So, I kind of cheated with this album. A couple years ago, I decided to start paying for music. Whenever an album was leaked, I would be tempted to download it. But due to some bullshit sense of morality, I instead waited for the actual release date to get the album legally.
R Plus Seven presented a different challenge. Not only was this my most anticipated album of the year, but OPN albums usually take a good month or so before they fully "click" for me. Which wouldn't normally be a problem, but I have 7 people who read my blog who I just know are dying to hear what I think about the new OPN album. I couldn't force them to wait a whole month to hear my opinion!
Alright... so I just wanted the album as soon as it leaked. Sue me.
Please don't sue me.
Oneohtrix Point Never has had a pretty interesting trajectory over his career. Returnal was full of industrial, synth-based ambient music that sounded like it belonged in the world of Terminator. The clincher that jumped this album up from "good" to "genius" was the first track, "Nil Admirari"; a noise piece so intense that the rest of the album after it is like a cathartic release of euphoria. 2011 saw the release of Replica, full of samples of early 90's commercials spliced together in disjointed ways, yet producing a finished product that was easy listening and challenging all at once.
I'm not 100% sure how the sounds on R Plus Seven were created, but it sounds to me like he almost combined the two ideas of the last two albums. I think it sounds like he played music on a synthesizer, chopped it up into samples, and then created an entirely new piece of music from the scraps.
R Plus Seven is a strange beast. At times, it has some of OPN's most accessible and immediate music. However, most of the songs on here are treated like mini-suites in which you get 3-4 songs all in the span of 4 minutes. Sometimes you can hear a theme between the suites, but more often it sounds pretty random.
Take "Americans" for example. It starts with a playful sample of birds and those laughing Boo ghosts from Mario games (awesome sample) and skitters into an awesome piece with xylophones, harpsichord, synth strings, and synth vocal samples. This fades into a really messy sounding rumbling that is kind of confusing. We then fade into an ambient synth drone, cut off abruptly by the most beautiful moment on the album full of sweeping synth choirs, astral vocal accents, and another xylophone sound. Just as this song is really starting to take flight--it ends.
This album is full of moments like these: symphonic, gorgeous, confusing, and nearly always too short.
One thing I read a lot online when people are describing this album is that this album is a lot like going into a museum of modern art. There's a lot of cool stuff to see, but there's also that weird scribbled drawing in pencil that could have been done by a child. This album feels like an art exhibit. Daniel Lopatin is throwing so many unique and peculiar ideas onto the canvas that it would be surprising if you loved every single moment on this record.
Namely, he uses synth choir vocals in a lot of places, to the point where it really gets corny. Also, "Inside World" is absolute garbage, and "Problem Areas" is mostly annoying.
Aside from that though, I am really loving this album. Like other OPN records, I'll be listening to R Plus Seven and snap out of it only to realize I've been listening to the album on repeat for 3 hours. When I first got the album, I was listening on headphones to "Americans" in awe, only to shit my pants when I opened my eyes and saw my wife in front of my face trying to get my attention.
If you are unfamiliar with Oneohtrix Point Never, I encourage you to check him out with an open mind. His music really has the ability to transport you somewhere else if you let it. If you are familiar with OPN, well... get on that shit, homes.
I'm not 100% sure how the sounds on R Plus Seven were created, but it sounds to me like he almost combined the two ideas of the last two albums. I think it sounds like he played music on a synthesizer, chopped it up into samples, and then created an entirely new piece of music from the scraps.
R Plus Seven is a strange beast. At times, it has some of OPN's most accessible and immediate music. However, most of the songs on here are treated like mini-suites in which you get 3-4 songs all in the span of 4 minutes. Sometimes you can hear a theme between the suites, but more often it sounds pretty random.
Take "Americans" for example. It starts with a playful sample of birds and those laughing Boo ghosts from Mario games (awesome sample) and skitters into an awesome piece with xylophones, harpsichord, synth strings, and synth vocal samples. This fades into a really messy sounding rumbling that is kind of confusing. We then fade into an ambient synth drone, cut off abruptly by the most beautiful moment on the album full of sweeping synth choirs, astral vocal accents, and another xylophone sound. Just as this song is really starting to take flight--it ends.
This album is full of moments like these: symphonic, gorgeous, confusing, and nearly always too short.
One thing I read a lot online when people are describing this album is that this album is a lot like going into a museum of modern art. There's a lot of cool stuff to see, but there's also that weird scribbled drawing in pencil that could have been done by a child. This album feels like an art exhibit. Daniel Lopatin is throwing so many unique and peculiar ideas onto the canvas that it would be surprising if you loved every single moment on this record.
Namely, he uses synth choir vocals in a lot of places, to the point where it really gets corny. Also, "Inside World" is absolute garbage, and "Problem Areas" is mostly annoying.
Aside from that though, I am really loving this album. Like other OPN records, I'll be listening to R Plus Seven and snap out of it only to realize I've been listening to the album on repeat for 3 hours. When I first got the album, I was listening on headphones to "Americans" in awe, only to shit my pants when I opened my eyes and saw my wife in front of my face trying to get my attention.
If you are unfamiliar with Oneohtrix Point Never, I encourage you to check him out with an open mind. His music really has the ability to transport you somewhere else if you let it. If you are familiar with OPN, well... get on that shit, homes.
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