Artist: William Orbit
Title: Hello Waveforms
Label: Sanctuary Records
By: Mark Holloway | 17 January 2006
Tracklist:

1. Sea Green
2. Humming Chorus
3. Surfin
4. You Know Too Much About Flying Saucers
5. Spiral
6. Who Owns The Octopus?
7. Bubble Universe
8. Fragmosia
9. Firebrand
10. They Live In The Sky
11. Colours From Nowhere

William Orbit "Hello Waveforms"

William Orbit is a man of many respectable accomplishments in his career. Starting with the critically acclaimed and pioneering ambient solo album 'Strange Cargo' in 1987, he unknowingly planted the seeds for a genre that continues to gain a massive audience worldwide. Almost twenty years since his first album was released, William provides yet another astounding ambient masterpiece that combines beautiful soundscapes, esoteric beats, and the perfect hint of vocals. The album is titled 'Hello Waveforms' and is easily one of his finest masterpieces of his career.

The first track is titled 'Sea Green' and is a perfect opener for this album. Beautiful pads and little melodies are so addicting it makes the listener wish the song would keep going non-stop. An element that always puts Orbit at the top of the producer's list is the way he goes above and beyond just knob twiddling. The listener is always captured with elements of guitar riffs and other live performances that blend perfect with the synthesized ambient sounds. It’s almost like being in a cyber fairy-tale.

For those who can't get enough of Orbit's melodic hooks and liquid analog sounds there is plenty to be heard on tracks like 'You Know Too Much About Flying Saucers' and 'Who Owns the Octopus'. With the rapid growth of the chill-out music scene, William Orbit still has a signature sound that is second to none. One the stand-out tracks of this disc is 'Fragamosia' and is a perfect blend of slightly more uptempo beats, organic pads, a nice guitar solo, complimented by a dark and haunting quartet.

As the album moves forward it pushes the creative envelope a bit further with tracks like 'Surfin' and 'They Live In The Sky; which take on a bit more of a live feel. Drums carry on with a live-performance as opposed to being programmed. Vocals are silky smooth and guitars subtly sit in the mix rounding out the keyboards and bubbly synthesizers in a complimentary way. The final track of this disc is 'Colours From Nowhere' and is the perfect ending track to a fantastic musical journey. Most of this song is an ambient feel while the breakdown is accompanied by a brief set of beats, then a nice guitar solo winds the song almost all the way down until the listener is then gently let go into the fading swells and pads. It's as if the cyber ferry-tale was too good to be true and the album is finished.

William Orbit has managed to create yet another amazing album that puts him at the top of his game. With the perfect blend of programmed beats, live performances, and unique swelling sounds, Hello Waveforms is nothing short of pure artistic expression that is refreshing for anybody to listen to, appreciate, and fall in love with.