Title: Garden of Delete
Artist: Oneohtrix Point Never
Genre: Electronic
Familiarity: Very, I've heard his entire discography at this point. One of my favorite artists around
1. Intro: Really dig the sounds on this one, I honestly wish it was longer and more developed.
2. Ezra: Just an absolutely killer track that really kicks off the album. Love the sections with the guitar arpeggios, and I especially love when the synths start going all over the place and blaring in your face. ****ing superb start.
3. ECCOJAMC1: Pretty strange little vocal sample here but yet another track that feels like it could have been developed more. Kind of disappointing but I certainly don't dislike anything about it.
4. Sticky Drama: Sounds a bit like a clubby dance tune for a while which is pretty weird. Not a huge fan of the screamy vocals in the 2nd half but overall I really like the vibe of this track and the thick, oozing synths.
5. SDFK: Another short one but I absolutely love the atmosphere of this track. The second half when that ambient pad weasels in is amazing, and the sudden change in intensity is goosebumps-inducing. Leads really well into the next track as well.
6. Mutant Standard: There are some truly brilliant sections of this but I feel it overstays its welcome. It takes a little too long for the thumping synth intro develops into anything, but when things finally do happen the track is fantastic. I really love when the thumping synth changes pitch and he brings in the ambient pad. The second half is a really awesome array of bouncy synths that sounds a lot like some of the stuff on R Plus Seven. Really good track overall but I feel it could've been condensed.
7. Child of Rage: Kind of an unnerving introduction with the clip of an interview. Leads into a really cool exotic sounding vibe with some interesting percussion. This is one of the more easygoing tracks on the album and it's truly beautiful at times when the piano comes in. There's still some of that trademark chaotic synths thrown in there that I've come to adore from OPN. Excellent track overall.
8. Animals: KILLER track, probably my favorite on the album and one of my favorite OPN tracks period. Gorgeous instrumentation, awesome melody and mood. Frankly a masterpiece.
9. I Bite Through It: This track is all over the place and it's absolutely kickass. The heavier parts get me hyped as ****, while the discordant softer parts fascinate me. This was a single and it was a damn good pick.
10. Freaky Eyes: Parts of this remind me of the Interstellar soundtrack, which is a soundtrack that I seriously love. The slow buildup in the first half is executed flawlessly and the way it develops and then starts to fall apart in the second half is badass.
11. Lift: Really like how the instrumentation jumps all around for a while. The electric guitar solo in the middle is kickass, but while I think this is a great track it doesn't do quite as much for me as the previous few. For most of the runtime it's just kinda there presenting some cool sounds but not taking me anywhere with them.
12. No Good: Solid track but doesn't really end the album in any specially memorable way. I've always found "Chrome Country" from R Plus Seven to be an utterly brilliant closer that's very memorable and sticks out in a way from the rest of the album but this one doesn't quite do that for me. I think OPN could've switched this with Freaky Eyes in the track order and it would've been a slight improvement.
End Result: Incredible album from one of my greatest influences, and I especially love how he continues to develop his signature sound in new ways. You never know what direction he could go in on the next track.
Fucking brilliant stuff, if only I were half as talented.
Love or Hate?: Definite
True Love overall for this record. 9 to 9.5/10 territory and will be very high up in the race for my album of the year.