The Orb

Made up of Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty at the time, The Orb put their mark on music founding the genre, ambient house. They both started out on the London scene, performing in various clubs. They came together in 1988, and started something that set them apart from the rest in their field, using experimental samples that were unrecognisable. They released the track “Tripping on Sunshine” on a German record compilation called “Eternity Project One”, followed by a project called “Kiss EP”. It featured sample from New York City’s KISS FM. They later landed a residency at Heaven, a nightclub in London. They would perform every Monday night, packing out the venue more and more. Eventually, they recorded a session for John Peel on BBC Radio 1. It featured a lot of experimental sounds. It was one of the longest singles to make he singles chart, peaking at number 78.

Due to musical differences, despite how far they had come, Cauty and Paterson went their separate ways, whilst Paterson maintained the title of The Orb. He started working with studio engineer Andy Falconer, and Kris “Thrash” Weston. Together they created the project, “The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld”, which is a two-house long masterpiece, containing some progressive composition. Two albums later, The Orb released a live album on Island Records entitled simply “Live 93”. Falconer had left the outfit to pursue other musical endeavours. The album went on to reach number 23 on the UK Album Chart. “Pomme Fritz”, released in 1994 might as well have been a solo album by Alex Paterson, reaching 6 on the UK charts, despite reviews claiming that it had lost its focus.

The Orb's next acclaimed album would be “Metallic Spheres”, which spent three weeks in the UK charts, making it to number 12. It was released on October 12th 2010. It was co-written by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd.