Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica [Mexican Summer/Software]

8.4

Finding a median between ambience, glitch, and even minimalism is a sheer monumental accomplishment in itself. But, I’m sure Daniel Lopatin, aka Oneohtrix Point Never, prides himself on simply sounding like nothing else. The atmospheric, awkward synthesizers that penetrate the breaks of being beautiful are simply astounding on Replica, Lopatin’s second widely distributed LP following last year’s break-out Returnal. One could simply call this music “drone”, but I think it’s deeper than that. Its permeation into the minds of listeners is astounding. How can you even describe what is going on Lopatin’s complex loop-filled music?

Replica is in fact unlike anything I’ve heard. Though my drone music knowledge is very limited; I feel as though Lopatin has crafted something unreal and so nostalgic, it’s indescribable. Scenes of black and white cottages surrounded by something sinister at dawn is conjured on “Andro” and “Power of Persuasion”; in fact, the entirety of Replica is like an impending doom threatening to swoop in. The drone-like ambience is where Lopatin really hits his stride with near perfection. ”Andro” is an epic piece of music until the drill and bass sequence thunders in towards the end.

When I mentioned the sounds of Replica are awkward, I mean it. The main beat of “Nassau” sounds like the fast inhaling and exhaling of a man and the piercing percussion on “Remember” is just cringingly abrasive. Fortunately, the more ambiences Lopatin inserts, the better Replica gets. “Nassau” really picks up at the end with indiscernible nostalgia creeping in with soaring doodling synths. “Submersible” is really a main highlight being the most ambient and eerie track on Replica, but it still has this unmistakable beauty about it; it sounds so old and aged, yet nothing like it has been created before.

The most structured of the tracks off Replica is the daunting title track. Trudging through with a slow and somber piano line accompanied by heavily reverb instrumentals darting around and around the piano line; “Replica” is a track to remember for 2011 and most likely the entire decade to come for music. The entirety of Replica will be look back as a monumental record to propel Lopatin into the realms of the great modern electronic artists such as Aphex Twin, Tim Hecker, and others, but Lopatin will be something more.

Replica is purely introspective and requires multiple listens to really appreciate its textures. From glitch, ambience, and even slowcore; Lopatin reaches limits in music unknown to man but still finds a way to brings us back to a familiar place where we can delve into something from the past. Turn off your lights, turn on a soft fan, make sure it’s a chilly late-autumn day and pop in Oneohtrix Point Never’s Replica and find yourself in an up-and-coming electronic artist’s soundscapes.