Lunar Orbit (2016)
The 70-minute film follows ambient pioneers The Orb as they work on their 2015 album Moonbuilding 2703 AD
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Pretty Good
Powerful
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...
Berlin, Germany. Two men in a humble flat-come-recording studio begin experimenting with various tempos and beats. "And stop," says one of them. "Start again...and stop, just random". That last adjective there is a very basic one worded description of Alex Paterson and Thomas Fehlmann creative process, the two original members of of The Orb, the subject of Patrick Buchanan's endearing and exciting debut documentary feature. Vibrantly lensed on a RED EPIC, 'Lunar Orbit' lovingly captures the unique relationship between Paterson and Fehlmann as well as providing keen insight into the origins of The Orb which is punctuated by contributions from Youth(Martin Glover, recording producer), Helen Mead (NME's first female section editor) and Guy Pratt (bass player who's worked with many big artists) to name but a few. This documentary felt like a discourse in creativity. The word 'random' can have negative connotations, but the documentary makes it clear that when applied to The Orb's way of working, it reinforces their need to engage, experiment and create original songs using surprising unusual sound design. Speaking of sound, this documentary would be incomplete if it didn't incorporate the ethereal aurals of The Orb, and Buchanan takes full advantage of his subject's works and combines it with stylish transitions and fades to create an other worldly experience, much like The Orb does with their music. I would have appreciated a few more tales of conflict and such for extra drama, but perhaps that's a cliché now with music documentaries, which makes this film quite refreshing in ways.This is a film that both fans of The Orb and newcomers can come to appreciate and Buchanan had the difficult task of making a documentary about a duo, who's music cannot be easily labelled, accessible. And he passes. With flying orb like colours.