Dok [Import]

Dok [Import]

Track Listings

1. Lens-Flared Capital

2. Polygon Medpack 2.0

3. Dekon/Rekon Anything

4. Bloc

5. Reversioning

6. Momentan Vr

7. Standard Audio Frontend

8. Vitra Desk

9. Class

10. Story Mode

11. Calc

12. Container

13. Inwendig

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Japanese Release featuring Bonus Tracks.

Tracks:

Lens-Flared Capital
Polygon Medpack 2.0
Dekon/Rekon Anything
Bloc
Reversioning
Momentan VR
Standard Audio Frontend
Vitra Desk
Class

Amazon.com's Best of 1998

In a year that saw the release of many fabulous archival 78s and field recordings, it's great to hear music that creates new, vibrant art from similar, contemporary source material. With Dok, Oval music ceases to be about manipulating existing CDs and instead is made from the manipulation of field/travel recordings by Tokyo-based artist Christophe Charles. Markus Popp's software does some pretty, narcoleptic, nifty things to the source material, recordings of bells heard in public spaces throughout the world. --Mike McGonigal

Amazon.com

A collaborative experiment between Oval's Markus Popp (he of Berlin) and academic sound-seeker Christophe Charles (he of Tokyo), Dok examines the relationship between space and structure at its most fundamental crux. On previous releases Oval proved themselves the Christian Marclay of the digital age; manually "treating" compact discs with scratches and cuts, then documenting and manipulating the naturally occurring results. On Dok Popp puts this modus operandi to a polarizing test. Rather than using linear, rhythmically constructed music as his sound source, he draws on a series of Charles's field recordings of bell sounds--almost entirely devoid of structure or rhythm--from around the world. Popp's intention here is to present the Oval aesthetic as a fluid, adaptable means to a consistently musical end. The result, while less melodic than previous Oval offerings, maintains the sublime appeal of an underwater dream. Dok ambitiously asks us to reassess the parameters of music itself, but theory and practice rarely find such gorgeous intersection. --Matt Hanks

Customer Reviews:

Pretentious ambient.......2006-07-14

While not the absolute worst avant garde ambient out there, Dok certainly does appear wet behind the years compared to the new generation of lab toppies making noise out there today. Besides for a few intriguing moments, this disc pretty much coasts by to me at an experimental pace, drowning the few decent droning electronic moments out with determined repetition that comes off more as exercise then experiment.

Blocky "Dok".......2004-10-08

It's too angular to be ambient, too slow and aimless to be trip-hop. Oval creates a few flickery little sheets of sound, but it ends up being sound. Just sound. Not And what's more, Oval's "Dok" is not even terribly interesting sound -- muffled grey noise that sometimes sounds like a futuristic train station.

In some tracks, it sounds at first like there is something worth checking out. "Bloc" opens with a ghostly feedback loop over a bit of ambient melody. But the feedback just sputters, and the ambience goes nowhere. "Class" is a bell chiming, while muffled voices talk in the background. It's a little like sitting on a city street with a blanket wrapped around your head.

"Lens Flared Capital" is perhaps the most engaging, with its fuzzy noise overlaying a soft ambient sound. Unfortunately, at six minutes long, the song outstays its welcome. On the other hand, "Reversioning" is a less likable experience, with ghostly keyboard and an annoying sieres of bells. "Momentan VR" has a high-pitched sonic layer that is just painful. Literally.

The biggest shortcoming of "Dok" is that after leaving babyhood, human beings don't like sitting there listening to the same thing for long stretches of time. Certainly it's interesting, well-crafted noise -- sounds a bit like the soundtrack of an artistically inclined SF movie. But scratches and fuzz can only carry on so long.

With the assistance of Christophe Charles, German artist Markus Popp does some intriguing mixes with his software -- bells, shimmers and the sound of street hubbub (ie, traffic and voices). No rhythm, no tune, no climax and no melody. Just bells, fuzz and scratches and the occasional bit of stormy feedback.

But while abstraction and experimental music can be awe-inspiring in some albums... this is not a good example. It fails to be intriguing, because all the tracks are very similar. You can tell just what the next song will sound like. But it doesn't lull you or make you think, because of the painful sonic spikes and annoying little bells.

It's an intriguing and well-crafted album full of noise. But "Dok" is only noise, just noise, and not in a good way. While it's admirable that Oval experimented a bit, Popp should get back to the drawing board.

Eat your heart out BASF.......2001-11-10

I own something like 5 Oval albums. That's way too many Oval albums. It's in the nature of the indie elitist to ensure that his library is complete.

Now, I sort of gave up on doing this with Oval, if only because it seemed self-evidently pointless.

I bought this album purely because, as always, the album art was so gorgeous. Do I ever listen to it? Don't make me giggle.

All I'm thinking is that it's going to be very hard for me to complain about the music of the next generation when what I listen to IS just "noise". Because that's all Oval does is make noise. Not that I'm complaining, it's often really great noise. But we've reached the end of the line, in a certain sense, when there's so many people giving hiss and click sounds 5 stars on Amazon.

All said and done, Dok is a good example of Oval noise. The appearance of Christophe Charles doesn't make this album any more remarkable though. Don't let the reviews fool you. This is a spanky album of white, off-white, and grey noise. There's a few minor subtle type things going on, but for the most part, this is just noise.

Oval has created a monster with his noise. He is a kind of god to some. His innovations are pretty strange, but he is an original. His noise is rich, layered, and chilling. So. Now people like _SND and Fennesz are clammering to replace him as the kingpin of the blank-cassette hiss genre. Yeehoo. Let the games begin.

Brilliant.......2000-12-30

I listened to Christophe Charles' interpretation of the sounds(Undirected/Dok, 2000) before listening to this album. This is a interesting twist on the samples. This album presents a more repetative and filtered sound, which is a contrast to Christophes 2000 album. The bare organic complexities of the samples still shine through in this work. Truly marvelous. If you like this, try Christophe's work, it is much more 'Undirected' and raw. Mind Boggling. Highly recomended.

Oval's departure release..........2000-04-04

This full-length effort, a collaboration between Oval and sound artist Christophe Charles, marks a shift in Oval's style. Previous releases by the trio were characterized by a often-brittle sound, majorly revolving around a sound not too unlike that of a malfunctioning CD player. This often yielded fascinating results, particularly on "Diskont" and "Wohnton", but after a few discs full of this, the novelty tends to grow thin. However, here the group ventures into seamless structures that often have a terse, nervous feel in addition to their obvious ambience. But unlike 'dark ambient' releases, this set of pieces is an ambience of digital environs...sort of a "Music for PCs", if you would. Very hard to categorize this, to be sure, but at every turn this is an interesting release, and an important move for computer music from the lab-like environs of academia into the electronic music forefront. Very recommended, especially for those in the New Music scene as well as those looking for a 'twist' to their ambient collection.

Average customer rating:

Movietime Scrapbook

Manufacturer: Empress
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Movie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

Traditional Pop | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Soundtracks | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00002MMYG
Release Date: 2002-09-24

Tracks:

Anchors Aweigh-(All Of A Sudden) My Heart Sings - Kathryn Grayson
Let's Fall In Love-Bread And Butter Woman - Danny Kaye/The Andrews Sisters
Big City-Ok'l Baby Dok'l - Betty Garrett
Golden Earrings-Golden Earring - Jack Fina
If Winter Comes-If Winter Comes - Johnnie Johnston
Road To Rio-You Don't Have To Know The Language - Bing Crosby/The Andrews Sisters
Casbah-It Was Written In The Stars - Art Lund
Anchors Aweigh-The King Who Couldn't Dance/The Worry Song - Gene Kelly
The Kissing Bandit-What's Wrong With Me - Kathryn Grayson
Fun And Fancy Free-Lazy Countryside - Johnnie Johnston
Easter Parade-It Only Happens When I Dance With You - Art Lund
The Kissing Bandit-Love Is Where You Find It - Kathryn Grayson
Hit The Deck-Sometimes I'm Happy - Lena Horne
Going My Way-Swinging On A Star - Bing Crosby
Can't Help Singing-Any Moment Now - Deanna Durbin
Secret Life Of Walter Mitty-Anatole Of Paris - Danny Kaye
Strike Up The Band-Our Love Affair - Judy Garland
Voice Of The Stars - Gracie Fields/Charles Laughton/Leslie Henson/Albert Burdon/Evelyn Laye/Stanley Lupino...
British Film Festival Of 1946-Scene From Notable British Pictures Of The War - Leslie Mitchell/Stanley Holloway/Raymond Huntley/Hugh Burdon/Michael Redgrave/Roasamund John....

Average customer rating:

Strugglin

Manufacturer: BPM Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000CA3U1O
Release Date: 2003-04-15

Average customer rating:

Dok
Oval & Christophe Charles
Manufacturer: Thril
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ambient | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Techno | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Minimal Techno | Techno | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

IDM | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Electronic Pop | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Electronica | Dance & DJ | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Dance & DJ | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0000087HD
Release Date: 1998-02-17

Album Details

Japanese Release featuring Bonus Tracks.

Average customer rating:

Mind Boggling

Undirected: 1986-1996/Dok
Christophe Charles
Manufacturer: Efa Imports
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

IDM | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Electronica | Dance & DJ | Indie Music | Stores | Music

IDM | Dance & DJ | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Dance & DJ | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00004VWBU
Release Date: 2000-08-29

Album Details

Leftfield. This New CD from Christophe Charles is a Result of Soundfile Swapping with Oval's Markus Popp.

Customer Reviews:

Mind Boggling.......2000-12-30

Simply amazing. Crisp organic nonsense, seeping in and out of the soundscape, whispers come and go before you have any chance to identify them. A brilliant canvas of sounds, with such a complex mingling, of organic noise. Makes you want to explore the wonderful world that consists of a paridoxical mixture of digitally filtered organic noise. Like listening to a Picasso.

Music:

Music

music

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