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Tuesday, Aug 11, 2026 – Remembering William Orbit

William Orbit
December 15, 1956 – July 23, 2026

Acclaimed, Grammy-winning and Echoes favorite, William Orbit, has left the planet, departing on July 23 at the age of 69.

William Orbit was one of those shadowy figures in contemporary music. His credits turn up on albums by Madonna, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Kraftwerk and Prince. He made dance music under the names Torch Song and Bass-O-Matic, and recorded five albums of techno-impressionistic music under the series name Strange Cargo, the title of an old Joan Crawford movie.

Orbit made music between worlds, tottering on a faultline between dance and ambient music. He even released electronic renditions of classical works. He grew up on progressive rock but found himself working as a remix artist, turning tunes by Sting and Prince into new variations. That, along with his evolutionary step on Strange Cargo III led to Madonna’s Ray of Light, which he co-produced and partly wrote. In 2006, he released the brilliant Hello Waveforms under his own name, an album that carried forward the luminous electronic sound he brought to Ray of Light.

He continued creating, recording two more Strange Cargo albums, ending with Strange Cargo 5 in 2014, which was never conventionally released. You could stream and download it on Soundcloud and Musicbrainz, but none of that seems functional at this time. Hello Waveforms, in particular, has always stood out for me with its ambient-noir moods. His final album, in 2022, was a beautiful swan song called The Painter. It had all those Orbit elements that made us love him: sensual melodies, seductive grooves and great, sultry singers like Beth Orton, Natalie Walker and Polly Scattergood. He created songs that floated your mind on wisps of incense smoke, but carried you out the window into an urban landscape.

William Orbit took ended his final trip around the sun on July 23, although his death wasn’t reported until nearly two weeks later. He appeared on Echoes twice in interviews, and his music has been a mainstay of the show. His loss is deeply felt. We remember William Orbit on Echoes.

Wednesday, Aug 12, 2026 – Echoes Program 2632C

Electronic artist Craig Padilla and guitarist Marvin Allen have released a quartet of albums that traverse the world of ambient, progressive rock and psychedelic music. Their latest is Unfolding Skies. It was the Echoes April 2026 CD of the Month.  Its cosmic sounds were all recorded in Craig Padilla’s living room.

Craig Padilla: “We did the first song, and when it was done, Marvin goes, ‘Padilla, make another sequence.’ And so he and my wife would go into the kitchen and just talk and I’d be out here just working on some other song ideas and then he’d go, ‘Ooh, that sounds good.’”

Craig Padilla and Marvin Allen talk about their journey and reveal the story behind “Jammin’ with Buddha.”

Read John Diliberto’s review of Unfolding Skies and explore the Echoes CD of the Month Club.

Thursday, Aug 13, 2026 – Echoes Program 2632D

Music by new wave pioneers, Orchestral Manouevres in the Dark. This electronic duo is still creating sophisticated electronic pop in the 21^st century. Their new album is Bauhaus Staircase. John Diliberto walks in their steps on Echoes from PRX.

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Friday, Aug 14, 2026 – Echoes Program 2632E

On a Slow Flow Echoes, music by Kinobe who channels ’60s instrumental film sounds on his album, Over the Horizon. We’ll also hear Jeff Oster‘s downtempo, low-fi ambient jazz from his album, H0wling L00n. John Diliberto is howling at the moon on Echoes from PRX.

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Monday, Aug 17, 2026 – Echoes Program 2633A

On the next Echoes, it’s the return of Suzanne Perry. She was the voice of Love Spirals Downwards, the American dream-pop duo. After many years, she’s returned with solo music on an EP called There’ll Be No More Promises. John Diliberto promises you’ll hear it on Echoes from PRX.