Oneohtrix Point Never

One of Brooklyn-based experimental musician Daniel Lopatin's many projects, Oneohtrix (pronounced “one-oh-tricks”) Point Never encompasses flowing electronics that evoke Tangerine Dream; ambient drones that recall Mark McGuire's work with and without Emeralds; excursions into noise; and forays into adventurous sampling. Growing up, he was inspired by the synth sounds of Mahavishnu Orchestra and Stevie Wonder in his father’s record collection, as well as classic video game soundtracks such as Metroid. Oneohtrix Point Never emerged in the late 2000s, around the time that Lopatin was also playing with the trio Astronaut and working on another solo project, Infinity Window. His first OPN full-length, 2007’s Betrayed in the Octagon, introduced Oneohtrix Point Never's sci-fi bent, which was emphasized by Lopatin's vintage gear, including a Roland Juno-60 synthesizer and a Korg Electribe ES-1 sampler. Cassette-only efforts such as 2008’s Transmat Memories paved the way for a prolific 2009, which included a cassette collaboration with Keith Fullerton Whitman as well as two more albums, the reflective Russian Mind and the comparatively bright and accessible Zones Without People. These two albums, along with Betrayed in the Octagon and selected tracks from OPN’s cassettes, were released as Rifts late in 2009 by No Fun Productions. Lopatin went farther afield on 2010’s critically acclaimed Editions Mego release Returnal, incorporating noise as well as more accessible melodies into the album. Ever busy, he collaborated with friend and Tigercity member Joel Ford as ‘80s synth pop revivalists Ford & Lopatin, as well as on their own label Software, an imprint distributed by Mexican Summer. In 2011, Oneohtrix Point Never played the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival curated by Animal Collective and released Replica — which featured samples from ‘80s commercials and was also Lopatin's first album recorded in a studio — on Software that November.