Szenario
OnSzenariodiskMarkus Popp, a.k.a. Oval, feeds warm, almost organic sounds into his Oval process software and they emerge wholly changed as textural, distorted washes of drone, din, and crackle, accompanied by Popp's signature looped, skipping-disc click tracks. As usual, it's pretty astounding and mesmerizing stuff, sounding like a computer that's been fed far too much information and hence is sort of stoned. There are 11 tracks on this 25-minute EP, with the longer pieces tending to be more hypnotic and songlike and the shorter works tending toward bursts of pure, experimental noise that approach dirtier-sounding areas than those previously experienced by Oval. A few of the pieces are mind-boggling; track 7 is made up of overlapping waves and verges on an orchestral vastness that threatens to capsize the listener, especially if you play it really loud (which by all means you should).--Mike McGonigal