William Orbit - RIP

Sad news today is new that William Orbit, the UK producer,  artist and songwriter has passed away.

Certinaly for me, Orbit was responsible for much of the soundtrack of my life. His music under Bassomatic had a profound effect on my early production work - Fascinating Rhythm escpecially with its wonderful breaks, well chosen samples and dub influences. Then more ambient works with Strange Cargo - then  Pieces In A Classical Style topped the classical music charts for months.

His production and writing work on Madonna's Ray of Light - I mean c'mon Frozen is masterpiece, and arguably her best album up to that point, and then so many more:
Prince, Belinda Carlisle, Britney Spears, Mel C, Pink, U2, Katie Melua, Ricky Martin, Beth Orton, Sarah McLachlan, Queen, The Joy Formidable, Robbie Williams, All Saints, Kraftwerk and Sugababes to name the more well-known.

His unique workflow out of Guerilla Studios in London where he would famously fill a multi-track (tape) with ideas, music and samples, then remix on the fly with faders and mutes became legendary.
I met him once when he was recording at my local studio/club just around the time of Bassomatic - I did their live sound - him a percussionist and singer -  he just said: "just put 400ms delay on everything". 

 Talking to C4 in 2022:

Truly a unique talent and someone with a recognisable sound, big user of the juno 106 and Novation SuperBass Station amongst many other instruments. In more recent years he was seen experimenting with visual arts via his Instagram.

He passed away on the 23rd of July at home  and will be sorely missed by his familly and friends and music fans.
RIP William Orbit  aged 69 (no age really) 15th Dec 1956 - 23rd July 2026.

Another interview from a year ago:

And one more:
A classic. So many things - the strings, the Juno, the gated mono line, the filtered drum fills, the break, the oo-up oo-up that gets louder every time around. Marvelous

• Whats William Orbit Been Up To? 19-Jul-13