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Oneohtrix Point Never Good Time OST Warp

15.08.17

It wouldn’t be wrong to call Daniel Lopatin, aka Oneohtrix Point Never, a maverick of heady sci-fi inspired electronica. Lopatin has created a strange world of sound with an inclination towards grotesque beauty. His revered 2015 album Garden of Delete was a scary, gloopy and glorious soundtrack to the narrative of a fictionalised humanoid called ‘Erza’ – a sort of soundtrack to our generation’s struggle to adapt and immerse ourselves into the virtual civilisation of the internet.

This time round, Lopatin was recruited by independent filmmaker brothers Josh and Benny Safdie to score their crime thriller Good Time, which stars Robert Pattinson and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Already, Lopatin’s score has been honoured with the prestigious Cannes Soundtrack Award, beating former Oscar nominee Jonny Greenwood to the title. Listen to the OST without the film, and Lopatin’s music still stands up as a spellbinding record.

The opening title track progresses from brooding tectonic bass to celestial synths, with Tangerine Dream-esque arpeggios driving the suspense. Bail Bond’s fizzy drones build under jarring dramatic dialogue and sleazy riffs shred over a painfully brief amen break. Romance Apocalypse has a hook that would make the iconic Miami Vice composer Jan Hammer proud, propelling you into a trashy 80s crime world. The Pure and The Damned sees a weathered Iggy Pop gush with hopeless romanticism: “The pure always act from love/ The damned always act from love/ The truth is an act of love”. The striking sincerity and sombre sense of receding in Pop’s delivery moved me to tears. I can only imagine the harrowing emotion this record underscores.