The Orb

The Orb's soulful, ambient house eased a generation of clubbers into the early morning haze, closely associated with the rave culture and long hot dance nights in Ibiza. Inspired by Kraftwerk and Brian Eno's early experiments with electronica, Alex Paterson (a roadie for the band Killing Joke) and Jimmy Cauty (KLF guitarist) made a name for themselves as resident DJs in the chill-out room at London's Heaven nightclub, playing trippy melodic, dubby sets. Cauty left the partnership in 1990 and Paterson became the act's only constant member working with Kris Thrash Weston, Andy Hughes, Simon Phillips and, most regularly, Swiss producer Thomas Fehlmann, as the group became legends of the electro scene. Their breakthrough came with the huge underground success of the track Little Fluffy Clouds from debut album The Orb's Big Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld (1990), before classic second album U.F. Orb (1991) shot to the top of the UK charts. Orbus Terrarum (1995) and Orblivion (1997) were particularly well-received by American critics and the group's live sets became renowned for huge video screens showing psychedelic, futuristic, multi-coloured images of morphing heads, flying pigs and city landscapes. Still producing their trademark spaced out, sci-fi, electro soundscapes, they are now recognized as pioneers of ambient music.

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