Just announced: the 2010 album Metallic Spheres by The Orb and David Gilmour has been reimagined and remixed as Metallic Spheres In Colour and will be released on 29th September, on LP, CD, and digital including Dolby Atmos and 360RA. You can pre-order now through the links given below.

Of this new reimagining, producer Youth said that "the idea for Metallic Spheres In Colour, was that Alex Paterson (founder of The Orb) could have done more on the first version, and he didn't really have the opportunity because we had a philosophy of making the music like the Blade Runner soundtrack meets Wish You Were Here. So, I asked him why don't we remix it and make it like an Orb classic? And in doing that, it's almost like a completely different album."

The original Metallic Spheres album initially released in 2010 was created almost by accident. In late Spring 2009 David Gilmour entered the studio to record the Graham Nash track Chicago/Change The World, originally by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, with all proceeds going to the campaign for the British hacker Gary McKinnon, who was facing extradition to the USA (later overturned and he faced no prosecution in the UK). The song also featured vocals from Chrissie Hynde, Bob Geldof and Gary himself and the campaign was also supported by Peter Gabriel, Sting and the actress Julie Christie. Ambient pioneers The Orb and producer Youth also lent their support to the campaign by remixing the track and they asked if David Gilmour would contribute further guitar parts at Youth's studio, The Dreaming Cave, in Wandsworth. Youth and Orb leader Alex Paterson turned this session into two ambient suites, the 28 minute 'Metallic' and the 20-minute 'Spheres' and released under the name Metallic Spheres, again with all proceeds going to Gary's campaign. The album was one of the first major releases to be issued in a version of surround sound called 3D60 Audio and remains a favourite among headphone aficionados.

The CD features two tracks, as does the LP (which, rather than Side A and B, has the Round Side and Flat Side!), as follows:
- Seamless Solar Spheres Of Affection Mix (20.07)
- Seamlessly Martian Spheres Of Reflection Mix (19.44).

For the digital, 360RA, Dolby Atmos and Streaming versions, the music is split as follows:
- Seamless Solar Spheres Of Affection Mix Movement 1 (11.29)
- Seamless Solar Spheres Of Affection Mix Movement 2 (8.52)
- Seamlessly Martian Spheres Of Reflection Mix Movement 1 (10.47)
- Seamlessly Martian Spheres Of Reflection Mix Movement 2 (09.16).

Ordering Information:
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Roger Waters will be turning 80 on September 6th. Still incredibly active, Waters has a huge number of fans and advocates in Denmark. Three of them are performing on Waters' birthday to celebrate his words, music and activism on a night that combines a one-hour lecture with a 90-minute-long acoustic concert.

Thomas Ulrik Larsen, esteemed songwriter, musician, journalist and lecturer, and friend of Brain Damage, opens the program with a talk about Roger Waters' background, the Pink Floyd years, solo career and Waters' current standing in today's musical and political climate.

After the lecture Thomas Ulrik Larsen (on vocals and guitar) will be joined by multi-instrumentalist Anders Haarh and singer/pianist Stine Liebman. The trio goes by the name Shrink Freud and plays acoustic interpretations of Roger Waters' best songs from his Floyd years as well as from his solo albums – both classics and rarities.

The venue is Kulturium, which is just south of Copenhagen, and the admission fee is a modest 80 Danish kroner (the equivalent of eight British Pounds). You can get your tickets for the birthday bash at Kulturium.dk.

Arriving in UK stores on Friday, August 4th (US on sale is September 1st), and available worldwide online is the new issue (issue 142) of the UK's Prog Magazine. Always a great read, this month's issue - as made clear from the striking cover - has a major feature of particular interest to Pink Floyd fans.

As you all know, Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon celebrated its 50th anniversary earlier this year. Following the album's release the band performed two shows at London's Earls Court venue, catapulting themselves into a world of huge arena shows and conceptual albums that would become their trademark. But at the same time it would also prove to be the start of the band's undoing. By the time they performed The Wall in 1980 at the very same venue, the writing was, well... The new issue of Prog explores how "Dark Side changed Pink Floyd forever. Ten years after its release the band were in turmoil..."

Elsewhere in the magazine, John Lees talks about the making of Barclay James Harvest's classic Once Again album while Soft Machine bring everyone up to speed with their brand new album Other Doors, as do prog Eurovision stars Voyager, while Enslaved's Ivar Bjørnson tells the magazine about his journey from extreme metal to prog, Nordic folk and beyond.

Plus Arjen Lucassen, The Fierce And The Dead, Mystery, Ring Van Möbius, Godsticks, Fate's Warning's Ray Alder, I Am The Manic Whale and Avenged Sevenfold bring us up to speed about their new albums and they review live gigs from Peter Gabriel, Porcupine Tree, Roger Waters, Muse and more...

Prog 142 also comes with four Pink Floyd postcards and there's a great 23-track Spirit Of Unicorn Records sampler featuring music from Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, John Wetton, DBA, Focus and loads more.

If your local store doesn't stock this magazine, you can get a copy, shipped anywhere in the world, through this direct link. Make sure you pick the correct issue!

Today would have been the much-missed, and much-loved, Richard Wright's 80th birthday. Today sees new mixes by Steven Wilson of Richard's debut solo album, Wet Dream, available on CD and all streaming platforms, with a deep blue transparent marbled vinyl being released on September 29th, and a blu-ray edition of the album following on October 20th (November 10th in the US). The vinyl reissue sees it on the format for the first time since its original release in 1978. It is on streaming platforms for the first time ever including a new Dolby Atmos mix, and the Blu-ray edition of Wet Dream includes the Dolby Atmos mIx, a 5.1 surround mix (DTS-HD Master Audio 96/24), the new stereo mix in Hi-Res Audio (96/24), and exclusive personal images and videos from around this period of his life. It's housed in a book format with four collectable postcards and an 8-page booklet. Since the initial announcement, the Blu-ray has been expanded to also include a flat transfer of the original pre-master of the 1978 stereo mix, taken from the analogue reels, as well as Steven Wilson's 2023 instrumental stereo mixes of the four vocal tracks on the album being added.

This reissue comes with brand new artwork that was commissioned and art-directed by Gala and Jamie Wright, Richard's children and managers of his estate. As per the original release, the bi-fold sleeve folds out to extend the image and features the same vibrant colour palette. This time, the unidentified person in bright red shorts is swimming within deep blue waters of the sea rather than a pool and the image expands out to reveal a boat slightly out of their reach, referencing the nautical theme of the record. The image was taken by Costas Spathis, a photographer living and working in Greece, which is where the album was written and the graphic design is by Carl Glover. The original artwork was designed by Storm Thorgerson and photographed by Audrey Powell for Hipgnosis and features in the vinyl booklet.

Upon rediscovering this record (broadly speaking, quite overlooked or unknown by some Pink Floyd fans), it becomes hugely apparent how much of Richard's DNA runs through Floyd. His distinct rhythm patterns, song structure and style of play exudes throughout, shining a light on his unique talent and influence on modern music.

Yesterday evening, at the Dolby Listening Room in Soho, London, family (most of Richard's were there), friends, and selected media were treated to a pair of playback sessions - in the pitch black - which straddled a Q&A session with Steven Wilson, hosted by Guy Pratt. First, the playback: this was the Atmos mix which is coming in September on the Blu-ray of the album, and simply put, it sounded absolutely superb. The clarity, power, and sheer musical and emotional impact made for a truly memorable night. The Q&A with Steven led to some fascinating insights into the process of finding the original master tapes (which were held at Universal in London), then getting them "baked" by Damon Iddins at Astoria (David Gilmour's houseboat studio), before Steven could take the separate 24-track recordings and create the remix, which gives us an album which has never sounded as good as this!

Here's a glimpse at the Q&A, and the message to the attendees on a screen in the Ray Dolby Lounge (a separate screen was showing home video footage of Richard, which should be on the Blu-ray when that is released).

 

Finally, if you've yet to hear it, here's a taster of the album:

ORDERING INFORMATION: All purchases made after using one of our links make a small but vital contribution toward the site running costs, and we really appreciate it! The links below will be made live as we get them...