Words and Photos: RBY
Marree Men are a joint project between The Orbs mainstay Alex Patterson and the D&B artist come Producer come poet, Gaudi. In a not a million miles away musical zone from The Orb they are an electronic duo mixing samples and live instruments and vocals but here it has a more dub flavour to it. There are insistent beats that capture the tapping foot and then the rest of your body and synths fly out across the venue with that broken rhythms straight from dub. Gaudi sings into a mic’ and then into a loudspeaker to add texture a flavour. Alex stands to the side controlling their complex electronics. The end result is intoxicating and deep, would love to listen to more recorded material on a pair of headphones but it transfers excellently to a live environment, compelling and always morphing into something else.
There’s a few changes on stage to the setup before The Orb take the stage, but from an audience perspective its very similar. Two people and a lot of electronics. There’s a more overt rhythmic drive to newer stuff and reworking of older classics, the ambient flavour is still very much in place and its the kind of sound that can consume you and take you on a journey, combined with a never ending backdrop that looks a bit over AI generated but still fascinates and fits exactly to the feel of the night. Like the music it constantly changes, zooming in endlessly on small details or falling ever out to show a greater and larger picture.
The Orb play with musical preconceptions, often messing around with their own sound and embedding ear catching moments that catch the already dancing crowd unaware. Its intelligently put together and there’s almost a constant questioning of how have they created one part from another yet it all segues upliftingly and seamlessly.
Links:
The Orb:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheOrb
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theorblive
Web: https://theorb.com
Marree Men
Bandcamp: https://gaudimusic.bandcamp.com/album/mind-the-gap-single
Gaudi
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gaudimusic