The
subgenres of acid house and ambient electronica have produced sonic wallpaper
by the yard, but few artists as creative or compelling as The Orb. The duo of
Alex Paterson and Youth, two Englishmen on the ground floor of late-’70s punk,
meld found voices and electronic melodies into a symphony of sampling and
gentle dance beats. The Dream is
aptly named: The tracks flow in and out of images and sounds much like a dream
in the final hour before waking. The music takes in echoes of East
India, snatches of hip-hop, Kraftwerk-like electro pop, American
soul and Jamaican toasting. The Orb’s mastery of mixing and their sonic
imagination help pull a world of sound into an organic whole.
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