Over the past few months, CoS has kept a pretty close eye on former Pink Floyd guitarist/singer David Gilmour, and while it seems our wishes of an extended Gilmour/Roger Waters reunion won’t be happening any time soon, at least the man isn’t sitting at home sulking as Waters performs to sold-out stadiums across the country. In fact, Gilmour has teamed up with The Orb, arguably one of the most influential electronic groups of all-time, to continue pushing the limits of recording technology.
To begin the recording process of Metallic Spheres, Gilmour entered the studio with legendary psychedelic trance producer Martin “Youth” Glover to lay down various guitar and lap steel tracks. The Orb, led by Alex Paterson, then worked these unfinished tracks using keyboards, turntables, laptops, and other forms of sound manipulation, for inclusion on the upcoming release.
What at first seems like an unusual collaboration, is actually just a union of mutual fans. Patersen has never downplayed the influence Pink Floyd on his early Orb tracks. His group’s first releas , The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld, contains the track “Back Side of the Moon” and the album’s artwork is a direct reference to Floyd’s Animals. And in an interview with Melody Maker back in the ’90s, Gilmour admitted that he would often turn on The Orb for late-night relaxation.
Metallic Spheres will be available October 5th via Columbia Records. The album will be released as double LP with a “Metallic Side” and “Spheres Side”, as well as CD and digital formats. Now for the really amazing part. As part of the two CD release, the second CD contains tracks recorded in the 3D60 technology, giving the listener unlimited spatial audio even while wearing a normal set of headphones.
So definitely pick up this album the next time your friend Lucy plans a visit — I know she’ll dig it. Plus, your purchase will help out a worthwhile cause: DavidGilmourBlog.com reports all of the royalties from Metallic Spheres will go to support the campaign against the extradition of super-hacker Gary McKinnon.
