OPM: Film Scores, Dancefloors, the Occult, and Lots More

Prismika – “In My Dreams We’re Still Together”

An absolutely gorgeous slowburn electronic track that nods toward shoegaze, downtempo and IDM without really belonging to any of those camps. The lush sound design and excellent understated sampling work in tandem to hold your attention and the beat, while laid back, will definitely get your head nodding along. Would make an incredible film cue as long as the director gave it enough room to breathe and work its magic (i.e. no dialog for that scene, most likely). A delightful track that definitely deserves your attention.

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OSIRIS DREAMS –  The Cybergenix Conspiracy

This is a science fiction concept album/EP about a Terminator-like cyborg created as slave labor by an evil corporation in the ‘80s, and boy does it sound like it! Throbbing synthwave bangers full of rich synth timbres and crisp, programmed drums, polished and produced in such a way that it leaps out of the speakers. 

Like most of this genre, it sounds a lot like if John Carpenter had been writing for the dancefloor instead of film scores. High energy, high emotion and high concept. Comes complete with a short story in the album notes, and if that’s not enough for you, there’s also a video for each song that goes into more depth.

(Listened to the full EP)

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Roaming Mosaics – “The Sweetest Colour” plus remixes

This track’s original mix is a sweet slice of psychedelic downtempo dub full of weird noises, trippy samples and leftfield instrumentation, all in service of exploring the phenomenon of synesthesia. Slippery, sinuous and sensual, impeccably produced, and over as soon as it sets its hooks in you, leaving you wanting more. 

Good news: there is more, in the form of multiple remixes. Those include two different tripped out dub house takes (Zéke Revision and Gold Ablaze remix) that manage to go in fairly divergent directions, a version that leans hard into the dub elements (Delaypilot’s Roots Dub) and an instrumental mix. Listen directly on the artist’s site, then head to that Bandcamp when you want to give them some money.

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daYs ending in Y – nooN 

At a certain point, lofi becomes more than an aesthetic approach that you can take with whatever genre you’re creating and becomes a style unto itself. This micro EP (9 tracks totalling less than 5 minutes altogether) is probably Exhibit A for anyone wishing to prove that proposition. 

https://jam.coop/artists/days-ending-in-y/albums/noon-lyricised

Each of these ultra short tracks is a simple, hyper minimal beat, produced (in the broadest sense of the word) on what I’d guess is some kind of Casiolike toy keyboard, with an abstract spoken-sung vocal added over the top. Tinny, weird in the extreme and at times atonal and harsh, but unquestionably original and unique – you’ve almost certainly not heard anything like this.

(Listened to the entire EP)

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pgcd – “Prayer for the Sixth Progression of Mehnes” “Prayer (The Black Moon of May)”

Goth, industrial and the occult all come together in a delightfully dark alchemical synthesis. Calling back to deep roots of the occultic goth-industrial complex – Coil, Current 93 and the like – this touches my own roots and recalls many, many goth dance nights (and even more nights getting high and listening to The Weird Stuff at home).

Musically, it leans more into the goth stuff than the industrial (tho the remix/remake turns the industry up a bit and lands in vintage EBM territory, perfect for the darker dancefloors out there ), focusing on deep vocal timbres, hypnotic grooves, mysterious atmosphere and some nice synth work rather than clangorous guitars and relentless beats.