Oasis (Remastered 2024)

Although it's formatted in the same fashion of 1999's Intershop (seven untitled tracks in roughly 40 minutes), Olaf Dettinger's second full-length for Cologne's mighty Kompakt label is anything but a repeat. More glitch-oriented than Intershop and less reliant on mutated hip-hop beats, the reality-distorting effect produced is similar, finding different ways to convey warmth and detachment simultaneously. The first track sets up blankets of radiant comfort, only to be interrupted by suspenseful, semi-violent thrusts, like a person playing two notes over and over on a thoroughly beaten and waterlogged organ. Subtle twists, crackles, and tiny unexpected fur balls are coughed up throughout most of the record, thwarting any threat of complacency. But the real kicker is the finale: a beatless track that makes for Dettinger's most mind-bending yet, rivaling Boards of Canada with its shifting disturbed ambience. Again, the winning formation of the record is another positive aspect; thanks to these tracks being tidily bundled and varied without sounding out of place with each other, Dettinger avoids a common tendency of many of his peers -- at no point does Oasis devolve into mush, a haphazardly patched together, and/or overlong release. Play it from front to back and give the skip button a well-needed rest. ~ Andy Kellman