Oneohtrix Point Never - R Plus Seven

2013 is definitely one of the best years for electronic music in a while. even though i don't like him opn is obv a major player

  On 6/23/2013 at 1:27 AM, Alcofribas said:

2013 is definitely one of the best years for electronic music in a while

The vibe I'm starting to get is that 2012 was the year "random internet producers" became an actual thing that got actual attention, with genres revolving around a sort of "anyone can & should do this" aesthetic. Basically it felt to me like certain sounds & production styles, as opposed to any specific artist or album, were what really grabbed the spotlight. Some kinda musical socialism thing going on? I dunno, I thought it was neat anyway...

But uh point is 2013 feels like a bit of a response to this, with the big(ish) names in electronic music stepping up to the plate & going "hey, hold up dudes. Big defining albums can still be a thing. Just you watch". If Aphex or Kraftwerk or somebody were to announce a new lp it would lock me into this idea more, tho

i totally feel you on this.

  On 6/23/2013 at 2:48 AM, Cryptowen said:

 

  On 6/23/2013 at 1:27 AM, Alcofribas said:

2013 is definitely one of the best years for electronic music in a while

The vibe I'm starting to get is that 2012 was the year "random internet producers" became an actual thing that got actual attention, with genres revolving around a sort of "anyone can & should do this" aesthetic. Basically it felt to me like certain sounds & production styles, as opposed to any specific artist or album, were what really grabbed the spotlight. Some kinda musical socialism thing going on? I dunno, I thought it was neat anyway...

 

But uh point is 2013 feels like a bit of a response to this, with the big(ish) names in electronic music stepping up to the plate & going "hey, hold up dudes. Big defining albums can still be a thing. Just you watch". If Aphex or Kraftwerk or somebody were to announce a new lp it would lock me into this idea more, tho

 

Kraftwerk claim to be working on a new LP: http://www.factmag.com/2013/06/12/kraftwerk-confirm-new-studio-album-in-the-works/

No word of a release date, but I live in hope.

On another note, I want to have a kid just so I can bore him stories about all the great records that came out in 2013.

Now is my favorite time in music ever. So much available for so little, random producers making amazing music, big names stepping up the game, pop music regaining relevancy, and the destruction of the walls between mainstream and homebrew. I feel like years later we're going to look back on this as some of the best days in music history. It'll be up there with the early '90s IDM, the '60s and The Beatles, the '50s and musique concrète.

ok, gmanyo...can you give me a list? I'm retarded when it comes to new music.

"2013 was the best year on electronic music"

- Arthur Schopenhauer

  On 6/23/2013 at 7:02 AM, gmanyo said:

Now is my favorite time in music ever. So much available for so little, random producers making amazing music, big names stepping up the game, pop music regaining relevancy, and the destruction of the walls between mainstream and homebrew. I feel like years later we're going to look back on this as some of the best days in music history. It'll be up there with the early '90s IDM, the '60s and The Beatles, the '50s and musique concrète.

  On 6/23/2013 at 7:39 AM, lumpenprol said:

ok, gmanyo...can you give me a list? I'm retarded when it comes to new music.

Well as far as pop music goes, I feel that there's a general consensus that there's some good in it now, more so than before. Ten years ago everyone was complaining that pop music was all about "bling and hoes" and had no creativity whatsoever. Now it's all about bling and hoes, but it seems to have more creativity, with artists like Kanye and Skrillex and Gotye making stuff (granted, these aren't that interesting compared to underground music, but it's pretty different compared to 10 years ago, which I would argue was the worst time in pop history).

But more importantly, anyone can make music now for amazingly cheap and put it online. This has led to really cool movements on many fronts, especially the electronica front. Years ago it cost so much to put out an album that you could only do it with big name backing. Now you can put stuff up on Soundcloud whenever. This has also led to a bunch of cool bandcamp netlabels like Beer on the Rug.

And the internet has made new music easily findable. With music sites like Dis Magazine, Factmag, Pitchfork, Tiny Music Tapes, etc, it's super easy to find the newest music across many different genres.

It's not so much that it's about certain music specifically, more the broad availability of it. Some would argue quality should come before quantity, and while this is true I think there is a large quantity of quality music, even if a bunch of shit is out there as well. Typically better stuff gets more attention, which is the reason I think music review sites are useful: not because they tell you what's good or bad but that they can fill you in on the latest notables.

yay!

  On 6/21/2013 at 7:24 PM, Cryptowen said:

 

  On 6/21/2013 at 7:17 PM, jasondonervan said:

basically cements the idea that DL is a genuine and articulate guy who's doing what he loves.

I do like the fact that he comes off as sort of a jokey chilled out stoner dude in interviews, because as much as I like the 5th dimensional new age aesthetic thing he does on the albums, I'd be kinda bummed if he was some sort of self-serious robe-wearing guru irl, constantly going on about the eternal return etc

 

Yeah I like that too - it's a great and encouraging interview.

He also addresses why he doesn't use percussion:

Participant: I know what you mean, using arpeggiation or all sorts of things, but let’s say that tomorrow you wake up in your mesh shorts and you’re an awesome drummer, would you have drums on that stuff? Or have you developed rhythm in such a way that now it’s done?

Oneohtrix Point Never: I know what you mean, but I don’t think so, not in this lifetime. What I’m good at doing is creating this slightly offset space, this space that’s my own and part of it was when you have the rhythm track that’s hard that’s fixed, you’re on rails, in a way that I’m never comfortable with in my musical context. But clearly, Premier is fucking awesome. I listen to so much music with drums that I don’t feel is limited by those drums whatsoever. If I added drums I’d just feel like I’m doing some Flying Lotus stuff or whatever. And he’s real good at what he does, but I don’t think it’s for me necessarily.

  On 6/22/2013 at 2:11 PM, PikkioMania said:

 

  On 6/21/2013 at 7:34 PM, Rulohead32 said:

WHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhatWHETwhat

to me sounds like "footwerkfootwerkfootwerkfootwerkfootwerkfootwerk" maybe i've listened too much footwork/footcrab. Anyway great expectations from R+7 this 2013 is making me crazy.

 

Hah, I heard "footwork" too.

  On 6/24/2013 at 4:14 AM, gmanyo said:

 

  On 6/23/2013 at 7:02 AM, gmanyo said:

Now is my favorite time in music ever. So much available for so little, random producers making amazing music, big names stepping up the game, pop music regaining relevancy, and the destruction of the walls between mainstream and homebrew. I feel like years later we're going to look back on this as some of the best days in music history. It'll be up there with the early '90s IDM, the '60s and The Beatles, the '50s and musique concrète.

 

 

  On 6/23/2013 at 7:39 AM, lumpenprol said:

ok, gmanyo...can you give me a list? I'm retarded when it comes to new music.

 

Well as far as pop music goes, I feel that there's a general consensus that there's some good in it now, more so than before. Ten years ago everyone was complaining that pop music was all about "bling and hoes" and had no creativity whatsoever. Now it's all about bling and hoes, but it seems to have more creativity, with artists like Kanye and Skrillex and Gotye making stuff (granted, these aren't that interesting compared to underground music, but it's pretty different compared to 10 years ago, which I would argue was the worst time in pop history).

But more importantly, anyone can make music now for amazingly cheap and put it online. This has led to really cool movements on many fronts, especially the electronica front. Years ago it cost so much to put out an album that you could only do it with big name backing. Now you can put stuff up on Soundcloud whenever. This has also led to a bunch of cool bandcamp netlabels like Beer on the Rug.

And the internet has made new music easily findable. With music sites like Dis Magazine, Factmag, Pitchfork, Tiny Music Tapes, etc, it's super easy to find the newest music across many different genres.

It's not so much that it's about certain music specifically, more the broad availability of it. Some would argue quality should come before quantity, and while this is true I think there is a large quantity of quality music, even if a bunch of shit is out there as well. Typically better stuff gets more attention, which is the reason I think music review sites are useful: not because they tell you what's good or bad but that they can fill you in on the latest notables.

 

Excellent post. This is exactly why people who utter shit about music being bad now in any manner baffle me. I think there are drawbacks to the internet: it makes many superficial listeners (first by hoarding mp3s, now by sharing and retweeted and re-posting things they casually like then forgetting them) and I was guilty of that in that past. The idea of "canon" and truly singling out great records is a bit iffy now too, especially when hype causes people to deem things "classics" or "essential" to the point of removing meaning from such words.

I would of loved to have things like last.fm, spotify, turntable.fm, etc. back when I really got into music in 2003 and 2004 - I used to browse allmusic.com all the time (i look back at that with some nostalgia actually) and in college in 2004 and onward I would listen to a lot of music that was historically considered important by many that I actually didn't like. I downloaded and inadvertently purged gigs and gigs of music in 2007 - then i found obscure music blogs, columns on pitchfork that led me to more niche sites like FACT and RA and Wire and Dusted. I found WATMM. People still buy records, become loyal fans, and support local artists and venues. I have worried that scenes and genres seem to no longer exist in full-fledged form anymore because trends and fads change so much, but there's too much positive counter-developments - the return of vinyl, the explosion of tape labels, and the awesomeness of resources like bandcamp, that make it the best time to be a listener than ever before. There's always going to be crap music and the juggernaut of major labels and corporations, the frustrations of idiotic commentators, but it's easier than ever to sort through all that than in the past.

The 3 loops are "sonic elements" from the album, not excerpts from the album. Which is good to know - I look forward to hearing how they are used later on.

  On 6/24/2013 at 9:59 PM, joshuatx said:

I have worried that scenes and genres seem to no longer exist in full-fledged form anymore because trends and fads change so much, but there's too much positive counter-developments - the return of vinyl, the explosion of tape labels, and the awesomeness of resources like bandcamp, that make it the best time to be a listener than ever before. There's always going to be crap music and the juggernaut of major labels and corporations, the frustrations of idiotic commentators, but it's easier than ever to sort through all that than in the past.

yeah, i think with the partial collapse of the mega label monopolies there's been lots of budding micro-labels and sites, etc. like you're talking about that offer lots of really cool niche stuff for people to nerd out to. in a way, opn's somewhat more mainstream success may very well have something to do with earning cred in these smaller but definite niche environments which do seem to have the potential to offer a platform from which artists can cross over into a wider audience.

Yeah, and if we consider OPN to have "mainstream" success, then there is a huge amount of fucking great "mainstream" music. Acts range from Liturgy to The XX to OPN to Actress to James Blake to Swans (yeah, they're old, but that new thing is the shit) to Death Grips to Micachu & The Shapes to Paavoharju to Wolf Eyes. The list goes on, and none of this stuff would have been broadly available even 15 years ago.

It does have its problems, but I agree with joshua that the benefits outweigh them by far.

how the fuck is oneohtrix point never mainstream

lol watmm

If its at all possible that an album could get a BNM on pitchfork, it's mainstream to watmm.

Also accepted definition: if an album has received BNM or artist previously received BNM on pitchfork, it's mainstream to watmm.

I consider Oneohtrix Point Never not mainstream since anyone in my neighborhood and possibly my town knows who he is and even I didn't know him days ago.

Didn't realise until now that this is being released on a double LP, splendid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGcoDGljrRs&feature=player_embedded

whohoa that reminds me of myst for some reason

Love it. I think I saw a chopped up EPYX logo in there.

  On 6/25/2013 at 6:27 AM, Salvatorin said:

how the fuck is oneohtrix point never mainstream

lol watmm

my exact words were "somewhat more mainstream" which seems like hardly a stretch considering his ever growing popularity, appearance at pitchfork, recent show with sigor ros, the fact that his next lp will be on warp which is a much larger label than his earlier releases, and the general fact that lots of people who generally do not follow electronic music are familiar with his work and like it.

not sure how any of this could be seen as anything but a rise to "somewhat more mainstream" contexts.

  On 6/25/2013 at 6:27 AM, Salvatorin said:

how the fuck is oneohtrix point never mainstream

lol watmm

  On 6/25/2013 at 9:11 AM, pigster said:

If its at all possible that an album could get a BNM on pitchfork, it's mainstream to watmm.

Also accepted definition: if an album has received BNM or artist previously received BNM on pitchfork, it's mainstream to watmm.

  On 6/25/2013 at 12:18 PM, Rulohead32 said:

I consider Oneohtrix Point Never not mainstream since anyone in my neighborhood and possibly my town knows who he is and even I didn't know him days ago.

I try to only use the term "mainstream" to describe something my parents have heard - SNL appearance, top40 hit, Grammy nod, major ad usage, etc. OPN is widely and critically acclaimed - pitchfork and peers highlight and praise him and his music has youtube hits in the hundreds of thousands, last.fm plays of 100k+

He's not mainstream but he's a big indie/underground artist, beyond niche genre or scene recognition or what I would consider watmm "favorites"

imho he is the most mainstream artist of all time

OPN sub-forum

Joyrex pls

Damn, definitely different from Rifts and Replica. That song is crazy.