Electronic duo High Frequency Bandwidth are set to release their debut full-length, Hell Fire and Brimstone, on the British label Malicious Damage.

HFB is the most recent project of Dr Alex Paterson, the brain behind the The Orb and all around electronic music guru. The duo’s other half is Dom Beken, a jack of all trades whose credentials include studio work for David Bowie and music production for everything from TV commercials to Bollywood Films. HFB have so far released several tracks digitally, and produced the score for the Playstation 3 game PixelJunk Shooter, which recently earned them a BAFTA nomination. On Hell Fire and Brimstone, Beken and Paterson continue to blend electronic beats and elements of hip-hop, with guest appearances by Funky DL and Dynamax of Zulu Nation. In keeping with their weird titular motif, all tracks on the new record begin with the letters H, F and B, along with almost everything else in the duo’s catalog so far.

In addition to Hell Fire and Brimstone, Malicious Damage is also releasing HFB’s first three EPs, all of which are untitled. EP 1 hits stores today, and the other two are slated for release later this month and in May.

Tracklist
01. Hundred Forty Billion feat. Dynamax
02. HeptaFleuroButryl feat. Funky DL
03. How Far Back?
04. Harmless Feather Bed feat. Dynamax
05. Hallo From Berlin
06. Hot From Behind
07. Happiness Feels Brilliant
08. Hill Film Blues feat. Dynamax
09. Hey, Fizzy Bubbles!
10. Hell Fire and Brimstone
11. Hidden Foto Banks
12. Holes for Black
13. Harmonic Five (Beatless)
14. Hitchcock’s First Bugle
15. Hitchcock’s First Blunder
16. High Five Brother
17. Huge Fiery Ball

Malicious Damage will release High Frequency Bandwidth’s Hell Fire and Brimstone on July 12th, 2010.
Label: Malicious Damage

The Orb - Bagdad Batteries

SOME INTERESTING FACTS
The Baghdad Battery was first described by German archaeologist Wilhelm Konig in 1938 after it was found, with several others, at Khujut Rabu, just outside Baghdad. The jars are thought to be about 2,000 years old and consist of an earthenware shell, with a stopper of asphalt. Sticking through the top of the stopper is an iron rod. Inside the jar the rod is surrounded by a cylinder of copper. Konig thought they looked like electric batteries and published a paper on the subject in 1940. Several years later, Willard Gray of the General Electric High Voltage Laboratory in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, made some reproductions. When filled with an electrolyte, like grape juice, the devices produced about two volts of electricity.

In 1953, Remington Records of the USA began taping some of its sessions in stereo, eventually releasing the first stereophonic phonograph discs to the public in 1958.

Well this is not a history lesson, this is about The Orb! Baghdad batteries is the third Orbsession Album, the official release will be September 7th. Japan, advanced release will be August 26th with Japan only bonus track.

Malicious Damage Records, in association with the-situation modern is proud to present the first ever live performance by THE ORB of the forthcoming album, Baghdad Batteries featuring Dr. Alex Paterson and Prof. Thomas Felhmann. There are still tickets left so hurry up.

More news coming up soon…

NEW RELEASE: The Orb – The BBC Sessions 1991-2001. Despite me having the Strange Fruit Peel Session CD from 1991 in my Orb-Collection, this new repackaged and remastered 2CD offering has brought together a large slice of the Orb’s BBC sessions into one easy to listen package.

I might be a little cynical about The Orb these days, hey! Deluxe versions of U.f.Orb, Adventures Beyond… Cydonia and Orblivion, same music in a new plastic box, all about the money? I am a hardcore fan of Orb and i crave for some new fresh music from the Orb! Let’s turn back time some 10 years Alex and Kris with some talented producers like Youth and Lewis… Those were the times! They made music that blew you hair back! Only wishful thinking from my side.

I guess I’ll be picking up this CD eventually when it hits my face in some store, but it’s not one of those rare Orb CD that you go turning the internet upside-down to find [...]

Tracklisting:

The BBC Sessions 1989-2001 Disc 1

1. A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld (Loving You) [John Peel Session 3/12/1989]
2. Back Side Of The Moon [John Peel Session 3/12/1989]
3. Into The Fourth Dimension [John Peel Session 3/12/1989]
4. O.O.B.E. [John Peel Sessions 12/5/1992]
5. No Fun [John Peel Sessions 12/5/1992]
6. Once More [The Evening Session: 1/3/2001]
7. I Am The Red Worm [The Evening Session: 1/3/2001]
8. EDM [The Evening Session: 1/3/2001]

The BBC Sessions 1989-2001 Disc 2

1. Plateau [Mark Radcliffe 12/7/1995]
2. Oxbow Lakes [Mark Radcliffe 12/7/1995]
3. Towers Of Dub [Mark Radcliffe 12/7/1995]
4. Montagne D’Or (Der Gute Berg)[John Peel 14/2/1995]
5. Perpetual Dawn [Lamacq Live 12/10/1998]
6. Egnable [Lamacq Live 12/10/1998]
7. Assassin [Lamacq Live 12/10/1998]
8. Toxygene [Lamacq Live 12/10/1998]
9. Little Fluffy Clouds [Lamacq Live 12/10/1998]

Label: Universal Island Records, Format: File, MP3 320, Album Released:2008 Genre: Electronic

For those interested into the story behind the remastering, take a look at the blog below.
Mastering The Orb – Complete BBC Sessions

The Orb – Aubrey Mixes: The Ultraworld Excursions

Aubrey Mixes mixes is my favorite orb album and one of my top 10 album cover designs as well. This is a scan from my CD version of the Cumulus Nimbus press. I have worked with the colors and made it as clean and true to the original as possible.

Track listing:

01. Little Fluffy Clouds (Cumulo Nimbus Mix)
02. Back Side of the Moon (Under Water Deep Space)
03. Spanish Castles In Space (Castles In Goa Mix)
04. Outlands (Fountains Of Elisha Mix)
05. A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld (Loving You, Aubrey Mix Mk II)
06. Perpetual Dawn (January Mix 3)
07. Spanish Castles in Space (Extended Youth Mix)

These amazing remixes are produced and remixed by Youth, Pal Joey, Ready Made, to name a few. This album is very rare and out of print, but if you love ambient music i recommend you to try to get you hands on this masterpiece.

Aubrey Mixes: The Ultraworld Excursions is a remix album compilation by The Orb, which was deleted on the day it was released. The album consists of seven alternate mixes of their first album, The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld. Five of these mixes are also available on the 2006 Deluxe Edition re-release of The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld.