Magic Oneohtrix Point Never | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 30, 2020 | |||
Recorded | March–July 2020 | |||
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Length | 47:07 | |||
Label | Warp | |||
Producer |
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Oneohtrix Point Never chronology | ||||
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Singles from Magic Oneohtrix Point Never | ||||
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Magic Oneohtrix Point Never is the ninth studio album by American electronic producer Daniel Lopatin, under his alias Oneohtrix Point Never, released on October 30, 2020, via Warp. [5] [6] [7] The album draws on a psychedelic radio aesthetic strongly inspired by Magic 106.7, the mondegreen namesake of Lopatin's project, and was recorded during COVID-19 lockdowns, between March and July 2020.
It is the second album to heavily feature Lopatin's own vocals after Age Of , with a higher focus on songwriting. It features collaborations with The Weeknd (who also served as an executive producer for the album), Caroline Polachek, Arca and Nolanberollin. American artist Robert Beatty provided the album cover art. Both Lopatin and Beatty cooperated on art direction. Upon release, Magic Oneohtrix Point Never was met with critical acclaim and was featured on several publications' year-end lists.
Magic Oneohtrix Point Never was conceived as an album in early 2020 after Lopatin created eclectically varied mixtapes for the Safdie brothers' radio site Elara Radio; overall, he found that "on a therapeutic scale", he "always enjoyed the comfort of listening to the radio, and of listening to people have inane discussions on podcasts". [8] Lopatin remarked to GQ that "there's so much of me on this—even the collaborations are appropriate [to when I started out]". [8] In comparison, the album is themed around a psychedelic radio aesthetic and features four "Cross Talk" interludes, collages of "archival recordings of various American FM stations' "format flips", in which detourned DJ sign-offs collide with advertisements and self-help mantras", [9] marking each periodic stage of the album.
Lopatin said of his intent with creating Magic Oneohtrix Point Never that:
I wanted to make a cohesive, punchy, 50-minute record that was very personal, but pulled from FM palettes that I was personally interested in [...] I think it works really well as a metaphor for how I've changed. The things that I try to understand about my own life and being an avid musical listener and how much that's influenced me as a musician is kind of apparent on this record. That metaphor of transformation is something that I came to by thinking about the radio. [10]
The press release issued by Warp upon the album's announcement, especially concerning the album's concept, tone and use of textures, stated that it "loosely summons the broadcasting logic of radio dayparts, switching on in the morning and closing very late at night, while seamlessly latticed together with kaleidoscopic, twitchy transformations of sound between the dials to form a darkly humorous reflection on American music culture", concluding by referring to the album's style as "maximalist baroque-pop within atmospheric glitter". [9]
Lopatin began teasing the album on September 22, 2020, posting a video teaser stating the album title to social media platforms. [11] He announced the album and its tracklist on September 25; [12] the announcement also came with the release of the "Drive Time Suite", a single release consisting of the first three songs off of the album: "Cross Talk I", "Auto & Allo" and "Long Road Home". [13]
On October 14, Lopatin released the music video for "Long Road Home", co-directed by Charlie Fox and Emily Schubert. The stopmotion animated video pays homage to the 1982 short film Le Ravissement de Frank N. Stein, which was also adapted on Lopatin's 2013 Oneohtrix Point Never album, R Plus Seven . [14] The song would later be reworked and rereleased as the B-side to Caroline Polachek's 2022 single "Billions". [15]
On October 27, Lopatin released the "Midday Suite", another single release containing the next five tracks of the album, "Cross Talk II", "I Don't Love Me Anymore", "Bow Ecco", "The Whether Channel" and "No Nightmares". [16] Lopatin also shared the personnel for the album on the same day to social media. [17]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.4/10 [18] |
Metacritic | 81/100 [19] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Beats Per Minute | 77% [20] |
Clash | 8/10 [21] |
Consequence of Sound | B [22] |
Exclaim! | 5/10 [23] |
FLOOD | 8/10 [3] |
Loud and Quiet | 8/10 [1] |
musicOMH | [24] |
Pitchfork | 7.7/10 [25] |
Uncut | 8/10 [26] |
Magic Oneohtrix Point Never was met with acclaim from music critics upon its release. At Metacritic, the album received a score of 81 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [27]
In the review for AllMusic, Heather Phares writes that, "Lopatin builds on radio's power to connect people through music even from a distance, and the way he combines all the facets of his music feels like going up and down the dial. The flowing synth instrumentals of his earliest work sit next to Garden of Delete and Age Of's subverted pop songs, and they're all surrounded by collages of DJ chatter that hark back to Replica's nimble plunderphonics." [28] Another positive review by Philip Sherburne states that "Whether sampled, synthesized, or acoustic, they are rich with implicit physicality, evocative of stretching and striking; processed voices are carved into curved, glistening shapes, uncanny as ice sculptures. It's a ridiculously opulent palette." [29]
Publication | Accolade | Rank | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Stereogum | The 50 Best Albums of 2020 | 7 | |
Bleep | Bleep's Top 10 Albums of the Year 2020 | 2 | |
Noisey | The 100 Best Albums of 2020 | 53 | |
AllMusic | AllMusic's 100 Favorite Albums of 2020 | N/A | |
Consequence of Sound | Consequence of Sound's Top 50 Albums of 2020 | 31 | |
Gorilla vs. Bear | Gorilla vs. Bear's Albums of 2020 | 18 | |
FLOOD | FLOOD's Best Albums of 2020 | 7 | |
Les Inrocks | Les Inrocks' Top 100 Albums of 2020 | 45 | |
musicOMH | musicOMH's Top 50 Albums Of 2020 | 42 | |
The A.V. Club | The 20 best albums of 2020 | 16 | |
Vinyl Me, Please | Best Albums of 2020 | N/A | |
Time Magazine | Best Songs of 2020 | 10 | |
Rolling Stone | Rob Sheffield's Top 25 Songs of 2020 | 13 | |
Pitchfork | The 100 Best Songs of 2020 | 75 | |
The Fader | The 100 Best Songs of the Year | 48 |
All tracks written by Daniel Lopatin, except where noted; all tracks produced by Daniel Lopatin.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Cross Talk I" | 0:22 | |
2. | "Auto & Allo" | 3:21 | |
3. | "Long Road Home" | 3:32 | |
4. | "Cross Talk II" | 0:49 | |
5. | "I Don't Love Me Anymore" | 2:54 | |
6. | "Bow Ecco" | 2:11 | |
7. | "The Whether Channel" | 6:08 | |
8. | "No Nightmares" |
| 4:06 |
9. | "Cross Talk III" | 0:12 | |
10. | "Tales from the Trash Stratum" | 3:28 | |
11. | "Answering Machine" | 0:58 | |
12. | "Imago" | 3:48 | |
13. | "Cross Talk IV / Radio Lonelys" | 1:08 | |
14. | "Lost But Never Alone" | 4:18 | |
15. | "Shifting" | 1:54 | |
16. | "Wave Idea" | 3:21 | |
17. | "Nothing's Special" | 4:37 | |
Total length: | 47:07 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
18. | "Ambien1" |
No. | Title | Length |
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18. | "Lost But Never Alone" (A. G. Cook Remix) | |
19. | "Tales from the Trash Stratum" (featuring Elizabeth Fraser) | |
20. | "Nothing's Special" (featuring Rosalía) | |
21. | "Lost But Never Alone" (Forced Smile Edit) |
Sample credits [46]
Chart (2020) | Peak position |
---|---|
Dutch Vinyl Albums (MegaCharts) [47] | 14 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [48] | 65 |
UK Album Sales (OCC) [49] | 54 |
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [50] | 15 |
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [51] | 13 |
US Top Album Sales (Billboard) [52] | 65 |
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard) [53] | 8 |
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard) [54] | 16 |
Warp Records is a British independent record label founded in Sheffield in 1989 by record store employees Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell and record producer Robert Gordon. It is currently based in London.
Daniel Lopatin, best known as Oneohtrix Point Never or OPN, is an American experimental electronic music producer, composer, singer, and songwriter. His music has utilized tropes from various musical genres and eras, sample-based composition, and complex MIDI production.
Returnal is the fourth studio album by American electronic musician Daniel Lopatin under the alias Oneohtrix Point Never, released on June 22, 2010, by Mego. It develops the synthesizer-based compositions of Lopatin's previous work, while also incorporating elements of noise music and his own processed vocals. The album received positive reviews from critics, and was named among the best albums of 2010 by several publications, including Fact, The Wire, and Tiny Mix Tapes.
Replica is the fifth studio album by American electronic musician Daniel Lopatin under the stage name Oneohtrix Point Never, released on November 8, 2011, via Mexican Summer and Software. It features co-production by Joel Ford and Al Carlson, and was Lopatin's first work to be recorded in a studio. Stylistically, the album marks a shift away from Lopatin's previous synth-based works under the alias, instead showcasing a sample-based approach utilizing audio from 1980s and 1990s television advertisements.
R Plus Seven is the sixth studio album by American electronic musician Oneohtrix Point Never, released on September 30, 2013, as his debut album on Warp Records. The album's musical palette draws heavily on the synthetic sounds of MIDI instruments, 1980s synth presets, and VSTs.
Garden of Delete is the seventh studio album by American electronic musician Oneohtrix Point Never, released on November 13, 2015 on Warp Records. The album—which critics regarded as being radically stylistically different from his previous releases—was preceded by an enigmatic Internet-based promotional campaign, and draws on musical influences such as grunge music, nu metal and popular electronic dance music, as well as themes of adolescence, mutation and abjection. It received generally positive critical reception and was included on year-end lists by several publications, including PopMatters, Fact and The Quietus.
Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. 1 is a 2010 album of remixes by American electronic musician Daniel Lopatin under the pseudonym Chuck Person. Its tracks consist of chopped, looped samples of various songs—including popular songs from the 1980s and 1990s—processed with effects such as delay, reverb, and pitch shifting; the results highlight mournful or existential moments from the sources. It was used as an initial template for the vaporwave internet microgenre.
Daniel Lopatin is a Brooklyn-based experimental musician who records primarily under the pseudonym Oneohtrix Point Never. Early in his career as both a solo artist and as a member of several groups, he released a number of LPs and extended plays on a variety of independent labels. In 2010, he signed to Editions Mego and released Returnal. In 2011, he founded the record label Software. In 2013, Lopatin signed to British electronic label Warp Records and released his label debut R Plus Seven.
Commissions I is a compilation extended play by American electronic musician Daniel Lopatin, known by his stage name Oneohtrix Point Never. It was released as a limited 12" vinyl edition of 1,000 copies on Record Store Day 2014 by the English label Warp. It is a collection of three tracks Lopatin commissioned for art pieces, films and live performance events: "Music for Steamed Rocks," "Meet Your Creator," and "I Only Have Eyes For You." These commissions were mixed and engineered for the EP by Paul Corley and mastered by Valgeir Sigurðsson. The record was well received by music journalists, landing at number nine on a list of the best EPs of 2014 by Pretty Much Amazing.
Good Time (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is a soundtrack album by American electronic musician Oneohtrix Point Never, containing the score for the Safdie brothers' 2017 film Good Time. It was released on August 10, 2017 via Warp Records.
Age Of is the eighth studio album by American electronic producer Oneohtrix Point Never, released on June 1, 2018, on Warp Records. Recorded over two years, it is the first Oneohtrix Point Never album to prominently feature Daniel Lopatin's own vocals. The album was accompanied by the MYRIAD tour, which premiered as a "conceptual concertscape" in 2018 at the Park Avenue Armory and ended its run in 2019.
Uncut Gems is a soundtrack album by electronic musician Daniel Lopatin, containing the original score for the Safdie brothers' 2019 film Uncut Gems. It was released via Warp on December 13, 2019. It received positive reviews from critics. It peaked at number 44 on the UK Soundtrack Albums Chart.
"Scared to Live" is a song by the Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd from his fourth studio album After Hours. He performed the song for the first time on March 8, 2020, with American musician Oneohtrix Point Never, during an episode of Saturday Night Live. The SNL version of the song was officially released alongside the deluxe edition of its parent album on March 23, 2020. The Weeknd wrote and produced the song with Max Martin and Oscar Holter, writing credits also going to Belly and Oneohtrix Point Never. Elton John and Bernard Taupin received additional songwriting credits for the interpolation of John's 1970 single "Your Song".
"Repeat After Me (Interlude)" is a song by the Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd from his fourth studio album After Hours (2020), featuring vocals from the Australian musician Kevin Parker. The song was written by the Weeknd, along with its producers Oneohtrix Point Never and Parker. It was released on March 20, 2020, alongside the rest of its parent album.
Betrayed in the Octagon is the debut studio album by electronic artist Oneohtrix Point Never, initially credited to "Magic Oneohtrix Point Never".
Crash is the fifth studio album by English singer Charli XCX, released on 18 March 2022. It was her last album to be released under her record contract with Asylum Records. Charli announced the album title, release date, and artwork on 4 November 2021. Her website was also updated with information about the album's 2022 tour. The album was preceded by the four singles "Good Ones", "New Shapes" featuring Christine and the Queens and Caroline Polachek, "Beg for You" featuring Rina Sawayama, "Baby" and two promotional singles, "Every Rule" and "Used to Know Me", the latter released as the fifth single in April 2022.
Dawn FM is the fifth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd. It was released on January 7, 2022, through XO and Republic Records. The album features narration by Jim Carrey, guest vocals from Tyler, the Creator and Lil Wayne, and spoken word appearances from Quincy Jones and Josh Safdie. As the album's executive producers, the Weeknd, Max Martin and Oneohtrix Point Never recruited a variety of other producers such as Oscar Holter, Calvin Harris and Swedish House Mafia.
"Billions" is a song by American singer-songwriter and record producer Caroline Polachek. It was released on February 9, 2022 as the second single from Polachek's fourth album, Desire, I Want to Turn Into You (2023).
Desire, I Want to Turn Into You is the fourth overall studio album by American singer-songwriter and producer Caroline Polachek, and her second to be under her own name. It was released on February 14, 2023, by Sony Music, The Orchard, and Polachek's imprint Perpetual Novice. Polachek produced most of the album alongside Danny L Harle.
Again is the tenth studio album by American electronic producer Daniel Lopatin, under his alias Oneohtrix Point Never. It was released on September 29, 2023, via Warp.
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