William Orbit to release album

Multiple Grammy® Award-Winning producer and composer William Orbit has been in high demand as a producer and remixer for over a decade, most famously working with Madonna, U2, Blur, Britney Spears and Pink to name a few. Although best known to American audiences for his Grammy®-winning production work on Madonna’s multi-platinum record Ray of Light (1998), Orbit has actually been pioneering his unique combination of ambient electronica and acoustic music since the early 90s.

After a 10 year hiatus from his solo work, Orbit returns with Pieces In A Modern Style, Vol 2- the follow up to Pieces in a Modern Style (2000). Pieces In A Modern Style, Vol 2 features his own spin on works from Vivaldi, Bach, Edward Elgar and Jean Mouton among others and will be available on Decca October 26th. A second 14-track companion disc will be available exclusively at all digital outlets on the same date.

Orbit’s love of classical music is evident on Pieces in a Modern Style 2.

“My parents loved classical music,” Orbit said. “So those sounds come naturally to me. [Classical] was the only music that was played in our house. That’s why I keep returning to classical pieces for inspiration.”

He gives Greig’s “Peer Gynt” a funky disco feel while keeping ambient chill rhythms and on Puccini’s “Babbbino,” from the opera “Gianni Schicchi,” he delivers a more straightforward arrangement for grand piano and strings. Bellini’s “Sonnambula” gets the expected dreamy, trance-inducing touches, while the first Prelude from Bach’s “Well Tempered Clavier” takes flight with its familiar melody surrounded by sounds that suggests the eerie rustling sound of the wind.

Orbit notes; “I get immense pleasure from doing these remixes. I love messing around with palettes, sometimes tinkering around with the inversions, sometimes taking the diabolical liberties and sometimes being totally faithful to the original but putting it all through my own aesthetic process.”

Eventually William Orbit hopes to tour in support of Pieces In A Modern Style 2, but hasn’t yet figured out the format of the shows. He’s aiming for some combination of performance, lecture and DJ dance concert. As he told the BBC: “I’m not playing arenas and it won’t be all ambient. I love to see people getting up on their feet and dancing, even if the ushers have to come and tell them to sit down again.”

www.williamorbit.com

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