FFWD▸▸ (The Orb & Robert Fripp) - Orbert FFWD Demo 1993

“Here’s the 51 minute ’Orbert’ demo for FFWD’s eponymous album released in 1993. Orbert is, of course, a conflation of Orb and Ro(bert). FFWD stands for Thomas Fehlmann (Sun Electric), Robert Fripp, Kris Weston, and Dr. Alex Paterson (of the Orb), and as that lineup suggests, was probably ambient’s first supergroup. Although a one-off project with no certain plans of reconvening, the album resulting from the few days in the studio spent recording it is a landmark of experimental ambient and surprisingly unlike the various projects its contributors are known for. Closest in feel perhaps to some of the Orb’s more recent releases (Pomme Fritz and Orbus Terrarum), FFWD deviates strongly in its sparseness and subtlety. Fripp’s guitar is heavily atmospheric and subjected to the sort of heaping effects processing Fehlmann and Weston are known for; Paterson reportedly recorded hours of the virtuoso just noodling around on his six-string and assembled the bits into usable passages