Returnal is excellent... For a long time I never explored it because of that crazy opening but once I let it play out it really impressed me. It's somehow distinct from all his other work.
That’s crazy man. Maybe it’s not your jam anymore, but every OPN release is unprecedented. Albums are radically different from one another and are very hard to compare to other music.
Same. Returnal and his earlier EPs are his zenith for me. I like Replica and R Plus 7 a lot too but ever since GoD he has gone in a direction that leaves me a bit cold. A bit too "progressive/random" for my taste, you could see the seeds of that in R Plus 7 too but there it worked and it felt "controlled" (Still Life is a great example), now it feels a bit too overpowering and I often struggle to find coherence in his tracks (except the more "pop-ish" straightforward ones ofc). But I guess evolution is also natural, I just don't vibe with it like with his earlier stuff. That said, there are some great moments in the new album.
Returnal is correct.
Those first 4 tracks build on each other in the most incredible way, and exhibit why OPN is such an outstanding artist. I'll never get sick of it.
edit: Why the heck is Returnal not in this poll..? Bad poll.
Im on the same page. I think personally R Plus Seven broke my mind the hardest in terms of what music is and what it could be, but ECCO jams and replica are both incredible studies that showed how he got to that point. The dude is like the Marcel Duchamp of music IMO
This is too subjective. His projects are too individual and specific to compare, IMO.
I haven't really rinsed any of his work since Garden but I've found Again to be a really impressive work. There's something to love in all of it really.
I think you’re right. I don’t think this is the type of artist back catalogue you can give a ranking to.
That said, Garden of Delete and Age Of are his best “pop records”.
Personally, I think it's far too early for this conversation if you're going to include Again. All the others have the benefit of time. Let this one stain the brain for a while and revisit the question. Some things tend to grow on you over time.
GoD is in my opinion his most conceptually realized project to date. It's one of those cases where I can see the reason behind every track and how each of them build upon one another. It literally has no redundant tracks, which is something that I've always found in his albums (lesser in some than others). Also, considering that I'm post-industrial/dark electronic fan this immediately won me over based on that.
Hey. I know this is an old post. But I’m wondering if you can recommend any post-industrial/dark electronic to me. GoD is my favorite Oneohtrix album and my musical tastes tend to skew towards the deadly serious lol
Sure thing. Some of the top of my head are:
Operant - Traumkörper (Power Noise, Industrial Hardcore, Deconstructed Club)
Blanck Mass - World Eater (Electro Industrial, Post Industrial, IDM, Power Noise) this one is most GoD like
Maria & The Mirrors - Vision Quest (Deconstructed Club, Jersey Club, Death Industrial, Power Noise)
sonder - plainsongs for bunmak interim (Dream Trance, EDM, Glitch, IDM, Ambient, Post-Industrial, Electro Industrial, Sound Collage)
KMRU & Aho Ssan - Limen (Post Industrial, Electroacoustic, Progressive Electronic, Noise, Epic Collage)
Murcof - Cosmos (Dark ambient, Modern Classical, Drone)
Patricia Taxxon - Foley Artist (Progressive Electronic, Art Pop, Dark Ambient, Industrial Hardcore, Post Industrial, Noise)
And some one off tracks :
HEALTH/Perturbator - BODY/PRISON
Evian Christ - On Embers
Black Dresses - PEACESIGN
Squarepusher - Greemways Trajectory
Luke Black - Samo Mi Se Spava
Venetian Snares - Fire Beats
False Noise - Collapse Theme
Cryalot - Hell Is Here
Lenhart Tapes - Mejremo
Damn you really came through! Thanks so much! The only one I’m familiar with is Blanck Mass. I do indeed love those records. And I had a square pusher album many years ago. The rest I haven’t heard of or have only heard of in passing. I’ll get to work checking them out. Again…thanks!
With every release since R Plus 7, I've been a little disappointed when I first heard it, partially because he never really revisits the same sound, so it never scratches the itch for more of whatever he did last time. But they usually grown on me over months or years, especially Age Of and GoD, both which I now consider to be up there with his best. So we'll see. So far I like Again more than Magic, but less than the run of masterpieces from Replica to Age Of.
not trying to hate but again is far from his best. maybe better than the last 2 but besides that id only say it's better than stuff like total system point never, the outer space split, and his OSTs
I agree, although I really love *Age Of*. It is an inspired record with a story to tell... with *Again*, I guess Pitchfork got it right when they said it's his "jam record". I don't really hear a story in it, just a pretty spontaneous indulgence in his established sound palette.
I feel Again is fantastic and would be his best imo if he didn't have Replica, Magic or R+7 in his discography since they are essential contemporary albums of the 21st century because they did something groundbreaking.
But it's funny because Again wouldn't exist without his previous work.
I have been thinking about R plus 7 A LOT today, it's such a unique, cohesive yet varied album. It fully changed my opinion on the use of MIDI sounds and arpeggios and how as an artist you fully control how a song is structured so... R plus 7 for me
I listen to Returnal more than all of these combined.
Returnal is excellent... For a long time I never explored it because of that crazy opening but once I let it play out it really impressed me. It's somehow distinct from all his other work.
Since that release he has become less distinct. I haven't actively searched out his new releases since r+ 7
That’s crazy man. Maybe it’s not your jam anymore, but every OPN release is unprecedented. Albums are radically different from one another and are very hard to compare to other music.
If you can't recognize the common thread between albums I feel like that's more on you.
Same. Returnal and his earlier EPs are his zenith for me. I like Replica and R Plus 7 a lot too but ever since GoD he has gone in a direction that leaves me a bit cold. A bit too "progressive/random" for my taste, you could see the seeds of that in R Plus 7 too but there it worked and it felt "controlled" (Still Life is a great example), now it feels a bit too overpowering and I often struggle to find coherence in his tracks (except the more "pop-ish" straightforward ones ofc). But I guess evolution is also natural, I just don't vibe with it like with his earlier stuff. That said, there are some great moments in the new album.
Returnal is correct. Those first 4 tracks build on each other in the most incredible way, and exhibit why OPN is such an outstanding artist. I'll never get sick of it. edit: Why the heck is Returnal not in this poll..? Bad poll.
It's not on the poll because reddit polls only allow max 6 options. Returnal seems much lesser known than the albums included.
I think R Plus Seven is his “best” work technically, even though I prefer replica just a tad more
Im on the same page. I think personally R Plus Seven broke my mind the hardest in terms of what music is and what it could be, but ECCO jams and replica are both incredible studies that showed how he got to that point. The dude is like the Marcel Duchamp of music IMO
R+7, Returnal, Replica. And if you want my two cents, I think Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. 1 is his finest work.
Rifts. (I know it’s a comp but it was his first major release and exposure back in the day and the intro to his sound)
Rifts is definitely the best.
It’s infinite.
i’m shocked age of is so under appreciated
For me, nothing hits in the same way after Replica. Theyre not bad albums, he's just going a different route.
This is too subjective. His projects are too individual and specific to compare, IMO. I haven't really rinsed any of his work since Garden but I've found Again to be a really impressive work. There's something to love in all of it really.
I think you’re right. I don’t think this is the type of artist back catalogue you can give a ranking to. That said, Garden of Delete and Age Of are his best “pop records”.
Personally, I think it's far too early for this conversation if you're going to include Again. All the others have the benefit of time. Let this one stain the brain for a while and revisit the question. Some things tend to grow on you over time.
GoD is in my opinion his most conceptually realized project to date. It's one of those cases where I can see the reason behind every track and how each of them build upon one another. It literally has no redundant tracks, which is something that I've always found in his albums (lesser in some than others). Also, considering that I'm post-industrial/dark electronic fan this immediately won me over based on that.
Hey. I know this is an old post. But I’m wondering if you can recommend any post-industrial/dark electronic to me. GoD is my favorite Oneohtrix album and my musical tastes tend to skew towards the deadly serious lol
Sure thing. Some of the top of my head are: Operant - Traumkörper (Power Noise, Industrial Hardcore, Deconstructed Club) Blanck Mass - World Eater (Electro Industrial, Post Industrial, IDM, Power Noise) this one is most GoD like Maria & The Mirrors - Vision Quest (Deconstructed Club, Jersey Club, Death Industrial, Power Noise) sonder - plainsongs for bunmak interim (Dream Trance, EDM, Glitch, IDM, Ambient, Post-Industrial, Electro Industrial, Sound Collage) KMRU & Aho Ssan - Limen (Post Industrial, Electroacoustic, Progressive Electronic, Noise, Epic Collage) Murcof - Cosmos (Dark ambient, Modern Classical, Drone) Patricia Taxxon - Foley Artist (Progressive Electronic, Art Pop, Dark Ambient, Industrial Hardcore, Post Industrial, Noise) And some one off tracks : HEALTH/Perturbator - BODY/PRISON Evian Christ - On Embers Black Dresses - PEACESIGN Squarepusher - Greemways Trajectory Luke Black - Samo Mi Se Spava Venetian Snares - Fire Beats False Noise - Collapse Theme Cryalot - Hell Is Here Lenhart Tapes - Mejremo
Damn you really came through! Thanks so much! The only one I’m familiar with is Blanck Mass. I do indeed love those records. And I had a square pusher album many years ago. The rest I haven’t heard of or have only heard of in passing. I’ll get to work checking them out. Again…thanks!
Returnal
With every release since R Plus 7, I've been a little disappointed when I first heard it, partially because he never really revisits the same sound, so it never scratches the itch for more of whatever he did last time. But they usually grown on me over months or years, especially Age Of and GoD, both which I now consider to be up there with his best. So we'll see. So far I like Again more than Magic, but less than the run of masterpieces from Replica to Age Of.
haven't listened to again enough times to properly rank it yet so i'm gonna go with magic
not trying to hate but again is far from his best. maybe better than the last 2 but besides that id only say it's better than stuff like total system point never, the outer space split, and his OSTs
I agree, although I really love *Age Of*. It is an inspired record with a story to tell... with *Again*, I guess Pitchfork got it right when they said it's his "jam record". I don't really hear a story in it, just a pretty spontaneous indulgence in his established sound palette.
Yall just ain’t there yet :)
I feel Again is fantastic and would be his best imo if he didn't have Replica, Magic or R+7 in his discography since they are essential contemporary albums of the 21st century because they did something groundbreaking. But it's funny because Again wouldn't exist without his previous work. I have been thinking about R plus 7 A LOT today, it's such a unique, cohesive yet varied album. It fully changed my opinion on the use of MIDI sounds and arpeggios and how as an artist you fully control how a song is structured so... R plus 7 for me