Replica

Oneohtrix Point Never’s title track to his 2011 album Replica is a slow, meditative work of ambient electronica that luxuriates in the textures at the edge of sound. A piano motif of descending keys gives the track a kind of backbone, on which OPN hangs shiny samples like ornaments on a Christmas tree. Shiny, but not gaudy. The artist excels when he finds a way to jigsaw otherwise abrasive sound clips into a harmonious whole.

The effort does not always come off – or at least remains too experimental for passive listening, like the gurgling snot-filled orgasm that is “Nassau.”

But on our highlighted track “Replica” and elsewhere on the album, OPN finds a more pleasing balance, rewarding the ears and taking them to strange and wonderful places.

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