Concept albums can be, when done right, some of the most beautiful and powerful forms of musical expression. By exploring a specific theme, they can be fantastic entryways into genres you may not have given a chance to before; if you click with the concept, you can often find yourself coming around to the musical style, and finding a newfound respect, admiration or love for a genre.
I think my album of the week is a brilliant example of this. It’s the debut studio album from The Orb, with their space-themed, floating and ethereal double album, The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld.
On the surface, the album is nearly two hours of ambient electronic sounds and effects. Understandably, you may think that sounds like it would get a little dull, especially if you aren’t really into ambient or chill-out music. Or maybe you’d consider this the type of album you might stick on in the background to fill the silence while you’re trying to focus or relax.
I’d implore you to treat this album differently. Through the concept that The Orb create, it forms something truly encapsulating and worthy of your full attention. This is an album you need to sit down with, immerse yourself in, and just absorb. Absorb every element, every sample, and every effect.
The first track is undoubtedly the biggest on the album, and arguably the best. Little Fluffy Clouds is not really an ‘ambient’ track, but it fits perfectly with the record’s concept, and excellently introduces us to the otherworldly themes explored throughout. Like many of the tracks on The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld, it relies heavily on an eclectic array of samples. The focal point is the nostalgia-tinged voice of Rickie Lee Jones, sampled from an interview where she reminisces about picturesque images of childhood: the most beautiful skies…sunsets were purple and red and yellow and on fire… and of course, little fluffy clouds. This spoken sample alone is enough to conjure an ethereal, magical vibe. When mixed with a harmonica sample courtesy of Ennio Morricone (from the film Once Upon a Time in the West), and a syncopated multi-track guitar recording performed by jazz guitarist Pat Metheny (from Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint), the result is a completely beguiling, trance-inducing track, which begins to lift you up and float you away into The Orb’s ‘Ultraworld’.
This is what I love about Little Fluffy Clouds and its placement within the wider album. It feels like the most ‘grounded’ song on the album, with its relatively strong and steady beat, and earthly discussions about the weather, deserts, and the sky. From here, the rest of the album begins to float further and further into the so-called ‘Ultraworld’ – almost to the point where you find yourself wondering whether this album was actually written by humans after all. It may well be aliens trying to imitate human art.
Through the following near 2 hours of music, there are a multitude of samples which contribute to this celestial concept. Most notably is perhaps the countless dialogues from NASA and Apollo space missions, and the brilliantly selected spoken word samples from films, speeches and interviews which have been sourced from far and wide.
The final track on the album, A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules from the Centre of the Ultraworld, is an equally fitting album closer. It may be nearly 19 minutes long, but it sets this album down to earth just as well as opener Little Fluffy Clouds propels it space bound. Natural-themed sound effects and pulsating rhythms are dotted over an ethereal chord progression sampled from Grace Jones’ Slave to the Rhythm. When mixed with Minnie Ripperton’s iconic Lovin’ You (possibly the last sample you’d expect to hear on this record), it creates a slightly weird, slightly eerie, but hypnotically beautiful vibe to the closing passages. It rounds off a 90 minute journey where you never know quite where you are, where you’re going, or where you might end up, but are invested in every second of it.
The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld is an exquisitely executed concept, and demonstrates the versatile, enchanting and emotive capabilities of ambient electronic music, when delivered as well as by The Orb. Despite its ambient nature, I guarantee there’s as much substance to this album as any indie, jazz or dance record.
Waxing Lyrical 