Plateau

The Orb emerged from the ambient house scene of the late 1980s — Alex Paterson building music for the comedowns between rave peaks. Their early records were enormous in scope: textures moving slowly over long durations, designed to be heard rather than played.

Plateau, from U.F.Orb (1992), is characteristic Orb at their most expansive: a slow drift of synthesizer pads, found sound, samples that surface and disappear, rhythm functioning as texture rather than engine. Music that asks the listener to slow down rather than speed up.

The Orb's influence on ambient techno and chill-out music is substantial. Their 1991 single "Little Fluffy Clouds" remains one of the most distinctive recordings of the decade.