Oneohtrix Point Never

Overview

Daniel Lopatin's 2011 album Replica won him Best New Music, but he was steering analogue synths through unchartered territory long before the tastemakers caught on. Not to suggest Pitchfork was slow on the uptake or anything — Lopatin's first few albums were released on cassette only, making them significantly less RTable than SoundCloud uploads.

It's the retro equipment though that makes Oneohtrix (pronounced "one-oh-trix) Point Never's progressive sound so immediate and so immediately recognisable. Droning synths (made on an old Roland Juno-60) are scraped through astral echoes and across jittery chord progressions, giving them an intimacy that's heightened further by the hiss of black thread. He's managed to keep that sound while incorporating both noise and accessible melodies in 2010's Returnal, and venturing into 2011 with an album recorded on studio software. Which is great because, you know, Spotify and stuff.