The Orb – Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld
(Big Life Records 1991 BLRDLP5)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1/C2/D1 – UK Pressing
Sleeve in Excellent+ condition
– some wear to edges/corners
Inner Sleeves in Nr MINT condition
Vinyl in Excellent+ condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality apart from some light pops/crackles – side 2 has some light crackles with some light clicks in Spanish Castles now and then – Side 1 Nr MINT – Rest Excellent+)
The Orb are an English electronic music group known for being the pioneers of ambient house. Founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and The KLF member Jimmy Cauty, the Orb began as ambient and dub DJs in London. Their early performances were inspired by ambient and electronic artists of the 1970s and 1980s, most notably Brian Eno and Kraftwerk. Because of their trippy sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers “coming down” from drug-induced highs. The Orb has maintained their drug-related and science fiction themes despite personnel changes, including the departure of Cauty and other Orb members Kris Weston, Andy Falconer, Simon Phillips, Nick Burton and Andy Hughes. Paterson has been the only permanent member, continuing to work as the Orb with the Swiss-German producer Thomas Fehlmann and, later, with Martin “Youth” Glover, bass player with Killing Joke.
Beyond recognition on their albums and concerts; his unauthorised use of other artists’ works has led to disputes with musicians, most notably with Rickie Lee Jones. During their live shows of the 1990s, the Orb performed using digital audio tape machines optimised for live mixing and sampling before switching to laptops and digital media. Despite changes in performance method, the Orb maintained their colourful light shows and psychedelic imagery in concert. These visually intense performances prompted critics to compare the group to Pink Floyd.
The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld is the debut studio album by ambient electronic music group The Orb, released as a double album on 2 April 1991 by Big Life. It is a continuous, progressive composition consisting of several tracks advancing the “journey” concept; its framework is of a two-hour psychedelic trip through genres and studio electronics, produced to “push the threshold” of live stage performance, and comprising vocal samples and sound effects interspersed with original music.
Track listing
| Side one | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
| 1. | “Little Fluffy Clouds” (Earth Orbit One) | Alex Paterson, Martin Glover | 4:27 |
| 2. | “Earth (Gaia)” (Earth Orbit Two) | Paterson, Kris Weston | 9:48 |
| 3. | “Supernova at the End of the Universe” (Earth Orbit Three) | Paterson, Miquette Giraudy, Steve Hillage | 11:56 |
| Total length: | 26:11 | ||
| Side two | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
| 1. | “Back Side of the Moon” (Lunar Orbit Four) | Paterson, Giraudy, Hillage | 14:15 |
| 2. | “Spanish Castles in Space” (Lunar Orbit Five) | Paterson, Jake le Mesurier, Guy Pratt | 15:05 |
| Total length: | 29:20 | ||
| Side three | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
| 1. | “Perpetual Dawn” (Ultraworld Probe Six) | Paterson, Eddie Maiden | 9:31 |
| 2. | “Into the Fourth Dimension” (Ultraworld Probe Seven) | Paterson, Andy Falconer, Paul Ferguson | 9:16 |
| 3. | “Outlands” (Ultraworld Probe Eight) | Paterson, Thomas Fehlmann | 8:23 |
| Total length: | 27:10 | ||
| Side four | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
| 1. | “Star 6 & 7 8 9” (Ultraworld Nine) | Paterson, Tom Green, Hugh Vickers | 8:10 |
| 2. | “A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules from the Centre of the Ultraworld” (Live Mix Mk 10; Ultraworld Ten) | Paterson, Jimmy Cauty, Minnie Riperton, Richard Rudolph, Simon Darlow, Stephen Lipson, Bruce Woolley, Trevor Horn | 18:49 |
| Total length: | 26:57 | ||
Personnel
- Alex Paterson – production, engineering, mixing
- Jimmy Cauty – production (“A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules from the Centre of the Ultraworld”)
- Andy Falconer – production (“Into the Fourth Dimension”), engineering, mixing
- Thomas Fehlmann – mixing
- Miquette Giraudy – production (“Supernova at the End of the Universe”, “Back Side of the Moon”)
- Steve Hillage – production (“Supernova at the End of the Universe”, “Back Side of the Moon”)
- Greg Hunter – engineering (assistant)
- Eddie Maiden – production (“Perpetual Dawn”)
- Guy Pratt – bass (“Spanish Castles in Space”)
- Tim Russell – engineering, mixing
- Kris “Thrash” Weston – engineering, mixing
- Youth – production (“Little Fluffy Clouds”), mixing
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