Ambient techno is a subgenre of techno that incorporates the atmospheric textures of ambient music with the rhythmic elements and production of techno. It was pioneered by 1990s electronic artists such as Aphex Twin, Carl Craig, The Orb, The Future Sound of London, the Black Dog, Pete Namlook and Biosphere.
James Francis Cauty, also known as Rockman Rock, is an English artist and musician, best known as one-half of the duo the KLF, co-founder of the Orb and as the man who burnt £1 million.
Ambient house is a downtempo subgenre of house music that first emerged in the late 1980s, combining elements of acid house and ambient music. The genre developed in chill-out rooms and specialist clubs as part of the UK's dance music scene. It was most prominently pioneered by the Orb and the KLF, along with artists such as Global Communication, Irresistible Force, Youth, and 808 State. The term was used vaguely, and eventually fell out of favor as more specific subgenres were recognized.
Thomas Fehlmann is a Swiss composer/producer who lives in Berlin, Germany, and has been active in electronic music since the 1980s. He is currently active on the Kompakt record label based in Germany. Fehlmann is an on-and-off member of Sun Electric and the Orb.
Kristian "Kris" Weston is a British electronic musician, record producer and remixer best known for his work as a member of the Orb. Around the beginning of his career, he worked with Andrew Weatherall on remixes of Meat Beat Manifesto, remixed for Primal Scream, Saint Etienne, U2 and others. He was still a teen when working on the first few albums by the Orb.
The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld is the debut studio album by English electronic music group the Orb, released as a double album on 2 April 1991 by Big Life. It is a segued, progressive and psychedelic trip which draws from various genres and incorporates a huge number of samples and sound effects. Much of the album was recorded after founding member Jimmy Cauty left the group, leaving Alex Paterson as the central member, with additional contributions by Kris Weston, Andy Falconer and several others.
"Little Fluffy Clouds" is a single released by the British ambient house group the Orb. It was originally released in November 1990 on the record label Big Life and peaked at number 87 on the UK Singles Chart. The Orb also included it on their 1991 double album The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld. "Little Fluffy Clouds" was re-released several times with different B-sides, with its 1993 re-release reaching number 10 in the UK.
Live 93 is a live album by English electronic music group the Orb, released in November 1993 through Island Records. Live 93 is a collection of highlights from the Orb's 1993 performances in Europe and Asia. It features the Orb's live performance crew of Alex Paterson, Kris Weston, producers Nick Burton and Simon Phillips, as well as audio engineer Andy Hughes, who had stepped in when Weston decided to stop touring. The album cover of a sheep over a power station is a parody of the cover of Pink Floyd's Animals, an album cover they had previously parodied on the cover of Aubrey Mixes: The Ultraworld Excursions. The album reached #23 on the UK Album Chart.
Kompakt is a Cologne-based electronic music independent record label and vinyl/CD distributor, owned by Wolfgang Voigt, Michael Mayer and Jürgen Paape. They specialize in microhouse and minimal techno, and are known for their Total compilation series.
Andy Falconer is an English-born engineer, producer and artist mainly associated with electronic and ambient music. As well as his own musical project afp. He is also along with Alex Paterson a member of the band Sedibus, and former member of the bands The Orb and Apollo XI.
Orbus Terrarum is a studio album by English electronic music group the Orb that was released on 20 March 1995 by Island Records. Member Kris Weston had begun work on the album before leaving the group. After he left, German producer Thomas Fehlmann joined as a full-time studio member, and the group, now consisting of Alex Paterson, Andy Hughes, and Fehlmann, completed the album. Unlike their previous efforts, Orbus Terrarum features more "earthbound", "organic" sounds in contrast to the psychedelic, science fiction-themed music they had previously written.
Pomme Fritz is a mini-album by the British electronic music group The Orb. It was released on 13 June 1994 through Island Records. Produced to sustain the group during a period of mismanagement, it was their first album with German producer Thomas Fehlmann.
Okie Dokie It's the Orb on Kompakt is the seventh studio album by English electronic music group the Orb, released on 8 November 2005 by Kompakt. It features new material in addition to new versions of their previous Kompakt releases.
"Toxygene" is a single by electronic music artist the Orb. It was released in 1997 as the first single from the album Orblivion. The song was originally commissioned as a remix of Jean-Michel Jarre's "Oxygène 8" from Oxygène 7–13. However, the Orb "obliterated it" and reassembled only a few fragments for their remix, much to the chagrin of Jarre, who reportedly "threw a fit and refused to release it". The Orb released the track themselves under the name "Toxygene", which further irritated Jarre, to whom Paterson retorted "The French are always five years behind us, anyway." In statements made after the release of "Toxygene", Jarre denied the reports: "It's not that I didn't like it, but I wanted the first wave of remixes to be linked to Oxygene's theme and textures." The release was accompanied by a music video directed by Ben Stokes.
The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 1991 debut album The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld pioneered the UK's nascent ambient house movement, while its UK chart-topping follow-up U.F.Orb represented the group's commercial peak.
The Dream is the eighth studio album by the English electronic music group the Orb. It was released on 27 August 2007 by Liquid Sound Design, Traffic Inc., and Six Degrees Records and for the first time released on vinyl in 2023. The album represents something of a return to their earlier sound and shares much more in common with their 2004 album Bicycles and Tricycles as opposed to the minimal 2005 release Okie Dokie It's the Orb on Kompakt. Orb member Thomas Fehlmann was absent on the album, and Paterson was instead reunited with Martin Glover, and joined by Tim Bran of Dreadzone.
The discography of European electronic music group the Orb includes seventeen studio albums, one live album, six compilation albums, four remix albums, four mix albums, two video albums, ten extended plays, fifteen singles and twenty-two music videos. Founded by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty in 1988, the group's first release was the extended play Kiss EP, issued in May 1989. The single "A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules from the Centre of the Ultraworld", which marked the group's first foray into the ambient house genre, was released in October 1989 on Adam Morris and Martin Glover's record label WAU! Mr. Modo Recordings. It was later re-issued by Big Life and peaked at number 78 in the United Kingdom despite sample clearance issues. Following Cauty's departure from the group, the Orb signed a long-term recording contract with Big Life and released their debut studio album The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld in April 1991. It peaked at number 29 in the United Kingdom and has since been recognized as a seminal album of the ambient house genre. "Little Fluffy Clouds" and "Perpetual Dawn" were released as singles from the album.
Metallic Spheres is the tenth studio album released by ambient techno group the Orb in October 2010 and features the Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour and the Killing Joke bassist Youth. It spent three weeks on the UK charts, reaching number 12.
Baghdad Batteries (Orbsessions Volume III) is the ninth studio album released by ambient techno group the Orb in September 2009. The album sees Alex Paterson again working with Thomas Fehlmann, and it serves as a continuation of the style the two explored earlier on Okie Dokie It's the Orb on Kompakt.
COW / Chill Out, World! is the fourteenth studio album by ambient house group the Orb. The album was released on 14 October 2016 via the Kompakt label.
