Oneohtrix Point Never

I first became aware of Daniel Lopatin (AKA Oneohtrix Point Never) at All Tomorrow’s Parties last year. He appeared as one of Animal Collective’s choices and I recall lying on the floor in a drunken haze, absorbing the strange fuzz coming from the stage and captivated by the psychedelic projections behind the lone figure on his laptop. It was pretty awesome and I’d been keen for a while now to catch the man in action again.

Lopatin comes on stage and says a short 'hello' before his equipment groans into life with samples and synth building into a colossal droning wall of sound. The noise is accompanied by abstract images of geometric shapes and computer-generated alien landscapes which keep everyone’s eyes firmly turned stage-ward.

His newest album, Replica, came out last year. It's a collection of gorgeous soundscapes centred around samples of vintage adverts and songs from the record form an integral part of the set this evening. The music takes on an almost physical form. Live music of course, is always a physical enterprise but the sounds shaking themselves from the speakers make the air feel heavy to the point it almost feels like you’re encased in it, like some sort of ambient electro-womb.

Tonight’s hands-down highlight is the eventual appearance of his latest album’s title track. The instantly familiar piano chords of ‘Replica’ emerge from a dirge of noise; their powerful clarity is striking against the less discernible buzzing and disembodied voices. Another brilliant moment comes in the shape of single ‘Sleep Dealer’, which manages to carry the closest thing we get to a rhythmic beat.

If I had to describe tonight in one word, it would be: hypnotic. The combination of sounds and images all come together for a fully absorbing experience. The music pulls you in and gets inside your head, not unlike those advertisements which feature so heavily on the album.

#Ambient #Berkeley Suite, Glasgow #Electronic #No Fun Productions #Oneohtrix Point Never #Gigs #Aidan Rivett