Metallic Spheres (feat. David Gilmour)

Although Metallic Spheres is a three-track EP, it stretches out just shy of an hour. What's more impressive is that the Orb landed David Gilmour in the studio, where he actually played outside on the deck. While many modern musicians hark back to more obvious Floydian influences such as The Wall or anything involving the late, great Syd Barrett, Metallic Spheres recalls those electronic experiments recorded on Ummagumma and the orchestral parts of Atom Heart Mother. Gilmour's lap-steel revives tones last heard with his work on Unicorn's 1974 debut Blue Pine Trees. His guitar is instantly recognizable on "Metallic Side" — so much that he may need to dust off the laser light-show should he ever join the Orb in a live setting. "Sphere's Side" opens with samples of seals under ice from Werner Herzog 2007's documentary Encounters at the End of the World before the Orb's signature ambiance bubbles and blossoms with familiar beats and layered progressions of natural sounds. "The Cult of Youth Ambient Mix, Pts 1 & 2 (Edit)" mashes both movements in a CliffsNotes-esque summation.