U.f.orb The Orb

It's fair to say that the Orb never would have reached the British pop Top 40 without the influence and promotion of John Peel, who sponsored three sessions between 1989 and 1995. (There have also been two additional dates for other presenters.) Peel, a veteran of the late-'60s British music scene, appreciated the Orb's blend of futurism and folky traditionalism, seeing them not just as dance saviors but another dot in the line that connected pixilated popsters like T. Rex and the Incredible String Band (both of which Peel had been closely associated with). The Orb's first session was recorded in 1989, well before they had released an album, and it boosted the popularity of both the group and the ambient house phenomenon immeasurably. Although Peel's attention helped, a lot of excitement surrounded the music itself, a gorgeous tableau of music laced with samples taken from Dr. Alex Paterson's immense kit bag of records…

In a changing, unpredictable and turbulent world, something we can always rely on is a new Orb album, with the next holiday-for-the-head never far away. On what is quite possibly the millionth longplayer helmed by electronic lifer Alex Paterson; partnered with the now firmly-entrenched boy wonder Michael Rendall; the inspirationally productive outfit yet again deliver the goods, with one of their best yet.

Even though they just launched Max Hazard, AMT actually already had its own label ever since 1998 simply called Acid Mothers Temple and they also released a new album recently: a split CD with US band Kinski. They already did a split together back in 2003 and Kinski and AMT leader Makoto Kawabata also recorded a track together in 2015 that was released on a split 7″ with Kikagaku Moyo. This new, untitled album, limited to 300 copies, contains five tracks from the US band and two from AMT, including yet another version of Blue Velvet Blues, that also appears on “How Was…”.

GREATEST EVER! is Union Square Music’s select, best-selling label, utilising the very best repertoire from key major labels, Greatest Ever’s 3CD box sets are some of the strongest multi-artist compilations on the market, with the greatest ever songs.

This is the live recording at "19th Acid Mothers Temple Festival" in Nagoya 2020. Also it was Taigen Kawabe's first show to replace Wolf as bassist. The original CD was released by Acid Mothers Temple in 2021. (Limited to 300 hand-numbered copies.)

Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. return with Sacred And Inviolable Phase Shift. One of the greatest Japanese psychedelic bands has a new studio album.

Steve Hillage has always had one eye on the future, experimenting with genres such as ambient and dance before many of his peers, and creating extra-terrestrial guitar sounds throughout his career with Uriel, Khan, Gong and System 7…