the orb: history of the future part 2

History of the Future Volume 2 highlights The Orb's often criminally overlooked but wildly creative 21st century catalog. Released on a variety of labels with new and old collaborators, Alex Paterson's post-2000 volley of sonic experiments retains the essential Orb ethos while returning to the underground that spawned it. This collection charts these exciting new strata, beginning with 2002's bold Badorb.com label venture, Paterson's Battersea cottage industry that presaged internet fever by releasing extremely limited digital EPs by The Orb and his mates, along with tasty T-shirts and coffee mugs. A few tracks from this enterprise are included here, including The Orb's "Cool Harbour." Also included are cuts from The Orb's time with respected German electronic label Kompakt, when Paterson and long-time collaborator Thomas Fehlmann released several low-key EPs and 2004's acclaimed album Okie Dokey It's The Orb On Kompakt. After Bicycles & Tricycles (2004), Paterson teamed up with original partner-in-aural-mischief Martin Glover aka Youth plus Dreadzone's Tim Bran for 2008's towering bass-fest The Dream. History of the Future Volume 2 chronicles these two albums with several tracks including "Aftermath," "Gee Strings," "From a Distance" (co-written with Jimmy Cauty), and "Vuja De." In 2012 Paterson and Fehlmann recorded their monumental collaboration with Lee 'Scratch' Perry in Berlin, released as The Orbserver in the Star House and including "Golden Clouds," the reggae legend's own take on an early version of the classic Orb hit "Little Fluffy Clouds." The following year's sequel, More Tales from the Orbservatory, is also represented here, with Deadbeat's dub of "Fussball." The Orb's spaced odyssey after the '90s hits period is, in many ways, more exciting, innovative, and even fun -- the pressure was off and the real mischief could begin. The Orb has also continued to create significant, groundbreaking music since 2000, as beautifully displayed in this sparkling new collection. Bass is the place. Includes remixes by Spud, Kreature, Abacus, Blast Master, The Corpral, Oicho, Ricardo Villalobos and Max Loderbauer as Villod, Dabrye, and Deadbeat.