OPM: The Outer Limits

Bodega System – Nightcliff

Delightfully insane synthesis of dub, electro, techno, Plunderphonics and musique concrete into a mind-bending whole. It is frequently groovy, usually weird, almost always raw, minimal, and heavy – the initial bass blast really had my monitors working, for example.

A love of echo, squelchy synth noises, and funky drum-machine rhythms holds all the bits together, if only just barely at times. Luckily it’s often at its most interesting in the moments it seems most likely to fall apart, and the interest only compounds as it never quite does. I like this one. 

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Anhnch – Cartography of Expression

Adventurous techno and IDM with a bold production approach and some unique ideas. From meandering ambient acid lines in space to weird, broken beats and spoken word, this is an album that is willing to go to some unusual places. That taste for strange directions is paired with a propensity for old-school sounds that keeps this grounded in the comfortable. 

The overall mood is more chill and engaged rather than dancefloor driving, so this one will match nicely with your headphones and couch. Spicy old-school material with a reverence for the past and a taste for the unusual.

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Ovidi Nawer – Morekogi

A dreamy and dreamlike musical journey thru a nice melange of mellow electronic music. Elements of ambient, vaporwave, and lo-fi beats get mixed together in various measure. The looping, hypnotic nature of videogame music is also a reference point and likely influence. 

It makes for a pleasant, almost blissful listen that is over all too soon. This is a strong EP-length release that feels like it could easily support an album-sized version.  

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inpc – it’s not ok computer

Haunted dub soundscapes wrapped around classic IDM beats and infested with a sense of creeping, contemporary paranoia. The sense of creeping dread is delivered thru timbre and spoken word elements. 

That’s balanced against some great IDM and electro beats and cemented together with layers of echo and reverb. Groovy and menacing, avant garde and nostalgic, all in equal measure. Mesmerizing. (This one is also available as a podcast! Search for inpc – it’s not ok computer on podcast apps.)

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Blood Out – Blood Out #2

Incredible fusion of free jazz saxophone and textured, experimental modular synth, created live and improvised. Right now, some of you are sprinting for the exit, and that’s okay– this one is indeed for the sickos only (extremely complimentary). 

For everyone who’s stuck around, I expect I don’t need to convince you, do I? I’ll just note that it is an incredible interplay between disparate elements from two players who clearly know each other and their instruments very well. Crazy stuff, and well worth it if you are into this kind of business.

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