Ah, but tracks like "blue room" and "perpetual dawn" have only a tenuous link with techno music - they're more like ambient dub. (I used to work in London's only specialist ambient record shop, so I can be a bit of a trainspotter when it comes to the UK ambient scene of the late 80s/early 90s!)
So while you're right that the Orb did incorporate dub production and composition techniques into electronic music, I'd say that the closest they got to predating the modern "dub-techno" sound was the original mix of "A Huge Evergrowing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld"; even though the dub influences are less explicit than in "Towers of Dub" or "Blue Room", they're still there, and the track definitely leans in the techno direction also, rather than the purely ambient or breakbeat-house directions the Orb subsequently went into. Also it was basically the first track they put out, so it predates everything else The Orb did. I used to be a huge Orb fan back in the day - listening to any of the tracks from their first album fills me with nostalgia :) Brendan | -----Original Message----- | From: Sakari Karipuro [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] | Sent: Friday, October 11, 2002 1:53 PM | To: Odeluga, Ken | Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Org | Subject: RE: (313) what was the first dub-techno record ever? | | | Odeluga, Ken wrote on Fri, 11 Oct 2002 about following: | | > Ok. That would make sense, given that the Orb collected a | couple of obscure | > von Oswald tracks for one of their comps in '96 I think .... | but what Orb | > records are you thinking of in particular? | | most of the stuff they did is more ambienty/ambient-housey but check | "perpetual dawn" (91), "blue room"(92)(with Jah Wobble on bass, at | least on 12"), "towers of dub" (92) - doh, just check the first two | albums; nevertheless it's difficult today to go say that their music is | techno or techno dub; they definitely were (and still are influenced by | dub; and definitely don't sound "dub" in similar way as BC does. some of | their tracks are more like "traditional" dub and others more 4/4 with | heavy bass and some delays and reverbs and stuff. | | * the orb's adventures beyond the ultraworld 1991 | * the orb - u.f. orb 1992 | | oh and do check "the assassin 12" " by the orb - just for the delay | and 4/4 action. very hypnotic track. would fit very well in the end of | some BC set. | | also in somewhat similar style as the orb's there is excellent (then | categorized as "soundtrack dub") album "360 degrees" by Dread Zone from | 1993 on creation records, not so relevant perhaps when comparing to BC | but electronic music/dub mixed together from about the same era. as far | as i know they have been really popular in goa/psychedelic scene; | nevertheless one of my favourite albums, and their latest album | "Sound" is ok too. i haven't heard what they've done in between these | two records.. | | | sakke | -- | random rants and links at: | http://www.arabuusimiehet.com/sakke/ |
