R Plus Seven

Daniel Lopatin has been releasing experimental ambient music for years now under the OPN moniker, namely Rifts, Returnal, and Replica (I guess he has a thing for Rs in his album titles). This new release finds him extending upon the glitchy style he toyed with on Replica. It makes for a disorienting, immersive, awe-inspiring, and at times astoundingly beautiful experience. This CD is really meant for front-to-back play, but there are definitely some singles (or as close to singles as one can find in music this bizarre). Destined for cinematic ambient interludes or late-night hypnosis. Favorites: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10. No FCCs.

Similar artists/releases: Actress R.I.P., Boards of Canada, Andy Stott, some of the cheesy 80’s sounds from Destroyer’s Kaputt, Dirty Beaches Love Is the Devil, Tim Hecker

1. *** (4:16) Church organ synths and then an arpeggiated melody. Glitchy sampled vocals. Makes me feel like I’m at a rave in a church set in the 2100s but 1980’s themed. That actually describes a lot of this album.
2. * (5:18) Begins with an odd frenzied sample of maybe a kid playing. An exotic melody comes in with some trickling water in the background and bouncing warped female vocals. Probably one of the most bizarre and schizophrenic but beautifully dense songs on the album.
3. ** (1:33) Short and lovely. Begins with what sounds like some kind of plucked eastern string instrument and then interspersed with cut up vocal snippets. It works its way into a nice groove.
4. (3:53) Harsh synths with opera-ish vocals and some found-sound bird song. Sounds like a radio skipping between random stations. One of the more ambient, drifting tracks here.
5. *** (6:45) Longest track on the album but it’s a doozy. Begins with hectic synths that recall the church-rave vibe of the first track. The song eventually settles into a hypnotic ambience. Some saxophone comes in at the end. Fantastic.
6. (5:24) Begins very softly, it takes about a minute to really be heard. Calming bass tones. An introspective break from the chaotic flurry of samples and data. Minimal. The last minute it almost has a beat and sounds like it could burst into a cut off of something from Autre Ne Veut’s newest album.
7. ** (3:06) A cousin to track 5. Hyperkinetic synths and bass-line. Church organ sounds from track 1 reappear here. Probably the most playful and upbeat track.
8. (2:47) Almost sounds like a spy movie soundtrack. Has a subdued jazzy feel and the closest this album probably ever gets to a steady beat. Very cool.
9. * (4:54) One of the most ambitious songs on the record and quite possible my favorite. Has frenzied vocals, operatic gauzy ambience, and then a nearly techno Andy Stott-esque groove made just out of vocal samples. This song goes all over the place. At one point gains a menacing Haxan Cloak like quality which is one of the most striking moments on the album for me.
10. ** (5:05) Definite Boards of Canada vibes here. Very cinematic Blade Runner synths. Children’s choir. Last ~45 sec builds into an anthemic church organ finale. Wow. One of the most engrossing albums of 2013.