[From CMJ New Music Report, 28 Feb 1994 (Vol. 37 No. 10 Iss. 369)

Orb

The International Forecast on the Weather Channel put the temperature at 
48 degrees and cloudy in London as we spoke to Dr. Alex Paterson, who with 
his partner Thrash, comprises the psychedelic trance-techno duo known as 
the Orb.  An enormous-sounding fishtank nearby in his flat bubbled audibly 
over the phone lines, no doubt a source of inspiration for some of the 
bands more tranquil, gurgily musical experiments.
	Is the band at work on it's next record? "Well, not really," says 
Paterson.  Then he adds, in seemingly complete contradiction, "We've done 
about 10 or 11 tracks for the new album, of which we're probably going to 
use eight or nine of them and use the other two as B-sides...We've hired a 
studio out, which is empty, so we have to fill it up with the equiptment, 
mixing desk, and the while skedaddle, really.  Which is happening at the 
moment.  It'll all be in working order hopefully by the front end of next 
week, so we can start mixing the album.  We've written it, but we want to 
mix it in our own studio for the first time."
	Many of the Orb's tracks are buitl around samples that come from 
unconventional sources, such as found sounds, spoken extracts or gently 
bubbling water sounds. "We're not sampling as much," Paterson says, 
refering to others' tendencies to use samples as repetitive loops or mere 
ornamentation.  "We'll sample a noise and use it to build a drum track.  A 
noise.  A splash."  As if to flamboyantly demonstrate in real-time the 
Orb's intention, he puts the phone next to -or possibly inside of- the 
gurgling tank.  Over the wire, it could be a toilet flushing or Niagara 
Falls, or a sudden typhoon that the Weather Channel missed.
	Is this a clue about the next album?  Can he drop any hints as to 
what Orbanauts can expect? "Not really, no.  I think there's something 
involved with jazz lyrics, and jazz synth lines.  I mean, it's not like 
we've become a jazz band.  We're a reggae band as much as we're a house 
band."  Once again, through the miracle of Sprint, his smirk is audible 
over the transatlantic lines.
	Not only are the Orb's musical approaches unconventional, but it's 
fans are as well.  They have even created an Orb discussion group on the 
Internet, where users can log in on-line and trade philosophies and 
opnions on what the Orb's music means.  "We've been trying to 
infiltrate it, actually," Paterson says, hinting at the possibility of 
using the anonymity of the Internet to zero in on Orb fans in America, 
much like the band's exhaustively complete mailing list in the UK.  The 
Transcentral electronic mailinglist is a free, worldwide computer forum 
for the discussion of anything related to the Orb (and its companion band 
the KLF).  Dozens of messages are instantly transmitted each day to 
subscribers.  Current topics, as of this writing, include sources of 
samples on Live '93, the availability of Japanese-only Orb remixes off YMO 
tracks, and reviews of live Orb performances.  Recently, there was a 
scavanger hunt whose prize was a copy of the super-rare, Israeli-only "K 
Cera Cera" single by the KLF, and the list is currently putting together a 
tape of its members' own ambient electronic tracks.  Moderator "Lazlo 
Nibble" also maintains an archive with a complete Orb discography 
(including Paterson/Thrash remixes of other bands' recordings-it's HUGE), 
digitized album cover and live poster art, a history of the band and more. 
 For information, send polite EMail to klf-request@asylum.sf.ca.us 
(requests are handled by a person, not a machine).

-James Lien and Douglas Wolk