Two artists at the forefront of underground experimental music in the US, Daniel Lopatin aka Oneohtrix Point Never, and Jeff Witscher, aka Rene Hell, have announced a six-track split release, Music For Reliquary House/In 1980 I Was A Blue Square (artwork above), is due to be released on September 17 via NNA Tapes.
Music For Reliquary House, Oneohtrix’s half, follows on from his 2011 album Replica, cementing reworks of the sounds he produced for his audiovisual project with Nate Boyce, ‘Reliquary House’. Using a computer, the Mexican Sunrise/Software label head converts segments of text into audible speech before deconstructing and reassembling it, creating something melodic yet unnervingly inhuman at the same time. The piece clocks in at a total of 22 minutes and is quite a journey, to say the least, exhibiting Lopatin’s passion for retro-style synths and abrasive samples, while always under the guiding hand of his eerie vocal manipulations.
The rest of the LP is made up of five more classically rooted offerings from Rene Hell, making up In 1980 I was a Blue Square, each incorporating glitchy electronics and ambient atmosphere tones to varying degrees. The five tracks highlight Witscher’s passion for both ambient and noise music, an occasionally conflicting blend of styles that makes it all the more satisfying when it works.
