| Oval | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Germany |
| Genres | Ambient techno, microsound, glitch, noise |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Labels | Thrill Jockey (United States) Mille Plateaux (Europe) |
| Associated acts | So Microstoria Mouse on Mars |
| Members | |
| Markus Popp | |
| Past members | |
| Sebastian Oschatz Frank Metzger |
|
Oval is an electronic music group founded in Germany in 1991.
Contents |
The band's original members were Markus Popp, Sebastian Oschatz, and Frank Metzger, although Oschatz and Metzger left the group in 1995. All three are regarded as pioneers of glitch, a genre of music that embraces the sound of damaged audio produced by the failure of digital equipment. Disdaining the use of synthesizers, Oval instead deliberately mutilated CDs by writing on them with felt pens, then processed the palette of fragmented sounds to create a very rhythmic electronic style.
Markus Popp continues to release albums under the name Oval. Frank Metzger has released some singles with Mego and the Internet label Falsch, and has started a collaboration with Rossano Polidoro and Emiliano Romanelli from "TU M'" in 2003 that is called Steno, while Sebastian Oschatz is an interaction designer with Meso, a German media design collective.
In 2001 Björk sampled the track "Aero Deck" (from the 1994 album Systemisch) on her Vespertine album.[1] Markus Popp was an integral part of the creation of Gastr Del Sol's 1998 album Camoufleur.
In 2003, Popp released a record on Thrill Jockey together with the Japanese singer Eriko Toyada. As a duo they were called So, and its record was self-titled.
After an extended silence, Oval released the EP entitled "Oh" on Thrill Jockey in June 2010. The pre-sale for this album was limited to 1,000 pressings and sold out before it was available to the public.[2] His first album in almost a decade entitled "O" was released on Thrill Jockey September 7, 2010.
Oval's 2CD "OvalDNA", featuring both new and unreleased older tracks, is due for release late 2011 in Europe and early 2012 in the rest of the world.
Markus Popp also composed the soundtrack for a short film. Retina