OPDOT – Opus One

The final track of OPDOT's debut album is called Obnubilate – the definition is 'darken or cover as if with a cloud; obscure.' Being wilfully obscure or obtuse is an approach that is often found on the more experimental fringes of electronic music, and OPDOT most definitely aim for the heart of this territory. The problem is that as they arrive, they often find that territory thoroughly mapped.

While inspired by musique concrete techniques, and devised through means of jam sessions, improvisation, and acoustic instrumentation, the results sound disappointingly over-familiar. Aall too often an interesting setup for a beat or atmosphere merely lapses into plodding four-to-the-floor or linear, unimaginative glitch. Sections of treated piano and strings led a cinematic sweep, but even then there isn't enough new ground being broken, particularly for a self-proclaimed 'experimental' project. Well-produced, sometimes beautiful, but ultimately self-indulgent. [Bram E. Gieben]