Oneohtrix Point Never

*high fives*, which goes back to my original point.. Daniel got famous very fast... probably so fast that he never had much experience working out a live set or did much playing around in small venues experimenting with what works and what doesnt. I could be completely wrong though, for all i know he spent years playing in Brooklyn coffee shops with a Juno and boss delay pedal and he's over it.

The 'live show' product of a lot of these new bands that get an insane amount of super quick hype like Salem or Zomby goes to show that there is something valuable about spending a long time learning the chops, gaining experience points of playing bad and good shows at shitty or cool places (WITHOUT a built in audience of people who just read about you on Pitchfork, Fact-mag or Resident Advisor).

Some of his songs make him one of my heroes. Some others.. not so much.

There were plenty of OPN (and pre-OPN) shows with keyboards. Boston as well as Brooklyn, though. For whatever that's "worth" in the hyper-jaded house of criticism we appear to be now inhabiting in this thread.

I mean, comparing OPN to _Salem_? REALLY?!

i think you missed my point. the only shows i've seen play are with a laptop playing back audio tracks. I'm not comparing him to salem. Jaded, sure, but adding the word 'hyper' to it seems a little overly sensitive

Meh. What I don't understand is why this has to be about "chops" or "putting in [one's] time" and not simply "I [do/do not/only slightly] care for the man's music". Why is it necessary to like, put someone down or presume to know something about their LIFE TRAJECTORY instead of just like, discussing their work based solely on its (very rich) aesthetic qualities alone?

Talking about "paying one's dues" and chops is so lame. Like, what is this, the Joe Satriani messageboard?

I don't give a shit about most of the discussion of the last couple pages. It's turning into another WATMM fart chamber. Anyway, I really love a lot of his music. "Explain" is so fucking gorgeous. It's one of those tracks that made me aware of an emotion I'd forgotten or never knew I had.

That RBMA interview is great, so many good points and ideas in there.

  On 8/10/2012 at 9:57 PM, Awepittance said:

*high fives*, which goes back to my original point.. Daniel got famous very fast... probably so fast that he never had much experience working out a live set or did much playing around in small venues experimenting with what works and what doesnt. I could be completely wrong though, for all i know he spent years playing in Brooklyn coffee shops with a Juno and boss delay pedal and he's over it.

 

The 'live show' product of a lot of these new bands that get an insane amount of super quick hype like Salem or Zomby goes to show that there is something valuable about spending a long time learning the chops, gaining experience points of playing bad and good shows at shitty or cool places (WITHOUT a built in audience of people who just read about you on Pitchfork, Fact-mag or Resident Advisor).

I think he gained infamy in his town and got kicked out of most places that had let him do live shows there (before he was famous, I mean).

  On 8/11/2012 at 1:15 AM, gmanyo said:

I think he gained infamy in his town and got kicked out of most places that had let him do live shows there (before he was famous, I mean).

F'realz? I could see that happening in a small town, but I thought he was from like Boston or NYC where you think there'd be a market for longform electronic ambient shows

  On 8/11/2012 at 3:41 AM, Cryptowen said:

  On 8/11/2012 at 1:15 AM, gmanyo said:

I think he gained infamy in his town and got kicked out of most places that had let him do live shows there (before he was famous, I mean).

F'realz? I could see that happening in a small town, but I thought he was from like Boston or NYC where you think there'd be a market for longform electronic ambient shows

Can't remember where I read it; I think in an interview, maybe on Pitchfork. I could be mistaken, though.

  On 8/7/2012 at 8:47 PM, Cryptowen said:

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

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

I assumed that was just a lucky break with some MoMA person being a fan of his music, & not an indicator of wider acclaim, but I might be wrong

 

Also I agree that most of his sounds aren't new or groundbreaking, but to me the appeal is the unencumbered way he seems to approach these old ideas, as if they were just being discovered now instead of 30/40/50 years ago (depending on the album). To me it returns a sense of freshness to simple electronic concepts, & that's kind of refreshing in a genre that sometimes seems obsessed with recombobulating itself in an attempt to gain ammunition in the weird sounds arms race

I thought of this thread a little over the weekend (sad, I know) and this is basically the conclusion I came to. I really appreciate how he uses basically 80s/90s production technology, but not in a kitsch/retro/nostalgia way. More finding like new (to him, at least) sounds and ideas in older hardware technology. This reminds me of a few other people doing similar things like Ekoplekz, Bass Clef, maybe even some witch house. It also reminds me a little of the demoscene, for example Ed Svärd's C64 music.

This production approach might not be unusual or new, but it feels fresh to me. It seems like a natural reaction to the market domination of all the characterless iPads and USB MIDI controllers, and an extension of the recent indie modular synth boom and DIY hardware projects happening now like the Shruthi-1. That whiff of authenticity, even if it just means using old gear. Barf, I'm making it sound pretty gimmicky. It could end up being just a fun trend (I really like this shit!) but it seems to have solid roots to me. I for one will enjoy it while it lasts.

On the other hand, OPN playing tracks off a laptop does not bode well for my theory

  On 8/13/2012 at 7:05 AM, sweepstakes said:

On the other hand, OPN playing tracks off a laptop does not bode well for my theory

I dunno, to me it kind of does. There are a relative ton of producers doing the old gear for nostalgia's sake thing right now, & probably if they had the means they'd be doing vintage hardware shows to show how cool & retro they are.

The fact that OPN makes tracks with old gear but plays them off a laptop to me suggests that the fact they were made on old gear isn't what's important, that's just what he happened to be using

  On 8/11/2012 at 12:36 AM, Ascdi said:

put someone down or presume to know something about their LIFE TRAJECTORY instead of just like, discussing their work based solely on its (very rich) aesthetic qualities alone?

well i wouldn't describe what i said as any kind of put down, and if i was actually just dissing on him as a person you would have a point, but i can't help but feel like you're being extremely fanboyish overly sensitive about the whole discussion. His music is really good, i enjoy the aesthetics of it, but when you imply it's foolish or somehow inappropriate to criticize what his live show is now (in the face of how extremely good his studio output is now) or speculate (not presume) i totally loose you. If there were a bunch of trolls in the thread ruining the fun of talking about Oneohtrix i'd have some sympathy, but it's so far away from what actually took place. I'm sorry that i'm not sychophantically in love with the people behind the things i listen to.

Edit: just reading back to your response, i was never talking about 'paying your dues' if that's what you thought i meant you still have no understanding of what i was trying to say. Kinda frustrating to voice some constructive criticism and then have people get all bent out of shape about it, oh well.

  On 8/10/2012 at 9:57 PM, Awepittance said:

Daniel got famous very fast... probably so fast that he never had much experience working out a live set or did much playing around in small venues experimenting with what works and what doesnt.

??

Anyway, it’s all good. I like sounds.

Nice studio, might drop by next month while I'm in town for Sonar and ask for a listen of the OPN material...

so if underground electronic musicians don't make that much money anymore how the hell does he afford all that stuff?

I don't think they're his, I think it's the studio he's going to.

good point. I'm sure i'm not the only one who wonders how much OPN makes from his music (and other electronic musicians)

Most of that stuff looks like it belongs to the studio. Pretty badass amazing.

i'm sure he makes next to nothing.

He does also have Software.

come on OPN how much do you make you CUNT?

nice avatar post synergy