Returnal (album)

Last updated
Returnal
Returnal (Front Cover).png
Studio album by
Oneohtrix Point Never
ReleasedJune 22, 2010 (2010-06-22)
RecordedJuly – August 2009, February 2010
Studio
Genre
Length41:59
Label Mego
Producer Daniel Lopatin
Daniel Lopatin albums chronology
Russian Mind
(2009)		Returnal
(2010)		 Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. 1
(2010)
Singles from Returnal
  1. "Returnal"
    Released: August 30, 2010

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 .

Contents

Background

Returnal was recorded and mixed by Lopatin using the programs Goldwave and Multiquence. [1] [2] Most of the material was produced in an air-conditioned room at his parents' house in Massachusetts (credited as "Ridge Valley Digital") from July to August 2009. [1] The album's first song was recorded in Brooklyn. [2] Instruments including the Akai AX60, the Roland Juno-60, the Roland MSQ-700 and the Korg Electribe ES-1 as well as voice parts by Lopatin are present throughout the album, although the Roland SP-555 and Sherman Filterbank were also used in the development process. [1] [2]

Lopatin described Returnal as a "Rousseau record", saying, "He's a French painter during this exoticism period. They're very interesting, they're not one-to-one depictions of nature, explicitly because he didn't really like or appreciate nature. So I was drawn to that, that's kind of a vibe." [2] He further explained to critic Simon Reynolds, "I wanted to make a world-music record. But make it hyperreal, refracted through not really being in touch with the world. [...] So I'm painting these pictures, not of the actual world, but of us watching that world." [3] Lopatin explained the imagined scenario behind the album's opening track "Nil Admirari": "the mom's sucked into CNN, freaking out about Code Orange terrorist shit, while the kid is in the other room playing Halo 3 , inside that weird Mars environment, killing some James Cameron–type predator." [3]

The cover art for Returnal was photographed by Yelena Avanesova and designed by Stephen O'Malley. [1]

Composition

Resident Advisor noted that the album begins in "comic assault mode—the crude tangles of noise, serrated drum machines and vocal screams of 'Nil Admirari'." [4] Sherburne described "Nil Admirari" as an "unexpected invocation" of noise music, employing "weeping voice, feedback squeal, synthesizer drones, and overdriven drum blasts" that "combust like a rocket on its launch pad," [5] while The Quietus characterized it as "sort of hurtful: sliced-up aural detritus with no enduring rhythm or melody." [6] Resident Advisor characterized tracks "Describing Bodies" and "Stress Waves" as "almost hymnal." [4] The album's title track is a "mournful ballad" [3] which "buries Lopatin's pitch-shifted vocals into a disorienting forest-haunt." [4]

Both Simon Reynolds and Kiran Sande of Fact noted occasional similarities between the album and Jon Hassell's concept of fourth world music. [7] [3] Reynolds described closing track "Preyouandi" as "a shatteringly alien terrain made largely out of glassy percussion sounds, densely clustered cascades fed through echo and delay. On first listen, I pictured an ice shelf disintegrating, a beautiful, slow-motion catastrophe, [...] it's still the sort of music that gets your mind's eye reeling with fantastical imagery." [3] Fact described the album's sound as "a psychedelia more earthbound than cosmic", calling it "music driven by an ecological rather than a narrative impulse, more interested in testing the limits of space rather than telling stories within it." [7]

Critical reviews

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.6/10 [8]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Beats Per Minute 68% [10]
Drowned in Sound 8/10 [11]
Fact 5/5 [7]
Pitchfork 8.2/10 [5]
PopMatters 8/10 [12]
Resident Advisor 4.5/5 [4]
Tiny Mix Tapes 4/5 [13]
Uncut Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [14]

Resident Advisor stated that "Returnal feels like a document as dazed and dizzy as heatstroke, the other-state peace of dehydration or exhaustion. But its emotional terrain is in constant flux—if, thankfully, slow to evolve—full of transitions and almost sullen mood-swings that make it, at various points, entrancing, bewitching and often quite perplexing." [4] The publication stated that "Returnal still seems like a lock for record of the year in a throwback genre expanding beyond cassette-collectors and Brain Records lovers." [4] Pitchfork 's Philip Sherburne noted Returnal to be more focused, thick and composite than Lopatin's past work, noting that when the synthesized arpeggios common in his previous releases do come up, they are "layered and blurred to the point of losing their definition." [5] Comparing Returnal with Lopatin's previous works, Tiny Mix Tapes described the album as "not just a collection of tracks but an indivisible and cohesive whole, held in place this time not by grids and zones but by atmospheres and plumes." [13]

Accolades

Publication/AuthorAccoladeRank
Bleep Limited Top 10 Albums of the Year [15] *
Drowned in Sound Albums of the Year [16] 23
Fact The 40 Best Albums of 2010 [17] 10
The Guardian (Jude Rogers)Albums of 2010 [18] 4
Pitchfork The Top 50 Albums of 2010 [19] 20
PopMatters The 70 Best Albums of 2010 [20] 67
The Best Experimental Music of 2010 [21] 9/8
PrefixBest Albums of 2010 [22] 29
The Quietus The Best Albums of 2010 So Far [23] 11
Resident Advisor Top 20 Albums of 2010 [24] 13
Stereogum The Top 50 Albums of 2010 [25] 41
Tiny Mix Tapes Favorite 50 Albums of 2010 [26] 6
Uncut 50 Best Albums of 2010 [27] 20
The Wild Mercury Sound 100 of 2010 [28] 17
XLR8R Favorite Releases of 2010 [29] 4
The Wire 2010 Rewind [30] 2
* denotes an unordered list.

In other media

The song "Ouroboros" was later featured on The Bling Ring soundtrack, which Lopatin also worked on.

Track listing

All tracks written and produced by Daniel Lopatin. [1]

No.TitleLength
1."Nil Admirari"5:05
2."Describing Bodies"4:18
3."Stress Waves"5:42
4."Returnal"4:43
5."Pelham Island Road"7:36
6."Where Does Time Go"6:25
7."Ouroboros"2:04
8."Preyouandi"6:11
Total length:41:59

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fennesz</span> Austrian electronic musician and guitarist

Christian Fennesz is an Austrian producer and guitarist active in electronic music since the 1990s, often credited mononymously as Fennesz. His work utilizes guitar and laptop computers to blend melody with treated samples and glitch production. He lives and works in Vienna, and currently records on the UK label Touch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oneohtrix Point Never</span> American musician

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.

<i>Replica</i> (Oneohtrix Point Never album) 2011 studio album by Oneohtrix Point Never

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.

<i>Instrumental Tourist</i> 2012 studio album by Tim Hecker and Daniel Lopatin

Instrumental Tourist is a collaborative studio album by Canadian musician Tim Hecker and American musician Daniel Lopatin. The album was recorded over several improvisational jam sessions, and was released in November 2012 under Lopatin's Software Records imprint to generally positive critical reviews.

<i>R Plus Seven</i> 2013 studio album by Oneohtrix Point Never

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.

<i>Faith in Strangers</i> 2014 studio album by Andy Stott

Faith in Strangers is the third studio album by English electronic musician Andy Stott. It was released on 18 November 2014 by Modern Love. The album received critical acclaim, and the title track "Faith in Strangers" was given Best New Track and placed at number 81 on Pitchfork's list of the 100 best tracks of 2014. As with Stott's previous album Luxury Problems, Faith in Strangers also incorporates vocals from his former piano teacher, Alison Skidmore.

<i>Garden of Delete</i> 2015 studio album by Oneohtrix Point Never

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.

<i>Chuck Persons Eccojams Vol. 1</i> 2010 album by Daniel Lopatin

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.

<i>Rifts</i> (album) 2009 compilation album by Oneohtrix Point Never

Rifts is a 2009 compilation album by Oneohtrix Point Never, the solo alias of Brooklyn electronic musician Daniel Lopatin. The album collects Lopatin's early synth-based recordings under the moniker dating back to 2003, including the three limited-run LPs Betrayed in the Octagon (2007), Zones Without People (2009) and Russian Mind (2009), as well as several additional cassette and CD-R releases. It was originally released on No Fun Productions in 2009 as a 2 disc set.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Lopatin discography</span>

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.

Hypnagogic pop is pop or psychedelic music that evokes cultural memory and nostalgia for the popular entertainment of the past. It emerged in the mid to late 2000s as American lo-fi and noise musicians began adopting retro aesthetics remembered from their childhood, such as radio rock, new wave pop, synth-pop, video game music, light rock, and R&B. Recordings circulated on cassette or Internet blogs and were typically marked by the use of outmoded analog equipment and DIY experimentation.

<i>Memory Vague</i> 2009 video by Oneohtrix Point Never

Memory Vague is a 2009 audio-visual project by Oneohtrix Point Never, the alias of electronic musician Daniel Lopatin. It was released as a limited-edition DVD-R by Root Strata on June 1, 2009.

<i>Reassemblage</i> (album) 2017 album by Visible Cloaks

Reassemblage is the second studio album of Portland, Oregon duo Visible Cloaks, consisting of musicians Spencer Doran and Ryan Carlile. The record is named after Trinh T. Minh-ha's 1982 documentary film of the same name, since both works observe its subject matter without showing meaning to it. Reassemblage departs from Doran's past hip-hop releases for a more high-quality style inspired by the works of Japanese synthesizer music acts such as Yellow Magic Orchestra and Ryuichi Sakamoto, all of which were featured on Doran's 2010 mix Fairlights, Mallets & Bamboo.

<i>Commissions I</i> 2014 EP compilation by Oneohtrix Point Never

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.

<i>Music for Reliquary House / In 1980 I Was a Blue Square</i> 2012 studio album by Oneohtrix Point Never and Rene Hell

Music For Reliquary House / In 1980 I Was A Blue Square is a split album by American electronic musician Daniel Lopatin, known by his stage name Oneohtrix Point Never, and Rene Hell, the project of American electronic music artist Jeff Witscher. It showcases Lopatin's and Witscher's shift from the style of their early synthesizer-heavy recordings to electroacoustic music. The split album was released by NNA Tapes on September 17, 2012 to favorable opinions from professional reviewers.

<i>Good Time</i> (soundtrack) 2017 soundtrack album by Oneohtrix Point Never

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.

<i>Age Of</i> 2018 studio album by Oneohtrix Point Never

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.

<i>Magic Oneohtrix Point Never</i> 2020 studio album by Oneohtrix Point Never

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. 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.

<i>Again</i> (Oneohtrix Point Never album) 2023 studio album by Oneohtrix Point Never

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.

<i>Zones Without People</i> 2009 studio album by Oneohtrix Point Never

Zones Without People is the second studio album by American electronic musician Daniel Lopatin, known by the name Oneohtrix Point Never. It was released on August 6, 2009 via Arbor as a limited-run LP. Most of the material on the album also appeared on the 2009 compilation album Rifts. The other albums in the Rifts trilogy are Betrayed In The Octagon and Russian Mind, released in 2007 and 2009 respectively.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Returnal (Media notes). Oneohtrix Point Never. Mego Records. 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Session transcript Madrid 2011: Oneohtrix Point Never". Red Bull Music Academy . Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Reynolds, Simon (July 6, 2010). "Brooklyn's Noise Scene Catches Up to Oneohtrix Point Never". The Village Voice . Village Voice, LLC. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Miller, Derek (July 9, 2010). "Oneohtrix Point Never – Returnal". Resident Advisor . Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 Sherburne, Phillip (June 11, 2010). "Oneohtrix Point Never: Returnal". Pitchfork . Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  6. ↑ Gardner, Noel. "Review: Oneohtrix Point Never - Returnal". The Quietus . Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Sande, Kiran (June 17, 2010). "Oneohtrix Point Never: Returnal". Fact . Archived from the original on September 10, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Returnal by Oneohtrix Point Never reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Returnal – Oneohtrix Point Never". AllMusic . Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  10. ↑ Jordal, Ryan (August 9, 2010). "Album Review: Oneohtrix Point Never – Returnal". Beats Per Minute . Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  11. ↑ Gibb, Rory (June 18, 2010). "Album Review: Oneohtrix Point Never – Returnal". Drowned in Sound . Archived from the original on July 24, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  12. ↑ Gabriele, Timothy (September 10, 2010). "Oneohtrix Point Never: Returnal". PopMatters . Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  13. 1 2 Mangoon. "Oneohtrix Point Never – Returnal". Tiny Mix Tapes . Retrieved November 15, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Oneohtrix Point Never: Returnal". Uncut : 91. 2010. 'Stress Waves' unrolls fragile, interweaving drones with great artfulness...
  15. ↑ "Top 10 Albums Of The Year". Bleep Limited. 2010. Archived from the original on December 6, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  16. ↑ Adams, Sean (December 2, 2010). "Drowned in Sound's album of the year 2010: 50-11". Drowned in Sound. Silentway. Archived from the original on April 3, 2012. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  17. ↑ "The 40 Best Albums of 2010". Fact. The Vinyl Factory. November 30, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Albums of 2010: How Guardian music critics voted". The Guardian . Guardian News and Media. December 11, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  19. ↑ Neyland, Nick (December 16, 2010). "The Top 50 Albums of 2010". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved July 14, 2013.
  20. ↑ Cronk, Jordan (December 23, 2010). "The 70 Best Albums of 2010". Popmatters. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  21. ↑ Battaglia, Louis (December 16, 2010). "The Best Experimental Music of 2010". Popmatters. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  22. ↑ "Best Of 2010: Prefix's Top 40 (30-21)". Prefix. December 13, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  23. ↑ "The Best Albums Of 2010 So Far". The Quietus . July 1, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  24. ↑ "RA Poll: Top 20 albums of 2010". Resident Advisor. December 15, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  25. ↑ "Stereogum's Top 50 Albums Of 2010". Stereogum. December 8, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  26. ↑ Elliott, Richard (December 2010). "2010: Favorite 50 Albums of 2010 (10-1)". Tiny Mix Tapes . Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  27. ↑ "Uncut's 50 Best Albums of 2010". Album of the Year. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  28. ↑ Mulvey, John (December 21, 2010). "The Wild Mercury Sound 100 Of 2010". Uncut . Time Inc. UK . Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  29. ↑ "XLR8R's Favorite Releases of 2010, Part Two". XLR8R . December 23, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  30. ↑ "2010 Rewind". The Wire . January 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.