Album Review: Oneohtrix Point Never - R Plus Seven

After hearing Oneohtrix Point Never's 2011 album, Replica, I fell in love. I  truly have never heard anything like it. OPN really takes ambient and electronic music to new heights. In most cases ambient music puts me to sleep and electronic music annoys me. Somehow Daniel Lopatin, the man behind Oneohtrix Point Never, has discovered a method for achieving a wildly interesting version of both genres together. Even without all of the signature, blissfully glitchy samples scattered throughout his records, his music is never anything less than enthralling. Combine a gift for recognizing good musical atmosphere with an unreal knack for audio manipulation, and what you have is a nearly spotless discography.

R Plus Seven does what most new albums should. It brings something new to the table. Previously mentioned was Lopatin's last solo record, Replica. This album featured many natural sounds such as piano and vocal samples. This gave the album a very organic feel (even though experimental, electronic noise is quite literally the opposite). On R Plus Seven, Lopatin seems to have moved in the opposite direction. Many of the sounds on this record sound distinctly artificial. Anyone who considers themselves even a little bit familiar with electronic music will recognize the arpeggiation and style of synthesizers used on this album very quickly. At first I found it quite unusual for an artist as unique and "off the wall" as OPN to use these types of sounds. After listening for just a little longer, I was reminded that it is not the instruments used that matter. It is the person using them. Of course what is Oneohtrix Point Never without all of those scary sounds that make you think you brain is broken? R Plus Seven comes with a delightful assortment of incomprehensible vocal snippets everywhere. Possibly even more than the amount used on Replica. I have always felt that these strange samples induce a sense of confusion. In many cases they really sound as if they are saying something but the listener is never able to understand. This sense of confusion is likely to provoke thought in the listener. R Plus Seven instigates the brain, and then provides the perfect background music to accompany it. This album is most definitely one of the best this year and one of Daniel Lopatin's best works ever. 9.5/10.