Torch Song \u2013 Mothdoom Ecstasy (1986)<\/p>\n
William Orbit\u2019s first band were a curious business. Torch Song had one foot in the pop mainstream \u2013 their biggest success came about when one of their tracks was featured on the soundtrack of the Tom Hanks-starring sex comedy Bachelor Party \u2013 and one in the left field: they recorded at London\u2019s anarchist hub Centro Iberico, famed for staging gigs by Crass and Throbbing Gristle; they covered the Velvet Underground\u2019s Venus in Furs. Mothdoom Ecstasy is very much of its time \u2013 stuttering samples, booming drums \u2013 but in its hazy synth textures and ethereal female vocals, you can definitely hear intimations of Orbit\u2019s future approach.<\/p>\n
Prince \u2013 The Future (Remix) (1989)<\/p>\n
In the late 80s, Orbit did a series of mainstream pop remixes \u2013 for Belinda Carlisle, among others \u2013 and released the first in his series of solo Strange Cargo albums: its beatless synth-drifts and instrumental dance tracks sounded like the work of a man subconsciously waiting for acid house to happen. When it did, Orbit plunged in head first: a so-so track from Prince\u2019s Batman soundtrack, The Future already had a distinct hint of house music about it, but Orbit\u2019s remix \u2013 made in partnership with Mark Moore of S\u2019Express \u2013 dragged it firmly into the centre of a sweaty rave.<\/p>\n
Bassomatic \u2013 Fascinating Rhythm (1990)<\/p>\n
Bassomatic: Fascinating Rhythm \u2013 video<\/p>\n
Augmented by vocalist Sharon Musgrave and rapper MC Inna Onestep, Orbit\u2019s new dance project had some odd ideas, a house version of Pink Floyd\u2019s Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun among them, but their big hit \u2013 Top 10 in the autumn of 1990 \u2013 was a breakbeat-fuelled, dub-tinged dance-pop anthem. Again, it sounds very much of its era 36 years on, but that\u2019s part of its charm: Fascinating Rhythm exudes the bright-hued, saucer-eyed optimism that dance music brought to the British charts in the years immediately after the Second Summer of Love.<\/p>\n
React 2 Rhythm \u2013 Intoxication (Clubfield mix) (1991)<\/p>\n
In a sense, it\u2019s a little cheeky including the Clubfield mix of Intoxication in a list of Orbit\u2019s best tracks. His involvement with the music seems a little tangential \u2013 he\u2019s credited with \u201cvocal samples\u201d \u2013 and besides, this version is all about Leftfield\u2019s remix. But no survey of Orbit\u2019s career would be complete without mention of Guerilla Records, the progressive house label he co-founded in 1990, which released Intoxication, alongside classics by Spooky, DOP and the Drum Club. And besides, it\u2019s a total classic: any excuse to revisit its absolute beast of a rhythm track.<\/p>\n
William Orbit \u2013 Water from a Vine Leaf (1993)<\/p>\n
Orbit\u2019s first Strange Cargo album seemed like a curio: an outlier in the pop landscape of 1987. By 1993, the project made a lot more sense. In addition, the music had developed a fresh sense of focus, as evidenced by the opening track of Strange Cargo III. With vocals by Orbit\u2019s then-girlfriend Beth Orton, Water from a Vine Leaf was the perfect demonstration both of his ability to create a warm, cosseting, slowly drifting soundscape and of his melodic skill: it became a minor UK hit before enjoying a lengthy afterlife as a mainstay of chill-out compilations. And the Underworld remix is the perfect example of the then-emerging trio\u2019s unique approach to dance music.<\/p>\n
One Dove \u2013 Breakdown (William Orbit Stereo Odyssey) (1993)<\/p>\n
One Dove\u2019s Morning Dove White was the post-club soundtrack of 1993 \u2013 a beautiful, Andrew Weatherall-produced blur of dub, dreamy electronics and girl-group influenced heartbreak \u2013 before becoming the great lost dance album of the early 90s: all-back-to-mine ubiquity ultimately didn\u2019t translate into chart success. It was the kind of music for which Orbit had an innate affinity: his remix of Breakdown decorated the song with strings, harp and off-beam electronics, stretching it out for nine minutes, as if he \u2013 quite understandably \u2013 didn\u2019t want it to end.<\/p>\n
William Orbit \u2013 Barber\u2019s Adagio for Strings (1995)<\/p>\n
William Orbit: Barber\u2019s Adagio for Strings \u2013 video<\/p>\n
The most famous of Orbit\u2019s solo albums, Pieces in a Modern Style, saw him reworking classical music at the suggestion of label boss Rob Dickins: a pretty ghastly idea on paper, but one that Orbit made work. A trance remix of Barber\u2019s Adagio for Strings by Ferry Corsten propelled the track into the UK Top 5: ageing Gatecrasher kids<\/a> would doubtless disagree, but the original, which gently warps Barber\u2019s 1936 piece into nine minutes of soft-focus but sorrowful ambience \u2013 a distant relative of Brian Eno\u2019s approach to Pachelbel\u2019s Canon on Discreet Music \u2013 is better.<\/p>\n Beth Orton \u2013 She Cries Your Name (1996)<\/p>\n Orbit and Orton had a lengthy and fruitful musical partnership that outlasted their romantic relationship \u2013 they released a version of John Martyn\u2019s Don\u2019t Want to Know About Evil as Spill in 1992 and were still collaborating on Orbit\u2019s final album, The Painter, 30 years later. Orbit recorded his own version of their co-authored song She Cries Your Name on his 1995 Strange Cargo album Hinterland, but it\u2019s Orton\u2019s take \u2013 the opening track on her fabulous Weatherall-produced breakthrough album Trailer Park \u2013 that\u2019s the definitive version: careworn, misty, its sound strangely timeless.<\/p>\n William Orbit and Madonna accepting the Grammy award for best pop album for Ray of Light. Photograph: Youtube\/GRAMMYMadonna \u2013 Drowned World\/Substitute for Love (1998)<\/p>\n Madonna employed Orbit as a producer and co-songwriter on 1998\u2019s Ray of Light after being impressed by remixes he\u2019d done of Justify My Love and Erotica. Orbit later said the singer\u2019s demanding approach nearly \u201ckilled\u201d him \u2013 \u201cI was done in physically\u201d \u2013 but the resulting album sold 16m copies, catapulted him into the premier league of pop producers, and may well be the best album to bear Madonna\u2019s name. The five-minute opening track perfectly demonstrates how simpatico the pair were: Madonna\u2019s voice \u2013 sounding far more intimate than usual \u2013 fits perfectly as Orbit\u2019s musical backing continually changes shape \u2013 icy ambient, a beat with a whisper of drum\u2019n\u2019bass about it, guitars and a surprisingly intense climax.<\/p>\n Blur \u2013 Tender (1999)<\/p>\n