Album Review: Oneohtrix Point Never - Garden of Delete
By Eli Schoop, Copy Editor [Warp; 2015]
Rating: 4.5/5
Key Tracks: “Ezra,” “Mutant Standard,” “Lift”
Fundamentally speaking, the way Daniel Lopatin, aka Oneohtrix Point Never, sees the world is not the way most of us see it. In his prognostic vision, any single concept can be turned into new potential, the product of a psyche literally twisting itself up. Garden of Delete follows that framework intensely and without limitation. This is a record dedicated as much to realizing what electronic music can be as it is, quite plainly, an engrossing piece of work.
Much has been said about Lopatin’s recent tour with Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden, but in terms of whether or not he's been influenced by their work over the course of then and now--it’s safe to say that songs like “Ezra” would not fit on any of the aforementioned bands' records. The sheer bravado Lopatin inflicts within the track is deafening, tone changes intertwined with voices occupying space not previously thought of in this particular context. It's a stunning manifesto, the opening ceremony to a madman's Olympics, only there are no winners or losers--just participants.
With the sheer conniptions that are “Ezra” and "Sticky Drama” having unfolded, “Mutant Standard” pushes the middle section of the album into its own galaxy of frenzy and mayhem. A hurricane floats above the song, warping the madness around it into something beautiful; meanwhile Lopatin plays with time signatures and syncopated rhythms galore. It's a testament to the musical vocabulary he's created, drawing not only from his previous LP R Plus Seven, but also from other works Rifts and Returnal as well.
By the time “Lift” is finished, Garden of Delete has finished its impression onto your consciousness. It is a monumental accomplishment from a virtuosic musician, one who simply can’t be replicated, the product of absolute finesse in craft as well as a creativity precipitously above any mere avant-garde producer. It makes sense that Garden of Delete’s initials spell out “G.O.D.”, as Lopatin has created his own Eden with this record--a single unpollutable paradise.
