Veteran ambient electronic duo Alex Paterson and Michael Rendall were in town to promote their latest and seventeenth studio LP, Prism, and Metronome was the perfect spot for their other-worldly sound and sparkling visuals.
Originally formed in 1988 with KLF’s Jimmy Cauty, The Orb have always had an outsider feel to them as the eclectic crowd who gathered to pay homage to 35 years of providing the pinnacle in post-club comedown soundscapes proved.
Blending a passion for Kraftwerk, dub and science fiction – it’s an intoxicating mix.
To the iconic cry of Good Morning Vietnam, 2010’s Metallic Spheres – from an album featuring Pink Floyd lynchpin Dave Gilmour and Killing Joke’s Youth (a band Paterson used to roadie for back in the day), kicked things off in fine style and it’s like boarding a moving train that slowly gathers momentum from there on in.
Choices cuts from Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld plus set standards like Blue Room and Towers of Dub, see the masses move as one, almost trance-like, as the pair built and built the set expertly.
Coupled with Minecraft-like landscapes rising and falling on the visuals and the odd political side swipe, with MPs dressed as clowns – it’s a feast for the senses.
By the time they returned following the unexpected delay, no time was wasted in getting things back on track – if anything, with many fearing the worst that that was that for night, the crowd were even more jubilant. So, when arguably their most well-known offering, the Rickie Lee Jones’ sampling Little Fluffy Clouds was aired, it was received even more rapturously than normal.
Hearing Paterson talk passionately about his inspirations and career on 6Music earlier in the day, you get the impression he is more than content with his lot – making music during the week, playing to hundreds of dedicated acolytes at the weekend – it’s no wonder the odd spanner in the works such as the sound issues didn’t faze him.
The best medicine is always music. Dr Alex knows.
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