William Orbit RIP

On Friday news arrived of the death of William Orbit. He died on the 23rd of July aged 69 and leaves behind him a rich, wild and varied back catalogue of music that reaches from the early 80s underground to worldwide fame and success with Madonna and All Saints via some essential acid house and ambient records. His trademark sound- bubbling, liquid, in motion, widescreen and trippy, like staring at a sunflare- lit up a huge number of artists, his own music and production and remix work for others. In some ways 69 seems young but he packed a lot into those years and lived the life to go with it. Until recently he was still producing, reworking and revisiting his own music and releasing it as an album on Bandcamp titled WFO and an EP called Starbeam in 2021. 

This fifty minute mix contains some of the big hitters from his back catalogue with that Orbit sound running right through the middle of it. 

Fifty Minutes Of William Orbit

• William Orbit: The Story Of Light
• One Dove: Breakdown (William Orbit Stereo Odyssey)
• William Orbit: Water From A Vine Leaf (Xylem Flow Mix)
• Torch Song: P2E Remix
• Les Negresses Verte: Zobi La Mouche (William Orbit Remix)
• The Shamen: Hyperreal Orbit
• Madonna: Ray Of Light (Liquid Mix)
• Bassomatic: Fascinating Rhythm (Soul Odyssey Mix)

The Story of Light is an ambient classic from William's third album in his Strange Cargo series, Strange Cargo III, produced at Guerilla Studios while he was knee deep in the Guerilla Records label, one he set up with Dick O'Dell and John Gosling. Progressive dub house records clad in a distinctive camouflage sleeve. The Story of Light is bubbly and warm, a swirly sound with chunky drums and bass, pianos and guitars and a 'let your love shine on me' vocal refrain.

One Dove are no strangers to this blog, Morning Dove White and its singles being at the core of my musical life. Andrew Weatherall's production and William Orbit's remix on Breakdown are a perfect 1993 combination. 

Water From A Vine Leaf was a single and also the centre piece of Strange Cargo III with Beth Orton on vocals. Epic, swirling, liquid ambient acid house. There were several essential remixes, Underworld's twelve minute thumper for one and the Xylem Flow mix I've included here by Spooky, as good as anything else that came out in '93. If you want a new version of Water From A Vine Leaf, San Francisco producer Marshall Watson has one here, his Endless Motion Edit. 

Torch Song were Orbit's first outfit, an early 80s ambient/ electronic he formed with Laurie Mayer and Grant Gilbert. P2E Remix was featured on Andrew Weatherall's 200 compilation Nine O'Clock Drop which brought a number of early 80s bands back to the surface, A Certain Ratio, 400 Blows, Shriekback, Quando Quango, Chris & Cosey among them. 

Les Negresses Vertes are/ were a French band, alternative rock/ folk from Paris- they were sometimes referred to as the French Pogues. Orbit's remix of Zobi La Mouche is a fantastic record, just the right amount of Balearic/ acid house edge added to the original- I played it not that long ago in one of our sets at The Golden Lion and it sounded superb on the Lion's sound system. Paul Oakenfold was listening- he borrowed some of it for his remix of Happy Mondays' WFL.

The Shamen's Hyperreal came out in 1990, a key moment for the group as they shifted from psychedelic guitars and samples to full on electronic. Massive techno- pop/ house with multiple remixes. 

In 1997 William Orbit when overground with Madonna, becoming the producer on what's probably her best album, Ray Of Light. The title track along is a huge record, soaring, adult pop. Orbit sometimes went further in the studio than Madonna wanted him to, producing endless versions and remixes. The Liquid Mix is a wonderful synth- pop version of Ray Of Light. The song took four and a half months to create, Orbit returning to the multi tracks time and time again, adding, mixing, removing, remixing, playing guitar, manipulating sounds, repairing broken computers- all worth it in the end. His work with Madonna began when he remixed Justify My Love in 1990, a remix and song that are both such a key part of 1990. 

Also in 1990 Bassomatic appeared on BBC 2's Dance Energy, miming to Fascinating Rhythm in front of a youthful and enthusiastic crowd. 

Bassomatic was William Orbit's breakthrough, a late 80s/ early 90s house/ acid house collective that took him to the charts. Fascinating Rhythm is one of 1990's best singles, totally of its time but enduring too- chunky, optimistic pop with acid house and rap sewn into it. There's a bass heavy Renegade Soundwave remix I nearly included but this version, a piano led Balearic elegy felt right for he finale and to remember him by. 

RIP William Orbit. 

Claudio Caniggia

Bass-O-Matic were William Orbit's 90s house outfit who hit the top ten with Fascinating Rhythm, a single I have a lot of time for- early 90s positivity, pianos, a rap from MC Inna Onestep and the lovely vocals of Sharon Musgrave.



For a sultry and less poppy take on Fascinating Rhythm Renegade Soundwave offered up this version, also a tribute to  Claudio Caniggia, Argentina's long haired forward at Italia 90, a man fouled three times as he danced and dribbled his way through Cameroon's defence before being scythed down. This being Renegade Soundwave the focus is very much on the bass.

Fascinating Rhythm (Claudio Caniggia Mix)

I Think It's Time To Make The Floor Burn

I've been having some fun watching these clips on Youtube recently. Dance Energy was BBC 2's attempt to capture early 90s youth culture. To be far to the Beeb Snub TV was an excellent half hour weekly look at the indie scene with some essential live clips and interviews. For Dance Energy they got Normski in as presenter. Normski may be best described as an acquired taste (although many internet commenters seem to prefer the word bellend). Dance Energy ran on a Monday evening, straight after The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air and had 'live' performances in the studio from dance and hip hop acts. Unlike the majority of 1960s TV music programmes, where there's no doubt that the groups are better dressed and better coiffured than the audience, on Dance Energy the crowd are the real stars. here's a few I've picked out...

Steve Cobby's band from this time was Ashley and Jackson (they played Cities In The Park which is why I think I came across this on Youtube while looking for clips of that event for my post a couple of weeks ago). Solid Gold was going to be Ashley and Jackson's breakthrough single but it never really happened for them in terms of having a hit. This clip from 1991 starts with the titles and theme music which will push all kinds of buttons for some of you of a certain age...



Bassomatic's Fascinating Rhythm was a top ten hit in 1990 and still sounds pretty good today although that style of rapping has dated. This song aside Bassomatic are also known for having a pre-Madonna/All Saints William Orbit on board.



Yo! Here comes Normski again! This is Bizarre Inc, hugely popular up here in the north, with Playing With Knives. I love this record, it's crunching keyboard riffs, repetitive, cyclical vocals and breakbeat- and the on stage dancers.



And this is a beauty, The Beloved's It's Alright Now, a properly blissful, house tune, all positivity and optimism. Again this should have been a massive hit and wasn't.



Lastly for the moment The Shamen. Like The Beloved they started as an indie guitar band and then moved into dance music when it hit them. This performance of Hyperreal is pretty smart, the best version of this song, and has Will Sin in the group, before his untimely death in Tenerife in May 1991.



There's loads more of this on Youtube if you want more. And why wouldn't you?