in your collection is only back from 1993? Man, that's shameful. I insist you stand in the corner a time and contemplate the error of your ways. Absolutely shameful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heva Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 Yesh, I had some vinyl before then, you know those 7" singles with the cool pics on....I'm only a youngster you know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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