POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Orb Entrances in a 3-Hour Show

In the last year, fans of the underground dance scene known as rave have discovered that good rave music doesn’t have to have a pounding beat. “Chill-out rooms” at the transient dance clubs have spawned a more relaxed, subtle electronic music that’s aimed at moving the mind as well as the feet. Although some call the ambient and atmospheric sound elevator music for the ‘90s, ambient rave masters the Orb entranced the capacity crowd at the Park Plaza Hotel on Saturday, even if the spacey mixes didn’t make the crowd dance.

During the late-night, three-hour-plus show, the duo of Alex Paterson and Thrash (backed by live bass and drums) created music that ebbed and flowed, its driving tribal beats lapsing into sparse lulls of deep space. Their pulsing bass seemed to bend the walls and move the floor enough to knock you off balance.

Standing behind turntables and a massive mixing board, obscured by blinding strobe lights aimed into the audience, the Orb generated thick mixes that teemed with fleeting sonic images of air raid sirens, barking dogs, chirping birds and crashing waves. A few times, the group took breaks to have a smoke and chat among themselves behind the recorded sounds of maniacal dialogue.

The Orb’s sheer weirdness, displayed in its innovative, off-the-wall mixes and knack for turning computer-produced noise into warm washes, kept the set alive and breathing. Elevators should sound this good.