Oneohtrix Point Never – R Plus Seven

Album Review by Bram E. Gieben | 10 Sep 2013
Album title: R Plus Seven
Artist: Oneohtrix Point Never
Label: Warp
Release date: 30 Sep

Daniel Lopatin delivers another finely-wrought album of boldly experimental electronica, this time making his Warp Records debut. Although the album's construction and intricate structure will be familiar to fans of Lopatin's earlier work, the sonic palette is refreshed, with a joyful, almost tropical feel to the synths, which bubble and shimmer with an exuberance seldom seen in Oneohtrix Point Never's sometimes gloomy, downbeat soundscapes.

Chopped and timestretched vocal samples are used as instrumentation, while the melodic counterpoints take in everything from gently-plucked shamisen (He She) to vaporwave synths (Americans, Boring Angel), to yearning strings (the beatless palimpsest of Inside World).

The improvised feel of some of the passages nods to cosmic jazz, but structurally, each track contains distinct movements, bearing out the occasional comparisons made between Lopatin's work and classical composition. A visionary artist at the height of his powers, this is in many ways his most accessible and uplifting work so far. 

Playing Glasgow's CCA on 1 Oct. http://www.pointnever.com