MAGIC ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER

Spike Sidor

5 years ago

ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER

2020 PSYCHEDELIC ELECTRONIC BAROQUE POP/HYPNAGOGIC POP

Magic Oneohtrix Point Never is by somebodies count the ninth album by electronic music renaissance man Oneohtrix Point Never. OPN has been dropping tracks for the better part of two decades; first catching my ear on the freakish sample syrup that was 2011’s Replica. By and large I’ve been fond of nearly all of his releases. The synthetic journey that OPN ventures on from each new project alone makes them worthwhile listens. Magic OPN is the follow up to Age Of; an album that my distaste for has only grown with time. Songs such as Babylon and Black Snow with their god awful vocals that I’m certain would be awkward spoken-word in isolation are slathered in loads of insufferable vocoder effects resulting in some of the worst sung material in recent memory. All of that being said there are several electronic baroque type tracks whose progressive and even abstract structures are riveting on repeat experience. Magic OPN builds on these classical stylings with a heavy helping of lo-fi radio era aesthetic which is often labelled as the ultra confusing genre name of hypnagogic pop. It’s easiest to think of it as nostalgic fog, not for a specific genre but for a time and place. Tuning into the hits on the crackly radio of a 90s sedan, it’s somewhat akin to vaporwave. It’s important to highlight that this album is pop, the strange twists and radical progressions of previous works are absent, this is not necessarily a bad thing but the outcome is a mixed bag.

MOPN opens with Cross Talk I, the first in a series of sample based interludes that are all great, this one quickly sets the mood with heavy vocal samples and a few deep repeated “wake ups”. Auto & Allo open with some finger snaps and pulsing synth that is immediately killed off and replaced with vibrating ambiance that is also cut short with strings, cute lines of keys, and vocals buried in reverb, they are a bit shoegaze-y a bit dream pop-y. The final product is alright, the three ideas aren’t given enough time to shine and the track suffers for it. Long Road Home is much more focused with loads of strings playing quick played notes high in the mix; effect covered vocals similar to the last track reach satisfying lofty tones. There is a fantastic change up where the strings stop and let percussion and the vocals do work. It’s hyper-grand stylings are terrific. Cross Talk II brings in amusing but insightful introspection via fluctuating pitch shifted samples, I love the twinkling noises as the speaker addresses the audience with “the main question in mind is, have you changed? And the answer to that is uh… yes” followed by pleasant keys and all kinds of sounds chopped and screwed together.

I Don’t Love Me Anymore is quite frustrating with it’s boring and incessant beat and vocals so badly drowned in garbage effects that they become an obnoxious fly buzzing about at such an insane volume that it overwhelms all the other sounds occurring, it’s awful. The Whether Channel feels like music from the Wii that takes a couple of wild turns. It plods about at a steady pace, all kinds of noises are added and subtracted including a bit with what sounds like a ping pong game. Suddenly most of the way through the track it turns into a rap song with rapid trap-esque percussion, adorable synths, and monotone bars that are really awful but get better as they go. I adore how it all comes together but just don’t listen to the cringe worthy lyrics

Blue skyline, that’s a monsoon
I’m immune ’cause my car vroom
She like a whale, need a harpoon
Bands on me, I’m a raccoon
They get froze, they all statuеs
If she don’t get nutty for the cashеw
Then I don’t really care

Yes, this is a real thing that a real human wrote. No Nightmares is a moody artificial soundscape featuring vocals from the ever-so-famous Weeknd. The instrumental works in tandem with the vocals beautifully and the repeated lines of the track’s title fit the bill just right. Things get a little ambient and minimalist with Tales From The Trash Stratum. There are sparse notes played on what I think is wooden mallet percussion and oscillating synth join in as well. The track is nice but not memorable. Answering Machine is a brief anxious jaunt with its urgent synths and pitter-pattering water noises. The best part is of course the vocal samples of an answering machine intro, “Hi you’ve reached…”; even at only a minute long it’s a stand out. There is not much to say about Imago, it starts somewhat interesting with a series of vocal samples but quickly devolves into a monotonous ambient piece. Cross Talk IV / Radio Lonelys is one of my favorites despite it being an interlude, the distorted and spliced vocals discuss radio and music to comedic effect. I had to pause my first listen to laugh when the speaker exclaims “as you know there is lots of different kinds of music in America but BACKGROUND MUSIC is the heart and soul~”.

Lost But Never Alone is a ballad filtered by a mad scientist into dream pop. It’s simple but its combination of heavy effects, traditional structure, and cleaner guitar and drums do wonders. The slow and quivering keys throughout the track are surprisingly gratifying. We journey back into the forgettable with Wave Idea, yet another whatever piece with its bird recordings and blasé synth wall. Nothing’s Special makes for a good closer with its glacial flow and chilly vocals. Glitchy noises and keys drop in the later half along with some shocking hits of horns. A final blare of weird synths sends the album off to its conclusion. Magic OPN is a perfectly fine album but that’s really it, just fine. There are a couple brilliant moments and a few horrible lows but on the whole it’s an average and unexciting affair. Certainly more consistent than Age Of but I’m not sure I would consider it a superior project. Oneohtrix Point Never always has incredible ideas but this time around his aim is off.

5/10

MAGIC ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER

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