The Orb and Dub

So much music nowadays is categorized as Dub but has nothing to do with it. If there is one band that has sampled and thrived bringing back dub and its influence it sure is The Orb. A few years ago they collab with the legendary Lee Scratch Perry and they sampled massive amounts of dubs on their first two albums. Perpetual dawn has a fantastic bassline from Jah Wobble of PIL fame, Not to mention a plethora of dubby mixes, a lot featured on this mix below.

Orb member Kris Weston integrated his technical and creative expertise with Alex Paterson’s Eno-influenced ambience on U.F.Orb, creating “drum and bass rhythms” with “velvet keyboards” and “rippling synth lines”. U.F.Orb reached number one on the UK Albums Chart to the shock of critics, who were surprised that fans had embraced what journalists considered to be progressive rock. Heavily influenced by The Orb and U.F.Orb in particular, many trip hop groups sprang up emulating The Orb’s “chill-out blueprint”. U.F.Orb expresses The Orb’s fascination with alien life with its bizarre sound samples and in the album’s title itself. The album’s single, “Blue Room”, is itself a reference to the supposed Blue Room of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which was investigated as a possible UFO evidence-holding room.

“Blue Room”, a near 17-minute piece, features bass playing by Jah Wobble and guitar by coproducer Steve Hillage. The full version of the song is 40 minutes and was released as a single. The initial UK vinyl release featured a limited edition which came in a sealed blue heavy PVC cover and featured two art prints and a bonus 12-inch of the soundtrack to the film The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld: Patterns and Textures.

 

THE ORB IN DUB : TRACKLISTING

1.0 A huge evergrowing pulsating brain named DoubleRR
2.0 The Orb & William S Burroughs – Towers Of Dub (Open Fire)
3.0 Revolutionaries-bamba-in-dub (Sampled on Towers of dub)
4.0 The Orb vs. Meat Beat Manifesto – 1855 BC
5.0 The Upsetters – Blackboard Jungle Dub – Blackboard Jungle Dub ( Ver. 1 )
6.0 Pop Will Eat Itself – Home (Orb Sweet Sin And Salvation Mix)
7.0 Sex Pistols The Fucking Rotter / Big Tits Across America (Sampled on Back side of the Moon)
8.0 Backside of the Moon (Underwater Deep Space)
9.0 Material – Mantra (Praying Mantra Mix Edit)
10.0 Golden Clouds (Youth Gigantic Dreadnaught Dub Mix)
11.0 A Conversation with Rickie Lee Jones edit
12.0 The Orb – Little Fluffy Clouds (Cumulonimbus Mix)
13.0 Perpetual Dawn & Perpetual Dawn (Ultrabass 2)
14.0 The Orb feat. Lee Scratch Perry – Fussball
15.0 The Orb – Little Fluffy Clouds (Coldcut Heavyweight Dub Mix)
16.0 Sun Electric – O`Locco
17.0 Mad Professor – Fast Forward Into Dub
18.0 The KLF – 3 A.M. Eternal (Blue Danube Orbital)
19.0 Back Side Of The Moon (John Peel Session 02.10.90)
20.0 Meat Beat Manifesto Radio Babylon (Beach Blanket Bimboland mix)
21.0 Blue room (Celebrity murder party mix)
22.0 Assassin (Chocolate Hills Of Bohol Mix)
23.0 Peace in the Middle East [Sea of Tranquility Mix]
24.0 Oldfield Vs. Orb – Sentinel (Orbular Bells)
25.0 Yellow_Magic_Orchestra_-_Tong_Poo_The_Orb_Remix_II
26.0 Johnny Osbourne & Papa Tullo – Back Off 12″ 1981
27.0 Fussball (Deadbeat’s Champions League Dub)
28.0 Primal Scream Higher Than the Sun (Battersea Shield mix)
29.0 Primal Scream – Higher Than The Sun (A Dub Symphony In Two Parts)
30.0 Flash Gordon Trailer

TOWERS OF DUB : LYRICS

Security
Hello, is that reception, London Weekend Television?
This is security, reps from reception has gone off duty, sir
Oh I see, uh I am supposed to meet somebody in reception
And I wanted to know if they were there waiting
What is the name of the person you are supposed to meet?
Haile Selassie
Haile?
Selassie

Is there a Haile Selassie here, no
Could you possibly, if he does, he will come in very shortly
Would you tell him that Marcus Garvey, ehm phoned?
Uh huh
And that I will meet him, well it’s, meet him in Babylon and Ting?
Yes, when Marcus comes in, right?
Yeah
And you are supposed to be waiting for him to come in

Oh, is that Haile Selassie?
No, it wasn’t him, it was a cab
He’s a, he’s a black gentleman
But he when he comes in, I asked you, you’re gonna meet him at where was it?
I’ll make a note of this
Yup, Babylon and Ting
Babylon and Ting
That’s it
Right you are
Thank you, God bless youP.-S. : Must-see Orb biopic Lunar Orbit.

The 70-minute film – directed by Patrick Buchanan – follows the ambient pioneers as they work Moonbuilding 2703 AD, recorded in Berlin. It features appearances from the likes of Guy Pratt, Youth, Carl Lobin, Steve Hillage, Tom Green, Mixmaster Morris, Matt Black, Helen Mead, Kris Needs, Nina Walsh, Jon Berry, Simon Phillips and Nick Manasseh.

Watch the trailer for Lunar Orbit:

Classic blast from the 90’s with Primal scream

Primal Scream are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie. Their 1991 album Screamadelica broke the band into the mainstream. Despite multiple lineup changes, the band has remained successful continues touring and record to this day. Higher than the Sun uses a sample from “Wah Wah Man” by the Young-Holt Unlimited Trio and was remixed in a longer version by Andrew Weatherall with ex PIL bass man Jah Wobble. It is quite simply and ethereal & magical chill out tune with a classical edge. Dark and dreamy melody combined with great lyrics. It has to do with hallucinogens, but also about the human spirit. “I’ve glimpsed, I have tasted, fantastical places. My souls an oasis, higher than the sun.” The band used to be hailed as a good example of Shoegazer music but here gets mixed up with dub influences and whilst remaining quite poppy. Scremadelica also features production by The Orb. A quitessential track.

Higher Then The Sun (A Dub Symphony In Two Parts)