Pitchfork

When Dr. Alex Patterson hung up his ass-crack roadie jeans and Killing Joke tech gig to devote himself fully to DJing and creating mixes of mid-tempo, sample-heavy sweetness, he not only managed to find immediate commercial success, but also invented ambient house music. Whether to thank him or curse him is your call.

It's been 15 years since the Orb embarked on its first raid into the rambling, progressive ambient field with its debut masterwork The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld, and while subsequent albums haven't lit up the charts like their introductory message, the Orb has remained a venerable force on record and in performance, and Patterson is an in-demand remixer. October seems to be Orb Month, as the group will release not one, but two albums.

Okie Dokie It's the Orb on Kompakt will be released October 31, and is a collection of new material recorded for German minimal house/techno addicts Kompakt. Okie dokie, here's the tracklist:

01 Komplication
02 Lunik
03 Ripples
04 Captain Korma
05 Can Can
06 Lolo
07 Beautitude
08 Cool Harbour
09 Traumvogel
10 Before/Because
11 Tin Can
12 Kompania
13 Falkenbruck
14 Snow Bow
15 Lunik (Remix)

Sooner still, Malicious Damage will release an extravagantly packaged rarities collection taken from Patterson's celestial archives. It's called Orbsessions (you knew that was coming sooner or later) and will come out on October 10. The tracks are taken from years of tripping and tweaking with the cream of the electronic world, including Patterson's past partners in crime Jimmy Cauty (KLF), Thrash, Andy Hughes, and most recent chief collaborator Thomas Fehlmann. Orblist:

01 Mummie Don't
02 Sail
03 Yungle
04 Chromatik (Orbzone)
05 Eurofen
06 Sun Of
07 73.5 (featuring Nitram)
08 Steel Horse
09 Something Like
10 Pluto Calling (Twinkle)

The good doctor will soon play a few dates with Fehlmann as Le Petit Orb, as well as spin a solo DJ set in London. Sorry North America, no Orblivion for you, yet.

10-09 Tokyo, Japan - Unit (Le Petit Orb)
10-22 London, UK - The Coronet, Kundalini 10th Anniversary bash (LX Patterson DJ set)
11-25 Athens, Greece - TBA (Le Petit Orb)
11-26 Bologna, Italy - TBA (Le Petit Orb)