Oneohtrix Point Never - Good Time (Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Album Review)

 

Oneohtrix Point Never - Good Time (Motion Picture Soundtrack)

(2017)

My copy: 2017 European press by Warp Records.

Good Time is a 2017 thriller by the Safdie Brothers in which Robert Pattinson plays Constantine “Connie” Nikas, a scumbag criminal who desperately tries to rescue his mentally-disabled brother from incarceration after a botched robbery. Oneohtrix Point Never (Daniel Lopatin) is known for avant-garde electronic compositions, and provides the soundtrack to Connie’s crime spree in Good Time. 

The title track which plays in the beginning of the film encompasses many themes of the movie: mystery, a deluded sense of adventure, stress and fear. Ominous digital vocals cry out atop low droning bass before momentum builds and converts the track into a bombastic wave of nervous synths. The Good Time soundtrack is equal parts colorful and dark; like a hard hit of adrenaline during a tense situation. 

Audio clips from the film appear throughout the album, adding to the aural trip. “Bail Bonds” scores Connie’s manipulation of an old girlfriend with powerful percussion that draws comparisons to 80’s pop/rock albeit funneled through a warped, electronic lens. The whole soundtrack feels as though it is taking conventional tunes and stretching them through filter after filter while layering in new sounds to create a neon-soaked acid trip. 

“Hospital Escape/Access-A-Ride” chronicles a desperate chapter of the film with muted keys and rising tension. EQ tricks are used to change the atmosphere on a dime, and Lopatin actually samples the sound of a disability lift to further the immersion. There are many psychedelic moments on the record including the distorted and drawn out samples on “Ray Wakes Up” or the wailing lead melodies of “Flashback.” “Romance Apocalypse” is perhaps the most straightforward synthwave track with tantalizing percussion before the song introduces sinister chords. 

 The record is thematically airtight: Good Time seeks to draw sympathy from the audience in spite of the many cruel and violent acts committed by the main character. There is an inherent empathy to be felt for Connie’s love of his brother regardless of Connie’s horrible influence and choices; the music reflects this by always sneaking in somber and gentle tones, occasionally mixing in reflective and soothing voices such as in “Leaving The Park” or the end of “Connie.” 

The absolute highlight of the record features the vocal talents of Iggy Pop on the finale of “The Pure And The Damned” which spells out the previously mentioned themes in the heart wrenching lyrics. “The Pure And The Damned” begins as an oasis out of the stressed layering of the earlier tracks by beginning as a piano ballad with Iggy Pop’s lulling spoken delivery. The final track is an emotional peak, and as the song progresses waves of bittersweet digital melodies overflow like tears welling up: we knew all along that Connie would fail, and despite his separation from his brother being for the best we find this outcome puzzlingly disheartening. “The pure always act from love/The damned always act from love” is a lyric that sums up the whole experience of Good Time and begs emotional questions that resonate even when separated from the film component.    

The vinyl copy of this album was only produced in Europe, but there are some cheap U.S. listings for it on discogs.