Orbit, William

Artist: William Orbit
P: 2009
My Oracle Lives Uptown is William Orbit's eighth album, and his signature sound sleek and lush, but leaving a cool slipstream in its wake is immediately recognisable. Most of tracks on the album feature vocals, even if they are only textures in the mix - and their placement within the track is planned with a remixer s ear for shifts of perspective.
My Oracle Lives Uptown, follows his last solo album, 2006's Hello Waveforms. This is more of a party record than the previous ones, says William Orbit of his new album. It s not a serious, po-faced record, it s not ambient although it has its ambient moments. One of the things about being eclectic is that people don t know what they are going to get. But I would say that it s upbeat with a bit of glitter on it.
Although My Oracle Lives Uptown is probably William Orbit s most immediate album, it s so subtly layered that it only reveals itself fully after a number of plays. And like his other solo albums, it will surely be resistant to the ageing process. His vision is idiosyncratic and original enough to not to have to try to play catch-up with anyone else, which gives his music a curiously timeless feel.

Artist: William Orbit
P: 2000
William Orbit's Pieces in a Modern Style is an ambient album that rejigs 11 works by classical composers in a particularly tacky fashion. Even though Orbit has proved his mettle as an innovative and exciting producer for others--Blur's 13 and Madonna's Ray of Light--this is an ungainly meeting of the sublime and the absurd that, frankly, doesn't work. Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings," Ludwig van Beethoven's "Triple Concerto," Henryk Gorecki's "Piece in the Old Style I," and Antonio Vivaldi's "L'Inverno" are four that unfortunately meet their maker in a crude pileup of flat, belching synths and wallpaper flourishes. If he had combined live instrumentation with a playful reverence for the arcane glories of the past, perhaps he could have managed to make reality out of that most elusive of notions: experimental music that actually sells. 

Artist: William Orbit
P: 2000
Here the 2 CD version with a radio edit of one track.
William Orbit's Pieces in a Modern Style is an ambient album that rejigs 11 works by classical composers in a particularly tacky fashion. Even though Orbit has proved his mettle as an innovative and exciting producer for others--Blur's 13 and Madonna's Ray of Light--this is an ungainly meeting of the sublime and the absurd that, frankly, doesn't work. Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings," Ludwig van Beethoven's "Triple Concerto," Henryk Gorecki's "Piece in the Old Style I," and Antonio Vivaldi's "L'Inverno" are four that unfortunately meet their maker in a crude pileup of flat, belching synths and wallpaper flourishes. If he had combined live instrumentation with a playful reverence for the arcane glories of the past, perhaps he could have managed to make reality out of that most elusive of notions: experimental music that actually sells. 

Artist: William Orbit
P: 2010
Madonna once said of William Orbit that he probably didn't realize how talented he is. This is a producer and musician who has already worked with U2, Sugababes, Depeche Mode, Pink, Prince, Blur, Katie Melua and Robbie Williams. Yet Madonna - whose bestselling album Ray of Light was co-created and produced by Orbit - knows what she's talking about.
William Orbit is one of those secret stars whose names are known only to professionals in the business and who prefer to stay out of the limelight. A highly gifted, introverted Londoner, who has been known to exasperate the American pop diva - for example, in the studio when he would suddenly become unapproachable: "He had a tendency to put his headphones on and disappear into his own world," Madonna recalled with some amusement. "I had to tap him on the shoulder and say, 'Um, what are you doing? Excuse me? We're making a record together'."
That was over twelve years ago, during which period Ray of Light has chalked up sales of more than 20 million, though William Orbit is one of those people you could imagine having been a little terrified by such success.
It wasn't long, however, before Orbit landed another bestseller that was even more surprising, and this time under his own name. The album that became a surprise hit was called Pieces in a Modern Style, a CD on which he artfully remixed classical pieces by George Frideric Handel, Antonio Vivaldi, Erik Satie, Ludwig van Beethoven, Maurice Ravel, Samuel Barber and other composers, transforming them into fragile, daydreamlike electropop melodies. In a manner not heard before, Orbit combines the classics with electronics to make a lulling, chill-out ambient sound. The single release of Barber's Adagio for Strings reached position 4 on the British charts. Madonna - "she loves classical music" (Orbit) - was so excited by it that she released the album in America on her own "Maverick" label. The artist responsible for it, however, was so overwhelmed that he retired from the public eye. In recent years he's been enjoying the peace and quiet. Now Orbit is back with Pieces in a Modern Style 2. This time he has remixed as "classical trip hop" pieces by composers including Camille Saint-Sans, Edward Elgar, Edvard Grieg, Johann Sebastian Bach, Gabriel Faur, Giacomo Puccini and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Artist: William Orbit
P: 2001
Remixes of well known tracks by other artists. Orbit made these remixes throughout all the years. Karl Bartos compiled this CD and wrote some nice linernotes.

Artist: William Orbit
P: 1988
The Strange Cargo series by William Orbit is by any means wonderful music. This particular album is the first of the series. It's got fast rhythms and some slow ones, so it's going to meet the varying tastes of different listeners.

Artist: William Orbit
P: 1991
The Strange Cargo series by William Orbit is by any means wonderful music. This particular album is the second of the series. It's got fast rhythms and some slow ones, so it's going to meet the varying tastes of different listeners.

Artist: William Orbit
P: 1993
The Strange Cargo series by William Orbit is by any means wonderful music. This particular album is the third of the series. It's got fast rhythms and some slow ones, so it's going to meet the varying tastes of different listeners.

Artist: William Orbit
P: 1995
A fascinating techno-pop album with a variety of brain candy for almost anyone who enjoys this type of music. All tracks were delightful. Those especially noteworthy you will find on the fist half of the CD. Among my absolute favorites were Hulaville, ElNino and MontokPoint. Hulaville is snappy with a playful but deliberate multi-dimensional direction, While ElNino is calm with a definite southwestern mood, evoking memories of a fond Arizona vacation spent near the Painted Desert.