Browse by Artist: OVAL

Artist:	OVAL
Title:	OvalDNA
Label:	SHITKATAPULT (GERMANY)
Format:	CD/DVD
Price:	$19.50
Catalog #:	STRIKE 134CD

In many ways, O, released on Thrill Jockey after a nine-year break, was a second debut album for Markus Popp aka Oval. A radical break with old concepts and methods, a new beginning. While Popp's artistic approach in the 1990s and early 2000s was more of a structural, theoretical nature, O was just about the music itself. Themes such as the means of production, limitations, dogma and concept took a back seat to a musical sensibility. Instead of writing new software to synthesize and process sounds, for O, Popp dove into the heart of our preset-culture. He acquired a standard PC and only used the pre-installed sounds and plug-ins. With this ready-to-play machine and conventional musical instruments like the guitar and drums, a new chapter in the story of Oval was written. DNA is a mountain of an album: an audio CD with 25 tracks, each about three minutes long. Some are no longer than a minute. Here you'll find a collection of rare Oval pieces and 12 previously-unreleased tracks. DNA is a mixture of music from Markus Popp's various creative phases. It's surprising how old and new meld seamlessly together, and how, for Oval, formalism and musicality have produced similar results. Markus Popp has found an unmistakable musical language and declined it from A to Z. DNA, so to say, is the accompanying dictionary. Originally, this album was supposed to appear before O and conclude the "electronic" phase of Oval. DNA is intoxicating and wonderful. There is the intensive guitar work of the new pieces, an eruptive bundle of sounds, the sparkle and shimmer of high tones. The simultaneousness of countless events, unbelievably dense and at the same time secretly light. Disc 2 of DNA is almost something like an Open Source Manifesto: It contains the SoundBrowser/Sequenzer-Software OvalDNA and more than 2,000 Oval Sounds from various phases of Popp's work as individual AIFF files. The software and sound files are intended for music producers and are available to all without restrictions. Also included is a video documentation of PlayGroundTV/Madrid, the Glass UFO music video by AmberleyProductions/Berlin and 10 bonus tracks for the OvalDNA album as WAV files.

Artist:	OVAL
Title:	Systemisch
Label:	THRILL JOCKEY
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	THR 032CD

Reissue of 2nd Oval album (first to fully explore their current sound, as originally issued by Mille Plateaux). Beautiful digital abstractions, created by CD manipulation (painting on discs, etc.). Some of the most hypnotic & vital music of the era. "Oval create warm melodies and rich textures out of electronic tones and loops. Oval loops sounds created out of manipulated discs. The repetition indigent in a sound loop serves a rhythm, over which layered loops of warm tones provide the melodic, organic element."

Artist:	OVAL
Title:	Systemisch
Label:	THRILL JOCKEY
Format:	2LP
Price:	$19.00
Catalog #:	THR 032LP

2013 RSD release. " The extremely influential 1994 classic album from Oval is finally re-issued on vinyl. Freshly cut to vinyl by Roger Seibel at SAE Mastering the two LPs are pressed on clear vinyl and housed in black paper inner sleeves, packaged in a jacket replicating the original. Included for the first time is a free download coupon. Limited to 1,500 units worldwide. Systemisch was the debut Oval album released on Thrill Jockey. On this recording Oval was Markus Popp, Sebastian Oschatz and Frank Metzger."

Artist:	OVAL
Title:	Diskont
Label:	THRILL JOCKEY
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	THR 036CD

Reissue of the 2nd Oval album for Mille Plateau (3rd overall); aka oval94diskont. Both the CD & LP have two bonus tracks not included on the Mille Plateaux version. More advanced in its transportational properties than its predecessor Systemisch, this album is one of the dominating, defining audio documents of its era. "Oval are Markus Popp and Sebastian Oschatz. The paramount aim of Oval is to vigorously comment on the transitions in media, as well as digital technology. Oval music is about media, aesthetic presence, organized sound, composed out of the remnants of both music and musicality. They are interested in providing insight into the contemporary digital audio workspace components. Whilst originating as more of a by product of theory and theoretical demonstration, Oval's music is a rich textural and often melodic soundtrack created out of cold electronic tones. In commenting on digital technology, Ovals uses their own digital programs as well as physical manipulations of disc to expose the process and the equipment: for example creating a rhythm track out of a looped skip in a CD. As with Microstoria, Oval music, whilst a by product of their comment on and exposing of digital technology, is enjoyable without the knowledge of it's origins because it is a rich melodic soundtrack.

Artist:	OVAL
Title:	94diskont
Label:	THRILL JOCKEY
Format:	LP+12"
Price:	$19.00
Catalog #:	THR 036LP

2013 RSD release. 2013 RSD release. "The extremely influential 1995 classic album from Oval is finally re-issued on vinyl. Freshly cut to vinyl by Roger Seibel at SAE Mastering the two LPs are pressed on orange vinyl and packaged in a jacket replicating the original. LP1 is the album, LP2 is a 12" featuring remixes from Jim O'Rourke, Scanner, Mouse on Mars, and Christian Vogel. Included for the first time is a free download coupon. Limited to 1,500 units worldwide."

Artist:	OVAL
Title:	Dok
Label:	THRILL JOCKEY
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	THR 046CD

"This record is part one of a counter-remix-project embarked upon by Berlin-based sound innovators Oval and Tokyo-based installation artist/sound designer Christophe Charles. The record is primarily an Oval record accessing the soundfile archive of travel and field recordings by Charles. On this new LP, Dok, the preparation of the recording process itself was a challenge in its own right. the challenge centers around the widely static and very delicate environmental recordings of Charles and the difficulty in creating music out of sound with no sustain, no rhythm, and in no linear structure or relationship to each other."

Artist:	OVAL
Title:	Szenariodisk
Label:	THRILL JOCKEY
Format:	CD
Price:	$8.00
Catalog #:	THR 064CD

"The digital terrorist attacks with a CDEP comprised of new material and six songs which graced his previous 12" releases, Aero Deko and Szenario. Szenariodisk continues his exploration and manipulation of digital technology. This CDEP is the final installment in his three part series. This series of Oval Process Software takes a leap from the platform of Dok. While Dok employed the sound files of Christof Charles, the new EPs are made from the rich and round tones of the Oval sound files. The tones and melodies are a ghost, or a faint reminder of the melodies on the Oval debut Systemisch. There is considerable depth and a deep groove." [Content clarification: there are actually 11 tracks on this release, including 5 new, very short tracks that are apparently exclusive to this issue; total time: 25 minutes]

Artist:	OVAL
Title:	Ovalprocess
Label:	THRILL JOCKEY
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	THR 081CD

"Markus Popp, a.k.a. Oval, is a mastermind of digital technology. Ovalprocess continues his elaborate manifesto of electronic music coupled with multimedia wizardry. This new release from Oval is a flowing, textured manuscript that utilizes sublime low end rhythm and directive pulsation in a manner that eases the listener into a soft and pillowy world dominated by electronic bleeps, glitches and moans. Ovalprocess equally represents an innovative music software application, designed by Popp, as much as it serves as the core engine to an innovative Oval sound installation. The installation is centered around one or several publicly accessible sound terminals running the Ovalprocess application, rendering the exhibit a customizable, collaborative workspace. Making the installation accessible in a public space is the ideal aesthetic that Popp craves-he feels it is far more effective than offering a CDRom or another option that would make the application available on a more individual basis. The Ovalprocess installation allows the public to use sounds that are found on the album to produce their own Oval-like music. His latest release displays Popp's talent at developing a deep and complex groove with seemingly difficult tools. Ovalprocess is best enjoyed at a loud volume. Oval's rich and round tones provide a Siren-like lure that is irresistible."

Artist:	OVAL
Title:	Ovalcommers
Label:	THRILL JOCKEY
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	THR 103CD

"The 6th full length release from Markus Popp (aka Oval) finds this world renowned digital mastermind extending the concept & musical platform of last year's acclaimed Ovalprocess in every way. Exploring a spectrum of sounds between the abrasive sandblast of neo desktop rock (tracks 1-3) and the alienating, timeless splendor of DSP chamber music. In between there are unique excursions in folk electronica (track 4) and pop inflected wall-of-sound tunes that could only come from the mind of Oval. Popp describes Ovalcommers as a 3D musical obstacle course, a friendly and accessible invitation to complexity. Ovalcommers surprises with poetic and playful elements (organs and layers of guitar feedback), making room for understatement, sophistication and a new, almost absentmindedly casual atmosphere. Haunting emulations of processed brass, string and woodwind sections are carefully added to the otherwise still angular desktop rock. Listeners will leave Ovalcommers with a new perspective on Oval in general, as Popp's strategy becomes clearly visible: A friendly, yet relentless fanaticism to experiment and innovate musically."

Artist:	OVAL
Title:	O
Label:	THRILL JOCKEY
Format:	2CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	THR 244CD

"O is the first new Oval album in nearly a decade, a striking 70-track double CD and the follow up to May's sold-out Oh EP (THR 012.44EP) by electronic pioneer Markus Popp. Popp lives and works in Berlin. He took time off after his last release in 2003 under the moniker So, wanting this new material to be a radical departure from his old concepts and methods on all levels, to essentially be a new 'debut' album. For O, Popp's creative process shares nothing with his creative process for prior Oval albums. Previously, Popp focused on the creation of the programs that would process sound and effectively create the music, a process that was more theoretical in nature. For O, Popp uses an instrument that is very common, a stock PC outfitted with stock sounds and plug-ins. On the 2CD version of O, disc 1 features twenty relatively longer pieces that range from delicate, sophisticated pop to brutally torn, electro-acoustic riffing full of angular, colliding guitar sounds. All of the songs are peppered with expressive and open drumming. Disc 2 features fifty concise, highly detailed pieces that are a conscious nod to the culture of instant gratification. These tracks represent Popp's personal challenge to create pieces within a constrained framework that addresses this aspect of music culture. Popp has even referred to these pieces as ringtones. These one-minute tracks have a melodic finesse and associative power that are unexpected under such constraints and are ripe for future sampling projects."

Artist:	OVAL
Title:	PROCESS+4
Label:	TOKUMA (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$31.00
Catalog #:	TKCB 71869

Japanese version of the new Oval album (released in the US on Thrill Jockey), with 4 bonus tracks exclusive to this release ("Excel", "Newslo", Stueck" & "K-Sum"). "Markus Popp, a.k.a. Oval, is a mastermind of digital technology. Ovalprocess continues his elaborate manifesto of electronic music coupled with multimedia wizardry. This new release from Oval is a flowing, textured manuscript that utilizes sublime low end rhythm and directive pulsation in a manner that eases the listener into a soft and pillowy world dominated by electronic bleeps, glitches and moans. Ovalprocess equally represents an innovative music software application, designed by Popp, as much as it serves as the core engine to an innovative Oval sound installation. The installation is centered around one or several publicly accessible sound terminals running the Ovalprocess application, rendering the exhibit a customizable, collaborative workspace. Making the installation accessible in a public space is the ideal aesthetic that Popp craves-he feels it is far more effective than offering a CDRom or another option that would make the application available on a more individual basis. The Ovalprocess installation allows the public to use sounds that are found on the album to produce their own Oval-like music. His latest release displays Popp's talent at developing a deep and complex groove with seemingly difficult tools. Ovalprocess is best enjoyed at a loud volume. Oval's rich and round tones provide a Siren-like lure that is irresistible."

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