Oneohtrix Point Never

i still can't get replica

  On 8/7/2012 at 8:28 PM, Alcofribas said:

dude is playing a MoMA and you're asking how he's overrated?

 

i personally feel his music is just not that good. in no particular way does he distinguish himself as the FA have -- his synth noodlings are unoriginal, his beats are boring, his vocals are half-baked harmonizer riffs, his sampling is just not up to par.

 

basically, he's "OK" at everything he does. nothing more.

and this is a very fair assessment, i think at least with the subforum artists even if you overtly dislike the music you can't deny that the artists have been innovators and trail blazers to a large extent, maybe with the exception of Plaid. Thats the odd man out in the subforums as far as im concerned. BOC is on the verge but even though im not a fan, i have to admit that they started a wave of imitators compositionally and in production style

i still love a lot of OPN's music, i just think that it becomes a problem when you start believing that your shit doesnt stink. Hopefully he isn't one of them, im just pointing out that it is a common phenomenon when you become so well loved so quickly

i like to fantasize and idealize an era of artistic circles, when competition and criticism was encouraged, but that era probably never existed.

  On 8/7/2012 at 6:45 PM, Npoess said:

Everybody who thinks he's overrated clearly haven't listened to 'Rifts' enough.

  On 8/8/2012 at 7:03 AM, gmanyo said:

  On 8/7/2012 at 6:45 PM, Npoess said:

Everybody who thinks he's overrated clearly haven't listened to 'Rifts' enough.

This. I think it was the vocal sampling that really brought Replica down. The rest of it was pretty cool. Hopefully it's something he's not committed to exploring further.

  On 8/8/2012 at 6:59 AM, Awepittance said:

i still love a lot of OPN's music, i just think that it becomes a problem when you start believing that your shit doesnt stink. Hopefully he isn't one of them, im just pointing out that it is a common phenomenon when you become so well loved so quickly

have you seen his red bull lecture? ( http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/lectures/oneohtrix_point_never_replication )

he really doesn't strike me as the sort of person you're concerned he might (turn out to) be. he seems very down to earth

  On 8/8/2012 at 7:57 AM, Tauhid said:

  On 8/8/2012 at 7:03 AM, gmanyo said:

  On 8/7/2012 at 6:45 PM, Npoess said:

Everybody who thinks he's overrated clearly haven't listened to 'Rifts' enough.

 

This. I think it was the vocal sampling that really brought Replica down. The rest of it was pretty cool. Hopefully it's something he's not committed to exploring further.

Maybe, but I think it's just different (well, not quite as good, but I still like it). Which is good, because Rifts and Returnal were super similar; I'm glad he branched out, and I hope he does explore it further. Plus, Sleep Dealer is an amazing song.

Replica was definitely a change of pace & not every track has totally clicked for me just yet, but the ones that do are pretty awesome & I think it shows he isn't committed to just sticking with wandering synth arpeggios.

In a way the album almost feels like a maturing look at those wacky movie dialogue song remixes that have been popular on Youtube for years now

I feel like his albums have a couple/few really cool tracks and a lot of so-so stuff. I suspect he can't actually write an album, just collections of tracks of varying quality. and this seems like a pretty common issue with electronic music these days

Cbat (0:25 in)

Replica was my soundtrack to Winter '11. As an album, it's quite a claustrophobic and oppressive listen, so I can fully understand why newcomers, and longer term fans of OPN's earlier releases, aren't too big on it. Reading interviews at the time of release, he often brought up how when sampling, his attention was focused on taking the 'in-between' elements from things like old TV commercials and stretching them out to exist and be larger than the sum of their parts. I'm not arguing that this technique is somehow wonderfully unique, or that his sampling skills are equal to, say, 'DJ Shadow: the early years'. If anything, it feels to me like Replica is just OPN jamming a sampler, not getting too bogged down in the details too much. He's at an interesting crossroads as an artist now, but I'm not hoping for 'Rifts 2: Rift Harder'. It was serendipitous that the compiled releases for Rifts worked so well together, but that time is done. Where he goes on from Replica is of most interest to me, but from what I've read and seen (especially the Red Bull interview), OPN is nothing but humble and gracious about his position, and how he got to where he is now.

  On 8/8/2012 at 11:26 AM, thief said:

  On 8/8/2012 at 6:59 AM, Awepittance said:

i still love a lot of OPN's music, i just think that it becomes a problem when you start believing that your shit doesnt stink. Hopefully he isn't one of them, im just pointing out that it is a common phenomenon when you become so well loved so quickly

 

have you seen his red bull lecture? ( http://www.redbullmu...ver_replication )

he really doesn't strike me as the sort of person you're concerned he might (turn out to) be. he seems very down to earth

Cheers for the link, didn't know this existed!

so much cooler shit has been done with sampling though, MBM, like all of hip hop, zoviet france, coil, etc.

it's like every time he uses an arpeggiator or a sampler people forget how high the bar really is.

he's got some good tracks no doubt, and at least he's not Emeralds-Tangerine Dream-Cover Band, but fucking hell we're supposed to be an electronic music forum...where's our standard?

  On 8/8/2012 at 8:24 PM, Alcofribas said:

so much cooler shit has been done with sampling though, MBM, like all of hip hop, zoviet france, coil, etc.

 

it's like every time he uses an arpeggiator or a sampler people forget how high the bar really is.

 

he's got some good tracks no doubt, and at least he's not Emeralds-Tangerine Dream-Cover Band, but fucking hell we're supposed to be an electronic music forum...where's our standard?

It's not technically amazing, but that doesn't mean it's bad. It's not meant to be "cool", it's just meant to portray an aesthetic, something which bands who do "cool" or "complex" things with samples can sometimes overlook.

no, I think it's very much meant to be "cool." he just played pitchfork.

Whether it's 'meant' to be cool or not, some of it is undoubtedly so!

  On 8/8/2012 at 9:26 PM, Alcofribas said:

no, I think it's very much meant to be "cool." he just played pitchfork.

I'm saying that the music isn't necessarily trying to do anything new or complex, just trying to sound good and portray feeling. It's less than original, it's purposefully unoriginal; it's music that matches culture's memory of the 80s. Hauntology, I guess you could say. He's doing with the 80s what BoC has done with the 70s.

Just don't listen to replica for a month, then get shitfaced and put it on, worked for me

lol, be back in a month

  On 8/8/2012 at 8:18 PM, Ascdi said:

  On 8/8/2012 at 11:26 AM, thief said:

  On 8/8/2012 at 6:59 AM, Awepittance said:

i still love a lot of OPN's music, i just think that it becomes a problem when you start believing that your shit doesnt stink. Hopefully he isn't one of them, im just pointing out that it is a common phenomenon when you become so well loved so quickly

 

have you seen his red bull lecture? ( http://www.redbullmu...ver_replication )

he really doesn't strike me as the sort of person you're concerned he might (turn out to) be. he seems very down to earth

 

Cheers for the link, didn't know this existed!

I like his reasoning for the Echo jams.. basically anything he likes in pop that he wants to hear over and over, he just fucking loops. Makes sense to me, sometimes I just want to hear the hooks, no tension building or nothing

  On 8/8/2012 at 7:21 PM, encey said:

Cbat (0:25 in)

explain.

saw him in berlin during the transmediale with the joshua light show - it was an amazing experience. A lot of people left the theater and it got a pretty bad review from the radio/webmag in berlin I work with - but I loved it. The latest album was an interesting shift and fusion of his earlier explorations, though I agree, it has some fillers on it. Very hyped to see where he leads us next

Cbat sucks! I love the Satin Panthers EP but that squeaky melody is just terrible. Throw it over a staid hip-hop beat and some hi-hat triplets, and you have yourself a shit sandwich.

Plus, the horns on the intro are awesome, and they never make a comeback!

ps: I had never heard "Physical Memory" before reading about it in this thread, and I think that's a great track. Even Alcofribas might get a precum droplet over that one.

that is a pretty lush track.

i think if one serious and probably mostly agreed upon complaint can be lodged against him is that his live show isn't good. He plays mostly just audio recordings/mixdowns of tracks that he's already made. For someone doing such a live and elegantly simple process for making music (a juno and a few delay/looper pedals, at least back when i saw him, because he essentially just played tracks made that way) it seems like a wasted opportunity to at least not do a track or two using that same studio process on the spot. More room for error, but if you don't take the risk you're basically just a DJ.

Absolutely bloody spot on ! I think that's why I have been disappointed (disappointed may be too strong a word) with the two live sets I've seen him do. Sonically there was so little straying from the albums (aside from some sections being slightly longer) and the visuals just seem to have so little relation/syncing to the music playing

I agree with awe & mcb. I've seen him twice now, and both times he's been at the laptop, 'checking email' stylee. I was disappointed not to see him wig out on his Juno (or someone else's - those muthas are a heavy-assed nightmare to transport!). I'd take that over a near approximation of the original tracks found on the albums. Awepittance is right, there is little risk/reward involved in just playing back parts and slamming a bit of effects processing every now and then. I think I was happy to hear his tracks played back in a crowd setting, especially the second show which was in an old 100 capacity seated arthouse cinema, but I never felt wowed by either performance. I did record both, I'll upload them if anyone's interested (they are still a good listen, despite what I've said!).