Oneohtrix Point Never - R Plus Seven

[Alcofribas]

small edit: "gravitas" might not be the correct word here. i guess for me it lacks depth maybe. i feel like the sound world is really intriguing but he doesn't really take it to a place that appeals to me. it's kind of like the character of the cliché sounds kind of takes center stage and I feel like I'm left hanging. like, "ok yeah these sounds could definitely be cool in some new and otherworldly piece of music...just, erm, not this piece."

 

it's hard to describe. At the very least i appreciate his intentions and sincerity.

 

and I agree with your post JE. it's confusing but in a stimulating way. yet, i feel like on all of his albums there's a weird inconsistency in taste or something. like, out of nowhere you get these absurd, cheesy and annoying gestures that really feel contrived and self-conscious. i will forever be put off by "child soldier" for instance with that incessant rhythmic sample that just makes me cringe. and in "zebra" sampling that George Winston but just seems so cheesy to me.

[Alcofribas]

one more brief thought.

 

over the years we've discussed how autechre have incorporated various elements of electronic genres, sounds, styles, whatever into their music. there's elements of hip hop, techno, musique concrete and so on. and yet, somehow they've managed to integrate everything into their own unique style in a really sophisticated and elegant way, so you might be able to hear the hip hop influence in a track but it's so embedded in their sound that it's almost like at the same time you might as well not refer to hip hop or musique concrete or whatever at all. it's like it's there and not there at the same time. perhaps it's what distinguishes their appropriation of these things from mere imitation i guess.

 

with opn on the other hand, i really can't help but feel his music relies far too much on referencing genres or eras in a way that can veer into rather heavy handed territory. like, here's the part with the chopped up commercial saying "reality" or something (so it's not just a silly old commercial we're nostalgic for but something even more profound), and here's the midi sax part, and here's the synth vox part, and here's the twirling kosmische thing and so on. it does sometimes come together in a rich way but for me it i feel like it just as often feels vacillating and superficial.

 

i feel like when autechre throw in some midi horn stabs the gesture is at once bold and surprising, humorous yet fitting; whereas when opn does it i often wonder what more could potentially be done beyond what is offered. basically ae-horn stab: wicked; opn-midi piano: ok then, now what? i mean, remember that Rene hell split he did? with the chopped up vox? i mean, that sounded like some random shit you do on your computer when you first get some new plugins and smoke a joint. and naturally the accompanying press release was all like "this is the future of sound" and shit.

 

i know it's sort of ridiculous to compare the work of ae and opn but it seemed like a frame of reference that might be useful on this forum.

 

maybe i'm just put off by the fact that the whole 80s/90s fetish thing is really in vogue now and i can't help but feel he's kind of playing into the hands of this trend when i'd rather he subverted it or something. i can't help but feel it is the opposite if avant garde.

 

I'd also like to say that i hope it's cool to assert a dissenting voice with the intention of providing substance to the discussion, and i don't mean to dis on an artist in a thread about his new release. just sharing my thoughts on an intriguing artist, don't cry pls.

 

sean pls

[awepittance]

 

I'd also like to say that i hope it's cool to assert a dissenting voice with the intention of providing substance to the discussion, and i don't mean to dis on an artist in a thread about his new release. just sharing my thoughts on an intriguing artist, don't cry pls.

 

sean pls

of course it's cool, I'm often astounded how little criticism is leveled at any music in here by the people who enjoy it and listen to it not just the people who aren't feeling it or dislike it. forum needs heaps more of it imo

[patternoverlap]

This threads has been an interesting read and I will certainly contribute when I get the CD and give it a thorough listen.

[Guest zaphod]

alfrocrabis has some good points there. i agree. i feel like his music always had this kind of affected quality about it, i just prefer something like russian mind to this kind of work. seems like he's very caught up in the vaporwave. i'm kind of surprised he didn't bring a more original point of view to this album. feels like the work that gets really hyped and lets people down prior to a truly innovative piece emerging. i guess we'll just have to hope that next salvia plath album owns hard, otherwise electronic music is probably gonna die.

[Cryptowen]

I look at the OPN discog pre/post replica same way I look at the aphex discog pre/post RDJ Album. In both cases the early stuff has a sense of whimsical simplicity, very much as if it was made just for the act of making it. The later material is more complex, has kinduva planned out sense of structure, as if the artist is aware of themselves & is actively attempting to make a statement

 

this is all my interpretation of course & I'd apply it to a whole buncha solo experimental musicians

[Plarkreluke Banloboh]

that track (zebra)really strikes me as having this impatient, meandering quality that confuses me. whie i don't necessarily mind any one part of it i do feel like it comes off as a kind of collage of fragments that seem like they just barely make sense together. in this way i feel like his music suffers from a really common problem with new electronic music, ie, the composition just doesn't feel very strong.

"Collage of fragments that seem like they just barely make sense together" is a really nice description but those impatient, meandering qualities you describe as confusing, could also be viewed as passages of suspense and intrigue within the overall pseudo-narrative-effect of listening to the album.

 

Talking about Problem Areas Lopatin said:

"I wanted to characterize a linear world with cracks in its edifice. One with a veneer of being breakable, but that instead just bends and stretches endlessly like rubber, preventing you from ever understanding its true properties. The proverbial endless vista,' but with an end.

 

So instead of the commonly relied upon movie-soundtrack metaphor, it might interesting to think of the album like an exploration of the unique physical properties of a virtual world. Regarding the compositions being strong or not, while there is a very conscious eschewing of anything resembling traditional start/middle/finish/verse/chorus/etc, I get the sense that is structured but in a more conceptual way. The ways in which it abruptly changes and shifts could be viewed as lazy compositional errors, or instead like 'glitches in the matrix'. As if we're getting unintentional glimpses into the fact that the whole illusion might be about to come apart at the seams.

[Plarkreluke Banloboh]

Q&A on the making of R Plus Seven:

http://www.stereogum.com/1459762/qa-daniel-lopatin-aka-oneohtrix-point-never-on-the-making-of-his-excellent-new-album-r-plus-seven/interview/

[Ivan Ooze]

so yeah, who else is exited to listen to this album for the first time

[Guest pixelives]

Just back from the Brooklyn show in a large church. All the tracks from the album were reinterpretations and vastly different and less collagey, more fluid. Lots and lots of bass. There was a reversion of Russian Mind and a few new tracks, as well. One with a very complicated harpsichord arpeggio run that reminded me heavily of the See on See vibe. There was even a new track which had such a pulsating element that it bordered on rhythm and reminded me of some of this new stark techno shit. Blacker than Black, Holden, even.

 

 

Overall pretty stellar. I kind of wished for a seamless set and not the more formal live thing of "here's a song, here's another song." Which would have allowed for a trippier vibe. After the first track and fade out people were unsure as wether to applaud, which reinforces this idea that seamless is better, I think.

 

Lights were off except for a few LED bricks and a projection behind.

 

Sound was VERY good, which sometimes isn't the case in churches.

 

I'm sure seeing him at Berghain next month will be killer on that system.

[Plarkreluke Banloboh]

Church of the Holy OPN! Where do I sign up?

[Guest bitroast]

That sounds a great deal better than his replica shows. They seemed a bit.. Uninspired and grating to me. I honestly just didn't get what he was doing (other than, filling that expectation to play live).

I dig the footage and recordings of him playing live with the Juno and delays and effects, and jamming out rifts style tunes.

 

But yes, this new set sounds interesting:)

[Guest pixelives]

Yeah, last time I saw him was 3 years ago and it was in a former autobody garage in Bushwick and it was v similar to the Juno with sequencer thing you are talking about.

 

Would probably benefit from more of a visual element and not just a 10ft projection screen behind i.e. lighting or laser efx. But fwiw his video collaborator (Josh something?) was on stage w him and mixing the visuals live.

 

Here's the room. Pretty great choice of venue for an album release.

[Guest bitroast]

hot damn i'm jealous.

[six]

Arg, forgot this was last night. Should have been there :(

[Guest zaphod]

wow, what a sausage fest

[Guest pixelives]

There actually were quite a lot of females there. I was pleasantly surprised.

 

If you're going to use my cell phone camera image as a statistical and scientific breakdown of the gender ratio of a concert .5 hours before it even was filled up, then by all means. But I think that you're actually confusing said image with WATMM.

[awepittance]

to me this is actually one of the most notable changes in experimental and electronic music scenes, that there is a VERY high ratio of female audience members compared to even just 5 years ago. I think at least in Oakland in San Francisco very rarely will i attend any type of underground electronic show with a ratio lower than 1/4th female. 50/50 is not that uncommon either. And this is not meant to be sexist but it could also be an indication of the watered down quality of a lot of electronic music in live settings, it used to be self evident that the music needed to be 'good enough' to keep the booze flowing until last call, but now the ladies need to keep flowing too and the club patrons know that in the end it will net them more alcohol sales, more guys needed to get socially lubricated to put their game faces on, etc

Travis Stewart is good example of someone who rose in this scene as a laptop nerd of sorts who now understands the plethora of hungry younger women out there who see him as a rockstar when he gets on stage

[yshf]

This is fascinating (thread and album).

In all seriousness.

 

Brooklyn church show sounds like it was lush.

[Guest pixelives]

This is one of the best changes I've seen over the last 2/3 years in NYC. A high ratio of females at parties/events/gigs/etc. The nerd beardo thing was pretty extreme for a LONG time and the only girls you saw were somebody's girlfriend. Now there are awesome ladies even putting on great parties. For instance a friend of mine does the Rinsed parties in NYC and last weekend they had Inner City with Kevin Saunderson and Paris Grey live PA! KILLER.

 

The 0PN gig was a dry event and totally anti club or socializing and everyone was there for the music. Also kind of refreshing and different to what I am generally used to.

[Candiru]

I saw Autechre on the Quaristice tour and there were plenty of hot girls there. IDM is a panty remover, bro. Proof.

[Guest bigs]

caught the release party in brooklyn. great sound, lovely room. sat in pews! anyway, he basically did a set that was a slightly embellished take on the album. quite nice!

[dr lopez]

This is one of the best changes I've seen over the last 2/3 years in NYC. A high ratio of females at parties/events/gigs/etc. The nerd beardo thing was pretty extreme for a LONG time and the only girls you saw were somebody's girlfriend. Now there are awesome ladies even putting on great parties. For instance a friend of mine does the Rinsed parties in NYC and last weekend they had Inner City with Kevin Saunderson and Paris Grey live PA! KILLER.

 

The 0PN gig was a dry event and totally anti club or socializing and everyone was there for the music. Also kind of refreshing and different to what I am generally used to.

 

also not IDM at all lol

[sheatheman]

Yeah, last time I saw him was 3 years ago and it was in a former autobody garage in Bushwick and it was v similar to the Juno with sequencer thing you are talking about.

 

Would probably benefit from more of a visual element and not just a 10ft projection screen behind i.e. lighting or laser efx. But fwiw his video collaborator (Josh something?) was on stage w him and mixing the visuals live.

 

Here's the room. Pretty great choice of venue for an album release.

 

I've been there once. Saw an Issue Project Room thing there. It was cool, and free. I think they have their permanent space set back up now, though. It's a great venue. What I saw there was a white bearded guy and an asian guy (with both of his parents there), strum autoharps over and over and over until the whole room was solid autoharp. It was cool though. Not compositionally groundbreaking, or even aurally, but everyone seemed to be enjoying the sound. They had a quardraphonic (could have been more than 4 actually) setup, you know, that whole crowd. It was a good way to spend a night in New York for sure.

[sheatheman]

 

at 0:52

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFcde9aI9Z0

 

at 0:00

 

:)

 

Wow. Lopatin has always been synced with my realm in some metaphysical way. I have that tape at home. This is from ebay, but yeah, I love that tape. I also have spring I believe.