ROLAND & ALBERT Release Uganda-Inspired EP on The Orb’s Orbscure Recordings on March 17th
ROLAND & ALBERT
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“Radio Active Camel Hair”
Roland & Albert Meet The Orb Upcountry in Uganda Will Be Released on March 17th
On March 17, 2022, Roland and Albert release their eagerly anticipated EP Roland & Albert Meet The Orb Upcountry in Uganda on Orbscure/Cooking Vinyl, the new label from The Orb’s Alex Paterson. The four-track release was recorded in Kampala, mixed in London and produced by the electronic overlords The Orb. Mixing traditional blues and Ugandan rhythms, Roland & Albert use this blend to connect the European music mind to the soul of African music. Ahead of their EP, they are unleashing the new track “Radio Active Camel Hair” which is available February 24, 2022. Listen here.
Coming from Kampala’s East African Records, the Paul Darnborough & David Cecil, sessions of Roland & Albert arrived at Orbscure HQ, erupting a vision within The Orb, connecting their ideas to create this Orbscure-minded project that will take The Orb beyond the horizons to Uganda and Kenya.
Roland & Albert Meet The Orb Upcountry in Uganda
Track listing:
Squirrels in Jumpsuits
Bachwezi Buganda
Roland & Albert meet the orb upcountry
Radio Active Camel Hair
Roland & Albert Meet The Orb Upcountry in Uganda follow recent critically acclaimed Orbscure releases The Heavens by Sedibus and Enter the Kettle by OSS.
Sedibus’ The Heavens was the result of reunion after three decades of Paterson with his original Orb bandmate Andy Falconer who engineered/co-wrote the ambient sides of the Ultraworld album back in 1991. A Closer Listen called The Heavens “a triumphant reunion for Alex Patterson and Andy Falconer, who last teamed up on The Orb’s Adventures in the Underworld 30 years ago” while IGLOO Magazine added it is “an epic, deliberate, and slowly evolving soundscape of soaring orchestral sounds and synthesizers.”
OSS’s Enter the Kettle featured the hard-edged metallic clang from “hardcase Yorkshireman” Fil Le Gonidec merged with Paterson’s soft southern influence of dubwise steppers, ambient house and trademark surrealist humor. A number of special guests contributed to the groundbreaking album such as official-other-half-of-The Orb Michael Rendall, plus Jah Wobble, Roger Eno and George Holt (whose credits include Depeche Mode and Erasure). Brooklyn Vegan called the album “a little dancier than the Orb, and more playful too” while Electric Sound chimed, “A free-sounding, enjoyable listen. Put this ‘…Kettle’ on.”
Orbscure Recordings
Always keen to collaborate, ever prolific, and with his creativity as flowing as ever, Orbscure Recordings is a new vehicle for The Orb’s Alex Paterson and his impressive quantity of output in different groups which runs parallel to his continued music within The Orb. Set up under the Cooking Vinyl umbrella at the suggestion of label head Rob Collins, Orbscure will also be an outlet for new music from artists from around the world. “The name is a play on the Obscure label Eno set up on Editions EG in the 1970s. Orbs Cure. Clever parrot-Orbscure! Orbscure! Orbs Cure for all ills. Orbs Cure made 2 chill,” states Alex.
Having helmed the Orb collective for over 30 years, releasing music on other people’s labels in partnership with various label managers/A&Rs, Alex now finds himself in the driving seat, coordinating an even wider group of talent. Picking up from his past experience as an A&R for the legendary EG Records, there is already a raft of new releases in the pipeline with three albums set for release this year. The label will feature artists from Uganda, Kenya, Argentina, Japan and America with further collaborative projects to follow.
