R Plus Seven is Daniel Lopatins first Oneohtrix Point Never album on Warp, pushing the sampledelic textures previously teased on Replica into total overdrive. Lopatin covers an astonishing amount of ground inside a 5 minute song, leaping from goa trance arpeggios to MIDI kalimba, new age pads, Microsoft piano solos and synthetic choirs with catlike agility. The sardine tin hodgepodge of tracks like Americans and Problem Areas are a total counterpoint to the 12-min Juno drones that typified his early work. At a glance, R PlusSeven resembles vaporwave and its co-opting of early Internet aesthetics, but Lopatins HD sound design couldnt be any further from the lo-fi gruel of something like Floral Shoppe. Repeat listens reveal a remarkable ability to conjure real substanceout of the pastiche On album centerpiece Along, a strategic peppering of FM synth pads and cuckoo clock stabs to an otherwise unhurried and uneventful basslinetransforms itwith a terrible urgency. Still Life is incredibly heavy, and the gigantic choruses that come crashing through the dainty passages of sample collage are brutal and suffocating, but oddly gratifying. Other highlights include Zebra, Cryo and hopeful closing track Chrome Country. Double vinyl pressing with download code, recommended.

• double vinyl pressing
• gatefold sleeve
• album design by Robert Beatty
• cover painting byGeorges Schwizgebel
• digital download included
• music label:Warp Records 2013

reviewed bycarparts, bottles & cutlery 07/2018