Oval Gig at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam

Setun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0MWfJE3ejI

Above track from Oval's new album O, with a great video.

He has released an EP and a full length album this year (along with a load of free downloads on soundcloud), but he said last night that he's really excited about the new music, and plans on releasing some more before year end - after a ten year break it's safe to say that Markus Popp is feeling very productive again.

It's worth noting that the EP has 15 tracks, and the full length album has 70 - an early indicator perhaps as to how his music has changed from the extended explorations of damaged media in his early masterpiece 94 Diskont to a quick and sharper approach to composing. His use of sampled drum kit and guitar is also a clear break from his previous records, but from what I could hear last night the glitch aesthetic that he pioneered in the early 90s still pervades. Distortion, clicks, arrhythmic disc-skipping etc all remain part of his vocabulary but are simulated (I think) in some software he designed to virtually replicate damaged cds, and also enable him to remix and reperform his music in a live setting. It's difficult to say how improvised the set was: it was one-man-behind-his-laptop standard fare, with micro finger twitches, facial expressions, and mouseclicks providing the more extroverted examples of showmanship. Nevertheless, the music spoke for itself, oscillating between quiet drones and washes of white noise, to more up-tempo, near-feelgood beats and guitar sounds. The audience remained rapt throughout the short 45 minute set - during the more upbeat sections I'm sure many quietly wished they could get out of their auditorium seating and wave their arms and legs about. The short set, a requirement of the four-act event, actually suited the hyperactive changes in the 2/3 minute track lengths. By the end of the performance, I was left wondering how Popp managed to cram 90 minutes worth of rich and beautiful music into half that time.

Scubadevils

Sounds good Daddio, added to the list of required purchases! Nice review.