oneohtrix point never

yeah I popped in on the way home from the phenomenal Aethenor/Alexander tucker show at cafe oto, just about everything would seem dry after that

kinda surprised that i'm the only one repping for this... i guess the chillwave backlash is in full effect

Is this really chillwave? I didn't get that feel at all when I listened to it. But what do I know.

it sounds like a far more palatable version of neon indian to me, but i am no expert either

to me it basically sounds like Akufen with 80's E-Z Listening samples and undanceable beats. not really into it for the most part.

yaaaa i don't see that at all. this is a dense and shiny synth-pop record (just realized they recorded this in jan hammer's studio) with a few retro-pastiche interludes imo

It's good shiny layered pop with some pretty catchy tunes in all. Just unsure as to whether I'd come back to it regularly or not?

...comsidering I've had those eps on rotation since I first heard em

Judging just from playing the stream a few times, I think the new Ford & Lopatin record is a total grower... I've liked it twice as much with each new listen. The production is incredible, and I can't wait to grab this on vinyl this week and crank the shit out of it. "Joey Rogers" is a titanic track, deep into "Big In Japan" by Alphaville territory. "Emergency Room" reminds me of Cupid & Psyche '85-era Scritti Politti--another earworm. It did take me a couple of listens to get used to how different it is from the Games EPs (which I also adore), but it's a real feast, and shows a huge amount of breadth, stylistically and sonically (which I also think takes a little getting used to).

inclined to agree with you clarke b. once you get over the fact it's not much like the EPs, this turns out to be a really stylish and much more realistic twist on eighties nostalgia. They seem to have tapped into that vein of unprejudiced listening I felt as a kid - where everything just sounds like music, be it Green Gartside or Cameo singing.

That's a great point. Lopatin has become one of those artists for me whose instincts I totally trust. It's deeper than just liking the sound of it, I dig the whole feel and aesthetic of it and I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt wholeheartedly. I want to say that it almost feels like it's asking a lot of listeners nowadays to change your style up so much and be so diverse and expect people to follow you (aren't we all a little more ADD-addled as listeners than we used to be? just by virtue of the ways music digestion and exposure have evolved?)... Just as I miss and get nostalgic about that feeling of it all just being music and not so aware of genre/politics/motivation/perception/whatever, I also miss and get nostalgic about really rooting for a band or a dude. I'm already anxious for a new Oneohtrix record to come out... Returnal continues to improve and deepen with each new listen.

God, I've really got to give Oneohtrix another go. I just never understood the point or why it's supposedly better than any number of third-rate IDM/ambient/drone/synth-dork acts from the last fifteen years. Def needs another go.

I've been thinking about that lately; it's hard to articulate... It feels thoroughly and carefully composed (though not exhaustingly labored-over like a lot of "intricate" IDM-ish stuff feels to me) as opposed to just loop-riding or drifting. That said, it feels organic (horrible word, I realize)--but not in that BoC "analog synths melting in the warm '70s sunlight" more overtly nostalgic way either. It feels like Lopatin is very in tune with the synth he's playing, and what he's doing with the music, and where he wants it to go. Its virtuosic in its sense of self-assuredness, but not in a drily technical way at all. Also, now that I think about it in relation to the Ford & Lopatin record and what I said about it above, Returnal really is quite diverse. There's a noise-blast track, a "pretty" track, a track with vocals, a track with percussive effects like I've never heard before... There are moments of ultra-density, moments of spareseness, and it flows beautifully. And man, just the SOUND of it, that fucking Juno--so nice.

someone on the Nite Jewel thread said her collab with Dam Funk was "the wrong end of the '80s" ... disagreed in that case but that's kinda how I'm feeling about Channel Pressure I think. I liked the Games stuff I heard but not really feeling this.

I rep hard for the wrong end of the '80s.

fair enough

And I can clearly remmeber a time when there wasn't even a "right end of the '80s"... So time'll tell with this one.

And man, just the SOUND of it, that fucking Juno--so nice.

This is really the nubbins of it imo

'the wrong end of the '80s' been hugely fashionable for several years now iirc. i'm hearing a lot of disparate sounds that remind me of thomas dolby b-sides or malcolm mclaren or japanese new wave. and a lot of italo.

i can also attest to this thing growing on you after repeat listens, especially w/ a track like "surrender" (the one with the dude from autre ne veut)... but can someone please point out how this is such a markedly different direction than the last ep? because i'm at a loss. i guess they use different vocalists on the album. and the drums are maybe a bit more complex, but the more i try to compare the two the more i realize i vastly prefer the album to those eps (except for "strawberry skies" of course)

*disclaimer* i have been playing this nonstop for the past few weeks and have chosen to embrace even its most cloying vocal performances (tho ironically i am still coming around on "the voices"). i think i've played the title track more than any other song this year so far

Love this. But it might be idiosyncratic...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAQkRF7QntY

The album is a lot more "pop" than the EPs' "Amiga-Funk" stylings. I hear the EPs as unturfed soundtracks from old TV adverts and theme tunes rather than pop songs. Planet Party especially makes me think somehow of those "and all because the lady loves... Milk Tray", or some Miami Vice type show.

The Voices I'd have thought would be the follow up single to Emergency Room.

'the wrong end of the '80s' been hugely fashionable for several years now iirc. i'm hearing a lot of disparate sounds that remind me of thomas dolby b-sides or malcolm mclaren or japanese new wave. and a lot of italo.

and I do love a lotta that stuff you're mentioning so I'm a bit surprised this doesn't do it for me

can someone please point out how this is such a markedly different direction than the last ep?

don't think it's a different direction but "cloying vocal performances" is what's putting me off a bit ... like I will tolerate that stuff in actual '80s music if other elements grab me enough but I don't want to hear it re-created

that said I only have listened to the album once

it sounds to me like Channel Pressure is more song-orientated than the '...Play' EP which is more about huge impact hooks (a la Braxe & Falke) and earworming ideas that imo are still crying out for extended dubs (including SS). i agree that the vocals hamper it as unfortunately they are closer to Tundra than Gartside.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM6qHiiBLao

Love this video

Anyone know who does the singing on these tracks? Is it all Joel Ford?

this is better the more you listen to it ime i guess its less... straightforward than the other stuff, spikier & less obviously pleasing at least to my ears.

there's a lot of detail going on. the tracks always stay constant but never sit still.

This indeed sounds AMAZINGLY good on vinyl. I've never really heard production quite like this before... There's an unbelievable amount of detail to each track, for sure.

I believe the elephant in the room with his project is a Mr. Ed Banger

are ed banger involved with this?

Something Chromeo-ish about this that kind of...I dunno. Like the Games stuff better.

i hear more chromeo vibes than ed banger vibes, but i can see why you would say that

haha xp

along with all the marginalia there are definitely some serious '80s stadium-rock influences

but again, you could probably say the same about "planet party" from the ep

Definitely into the 80s synth geekery on Channel Pressure... what takes away some of the pleasure is knowing it's like a concept/story album. I can't help but imagine the story in my mind listening to it, which makes me appreciate the music less for some reason. I like making up my own stories to songs, I guess.

I believe the elephant in the room with his project is a Mr. Ed Banger

― straightola, Wednesday, June 8, 2011 3:39 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

Jesus. Way to put me off ever wanting to here this!

uh, hear.

jesus indeed, it doesn't ACTUALLY sound very much like ed banger... only real similarities i can think of are compression (which is everywhere so w/e) and stadium rock homages

the production is so generous, all that choppy 80s synth bass, gymnastic vocal processing, cut up enya coos, loads of period production flourishes like adhd new age; the little ed banger i know makes a woeful comparison. it is PUNCHY tho. first that james ferraro record, now this, chillwave bros becoming v unchill sugar rush mentalists of late. the lyrics are like a masterful satire of chillwave - now i'm alone and the tvs on/its the colour of power rock - but i love them. this is so great, i'm surprised there's not more conviction on this thread.

adhd new age is a great way to describe this

Clarke B - thanks to your description of Oneohtrixpoint Never, I think I'm a convert! What I hadn't realised is how powerful the effect of his music has over me. Every time I've put it on, it's put me into a complete trance and I can't remember listening to it again. It's totally cerebral.

Think this is why Ford & Lopatin work so well - it's a real yinyang, right/left brain, apollonian/dionysian balance they have going on and it works.

While we're counting soundalikes for Channel Pressure, I feel like the VHS Head album from last year is an obvious predecessor.

I'm expecting this to have a lot of commonalities with the Valerie label roster (eg. Anoraak) - the Games EP sure did.

It's more, I dunno, home listening than the Valerie artists I've heard. Far more interesting production touches too.

My pleasure, Dog Latin, and I'm in total agreement on its immersive character... And Channel Pressure is SO GOOD, you guys. There are so many little surprises and delicious textures and squiggles and secret wormholes in the production; I've never heard anything quite like it. Something about the record reminds me, weirdly, of Paul's Boutique, but instead of spot-the-sample it's a game of spot-the-reference... There's one riff in "Joey Rogers" that's almost a direct quote of that crazy fucking robot-guitar finger-tapping-sounding thing just before the chorus in Yes's "Owner of a Lonely Heart"--but it's subtle. These guys have internalized this stuff so much that it doesn't sound like pastiche or overly reverential mimicry or anything; it's not "hey look at us we sound like '80s Yes and Thomas Dolby LOL"--their ids leak the shit.

I'm going to hold back on the effusive praise for this until I'm convinced it has the tunes and/or depth to hold my interest after the initial novelty wears off.

I hear you... I've personally had something or other from this record in my head nearly constantly since I started listening to it. "World of Regret" is there currently...

any reason to pick this up on vinyl?

(apart from retro fetishism that is)

I just like the way stuff sounds on vinyl. I have a decent setup and the bass is much richer and deeper on vinyl for me, plus everything is just a little more "present"... I'd wager that a lot of the stuff they're referencing was actually initially purchased mainly on cassette!