Reprinted without permission from "CD Review," March 1993 edition.

By Dan O'Kane

				   ORB
				U.F. Orb
		-------------------------------------------
		       Big Life/Mercury 314-513 749-2
			    1992, 140:12 (2 CDs)

			       *    *    *

There's a tangent that's emerged lately from new age music.  Bands like Orb,
which are hip to the therapeutic qualities of that genre, have added
provocative spoken-word texts are other low-key components of dance music and
hip-hop.  Orb's style is sort of Firesign Theatre meets new age with small
sound gags, and subtle found-sounds like running machines, sirens, and
footsteps that make music much less amorphous and more humorous than new age.
The texts dabble in the fourth dimension and the pseudo-sciences, while the
music toys with reggae beats and hip-hop breaks.  Disc 2 of this set contains
a 40 minute suite called "Blue Room."


(Note: 3 stars out of 5)