Oval - Biography
Oval is the music project of German producer Markus Popp. Credited as a pioneering group of what came to be called glitch music, Oval’s early sound exists in a liminal space between ambient music, noise, experimental electronica, and minimal techno. Largely process based, Popp’s music relied on esoteric custom computer software as well as tactile techniques such as defacing CDs by scratching or writing on them to produce fractured, glitching sounds. These skipping, malfunctioning sounds defined Oval’s early aesthetic and inspired a legion of electronica and post-rock producers in the mid to late 1990s. Popp’s mid-90s work ranks as some of the most original and inspired abstract electronic music ever produced.
Formed in 1991, Oval was initially the trio of Popp, Sebastian Oschatz, and Frank Metzger. After circulating some private cassette only recordings the trio recorded a full-length album for the Ata Tak label in 1993 titled Wohnton. Over seventeen short songs Oval debuts its trademark glitch sound, folding in fragmented melodies, skipping rhythms, and shuddering basslines. By far the most “pop” of any Oval record, the main difference here is the presence of Metzger’s vocals. While treated, the vocals still lend an organic, human element that tethers Wohnton to the realm of electronic pop music.
The following year Oval signed with the Mille Plateaux label, one of Europe’s most progressive outlets for experimental music. That same year brought the second full-length, Systemisch. While all three members were involved, this album saw Popp taking control. While rhythms and melodies are still evident, the track’s structures are much more skewed and chopped. Popp focuses sharply on the sound of glitch and malfunction, creating a swirling, mesmerizing world of randomized detail. Tracks like “Textuell,” “The Politics Of Digital Audio,” and “Post-Post” still sound like virtually nothing else in electronic music.
In 1995 Oval returned with a third full-length. 94diskont. is rightfully regarded as the group’s classic early work. The opening track, “Do While,” is twenty-four minutes of undulating, glistening, queasy ambience of the highest order. It almost singlehandedly set the stage for the ten plus years of glitchy abstract electronica that followed and gained the group fans across a spectrum of genres from techno to art-rock. The record is rounded out by four shorter tracks that crystallize Oval’s singular aesthetic.
After 94diskont. Oschatz and Metzger left Oval, leaving Popp to pursue his unique agenda. Popp signed with American imprint Thrill Jockey and the label reissued Systemisch and 94diskont. for stateside audiences in 1996. Popp was also enlisted to remix post-rockers Tortoise that same year, expanding Oval’s profile to indie rock fans. Popp also teamed with Mouse on Mars’ Jan St. Werner to record as Microstoria. Thrill Jockey released the duo’s excellent first two records (Init Ding, Snd) in the US in 1996 as well. Oval embarked on an American tour with Tortoise at this time.
In 1998 Popp released Dok, the fourth Oval album. A collaboration with sound artist Christophe Charles, Dok pushes the Oval sound into even denser, more abstract territory. Perhaps the culmination of Popp’s techniques, these nine hypnotic, heavily textured tracks are by turns beautiful and disorienting. Featuring shifting layers of processed field recordings focusing on bell sounds, its one of Oval’s most engaging and striking records.
The Szenariodisk EP followed in 1999, pointing the way to a harsher, distorted sound found on 2000’s Ovalprocess and 2001’s Ovalcommers. Of the two the later is the noisiest record in Popp’s discography. With these two records Popp felt he had exhausted the potential of his custom software and of the Oval sound in general. He continued to release Microstoria records and in 2003 he collaborated with Japanese vocalist Eriko Toyada as So, releasing a single self-titled album that year.
Fans of Oval rejoiced in 2010 at the news of a new album. A teaser EP, Oh, was released before the full-length O saw the light of day. For this first new Oval record in ten years Popp completely reinvented his approach, ditching his custom software for consumer programs and focusing on organic sounds generated from guitar and drums. For all of the changes, O bears the mark of Popp’s unique ear for odd melody, texture, and structure. With this most recent effort Popp has launched a whole new phase for Oval to explore.