Returnal

Returnal
Studio album by Oneohtrix Point Never
Released June 22, 2010
Recorded July–August 2009, February 2010
Ridge Valley Digital (Massachusetts)
Genre Ambient, noise, kosmische[1]
Length 41:59
Label Editions Mego
Producer Daniel Lopatin
Oneohtrix Point Never chronology

Russian Mind
(2009)		 Returnal
(2010)		 Replica
(2011)
Singles from Returnal
  1. "Returnal"
    Released: August 30, 2010
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Beats per Minute 68%[2]
The Digital Fix 8/10[3]
Drowned in Sound 8/10[4]
Fact [5]
Pitchfork Media 8.2/10[1]
Popmatters 8/10[6]
Prefix 7.5/10[7]
Resident Advisor 4.5/5[8]
Tiny Mix Tapes [9]

Returnal is a 2010 album by American experimental electronic artist Daniel Lopatin, alias Oneohtrix Point Never.

Production

The tracks on Returnal were recorded and mixed by Lopatin using the programs Goldwave and Multiquence on his personal computer.[10][11] Also most of the material was produced in an air-conditioned room at his parents house in Massachusetts, which is credited as "Ridge Valley Digital", from July to August 2009,[10] the first song was recorded in Brooklyn.[12] Instruments including the Akai AX60, Roland Juno-60, Roland MSQ-700, the Korg Electribe ES-1 and voice parts by Lopatin are present throughout the album, although the Roland SP-555 and Sherman Filterbank was also used in the development process.[10][12]

One of Lopatin's childhood friends, Al Carlson,[12] was an additional engineer and technician for the record.[10] As Lopatin explains, "We would do a lot of performance, one-take sampler performances. An SP555, and I would just play the pads, I had an idea of an arrangement in my head. And while I was doing the arrangement and a take, in the hopes that it would work, he was on a Sherman Filterbank and just shredding my 555 signal on another track. So there was that interaction and he was jamming. ‘cause he was learning the Filterbank during that session too. That became a big sound on that record, all the super-coarse, sounds like audio being ripped, super low-end and fuzzy weirdness."[12] Finally, Returnal was mastered by James Plotkin at Dubplates & Mastering in Berlin, Germany on April 1, 2010.[10]

Composition

Lopatin described Returnal as a "Rousseau record": "He’s a French painter during this exoticism period. They’re very interesting, they’re not one-to-one depictions of nature, explicitly because he didn’t really like or appreciate nature. So I was drawn to that, that’s kind of a vibe."[12]

Artwork

The cover art for Returnal was photographed by Yelena Avanesova and designed by Stephen O'Malley.[10]

Accolades

Halfway in 2010, before their review was published, The Quietus put Returnal at number 11 on their list of "The Best Albums Of 2010 So Far".[13] By the end of the year, the album appeared on several year-end lists by critics and publications, ranking in the top ten of Bleep Limited,[14] Fact,[15] The Guardian writer Jude Rogers,[16] Tiny Mix Tapes,[17] XLR8R,[18] and The Wire, where it was listed at number two and cut short of taking the top spot from Splazsh by Actress.[19] Where Returnal was outside of the top ten, Pitchfork Media, in a staff list, named the record the 20th best of 2010, with reviewer Nick Neyland writing that it "sets an impressively high benchmark for whatever comes next."[20] It was also ranked similarly on Uncut's list,[21] and on their blog's "Wild Mercury Sound 100 Of 2010", it was number 17.[22] Another list where it was put into the top 20 was Resident Advisor's, where it was number 13.[23] Popmatters listed the album number 67 on their 2010 list,[24] and on a list of the top ten experimental albums of the year by the publication's Louis Battaglia, it tied between the eighth and ninth spot with Emeralds' Does It Look Like I'm Here?.[25] Other year-end rankings including number 23 by Drowned in Sound,[26] 29 by Prefix, and in Stereogum's list 41.[27]

Publication/Author Country Accolade Year Rank
Bleep Limited United Kingdom Top 10 Albums Of The Year[14] 2010 *
Drowned in Sound Albums of the Year[26] 23
Fact The 40 Best Albums of 2010[15] 10
The Guardian (Jude Rogers) Albums of 2010[16] 4
Pitchfork Media United States The Top 50 Albums of 2010[20] 20
Popmatters International The 70 Best Albums of 2010[24] 67
The Best Experimental Music of 2010[25] 9/8
Prefix United States Best Albums of 2010[28] 29
The Quietus United Kingdom The Best Albums Of 2010 So Far[13] 11
Resident Advisor United States Top 20 Albums of 2010[23] 13
Stereogum The Top 50 Albums of 2010[27] 41
Tiny Mix Tapes Favorite 50 Albums of 2010[17] 6
Uncut United Kingdom 50 Best Albums of 2010[21] 20
The Wild Mercury Sound 100 Of 2010[22] 17
XLR8R United States Favorite Releases of 2010[18] 4
The Wire United Kingdom 2010 Rewind[19] 2011 2
* denotes an unordered list.

In other media

The song "Ouroboros" was later featured on The Bling Ring soundtrack, which Lopatin also worked on.

Track listing

All tracks written and produced by Daniel Lopatin.[10]

No. Title Length
1. "Nil Admirari"   5:05
2. "Describing Bodies"   4:18
3. "Stress Waves"   5:42
4. "Returnal"   4:43
5. "Pelham Island Road"   7:36
6. "Where Does Time Go"   6:25
7. "Ouroboros"   2:04
8. "Preyouandi"   6:11
Total length:
 41:59

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sherburne, Phillip (June 11, 2010). "Oneohtrix Point Never: Returnal". Pitchfork Media.
  2. ↑ Jordal, Ryan (August 9, 2010). "Album Review: Oneohtrix Point Never – Returnal". Beats per Minute. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  3. ↑ Palmer, Freddy (July 11, 2010). "Oneohtrix Point Never – Returnal". The Digital Fix. Poisonous Monkey Limited. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  4. ↑ Gibb, Rory (June 18, 2010). "Album Review: Oneohtrix Point Never – Returnal". Drowned in Sound. Silentway. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  5. ↑ Sande, Kiran (June 17, 2010). "Oneohtrix Point Never: Returnal". Fact. The Vinyl Factory. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  6. ↑ Gabriele, Timothy (September 10, 2010). "Oneohtrix Point Never: Returnal". Popmatters. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  7. ↑ Blackwell, Matthew (June 23, 2010). "Album Review: Oneohtrix Point Never – Returnal". Prefix. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  8. ↑ Miller, Derek (July 9, 2010). "Oneohtrix Point Never – Returnal". Resident Advisor. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  9. ↑ Mangoon. "Oneohtrix Point Never – Returnal". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 Returnal (Media notes). Oneohtrix Point Never. Editions Mego. 2014
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 "Session transcript Madrid 2011: Oneohtrix Point Never". Red Bull Music Academy. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "The Best Albums Of 2010 So Far". The Quietus. July 1, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Top 10 Albums Of The Year". Bleep Limited. 2010. Archived from the original on December 6, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "The 40 Best Albums of 2010". Fact. The Vinyl Factory. November 30, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Albums of 2010: How Guardian music critics voted". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. December 11, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Elliott, Richard (December 2010). "2010: Favorite 50 Albums of 2010 (10-1)". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "XLR8R's Favorite Releases of 2010, Part Two". XLR8R. December 23, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "2010 Rewind". The Wire. January 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Neyland, Nick (December 16, 2010). "The Top 50 Albums of 2010". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved July 14, 2013.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Uncut's 50 Best Albums of 2010". Album of the Year. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Mulvey, John (December 21, 2010). "The Wild Mercury Sound 100 Of 2010". Uncut. Time Inc. UK. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "RA Poll: Top 20 albums of 2010". Resident Advisor. December 15, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Cronk, Jordan (December 23, 2010). "The 70 Best Albums of 2010". Popmatters. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Battaglia, Louis (December 16, 2010). "The Best Experimental Music of 2010". Popmatters. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Adams, Sean (December 2, 2010). "Drowned in Sound's album of the year 2010: 50-11". Drowned in Sound. Silentway. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 "Stereogum’s Top 50 Albums Of 2010". Stereogum. December 8, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  28. ↑ "Best Of 2010: Prefix's Top 40 (30-21)". Prefix. December 13, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2014.