Oval is a German

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

project founded in 1991 by Markus Popp, Sebastian Oschatz, Frank Metzger, and Holger Lindmüller. The group pioneered

glitch A glitch is a short-lived technical fault, such as a transient one that corrects itself, making it difficult to troubleshoot. The term is particularly common in the computing and electronics industries, in circuit bending, as well as among pl ...

music, writing on CDs to damage them and produce music with the resulting fragments. The project has been a solo venture by Popp since the departure of other members in 1995.

History

Oval was founded in 1991 by Markus Popp, Sebastian Oschatz, Frank Metzger, and Holger Lindmüller. Lindmüller left about 1993, and Oval became a trio at that time. The group's debut studio album, ''Wohnton'', was released in 1993. Oval released '' Systemisch'' in 1994, and '' 94 Diskont'' in 1995. Oschatz and Metzger left the group in 1995, with Popp continuing under the Oval name. After releasing ''Ovalcommers'' in 2001, Oval went on hiatus for nearly a decade. In 2010, he returned with an EP, ''Oh'', and a studio album, '' O''. In 2011, he released a compilation album, ''OvalDNA''. In 2013, Oval released ''Calidostópia!'', a project funded by the

Goethe Institute The Goethe-Institut (; GI, ''Goethe Institute'') is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit German culture, cultural organization operational worldwide with more than 150 cultural centres, promoting the study of the German language abroad and en ...

and the Cultural Foundation of the State of Bahia. Recorded over ten days in a Brazil studio, it includes collaborations with seven singers from across South America. In 2016, Oval released a studio album, ''Popp'', through Popp's own record label Uovooo. He released an EP, ''Eksploio'', in 2019, and a studio album, '' Scis'', in 2020. In 2023, Oval released a studio album, '' Romantiq''. It is based on an audio-visual collaborative project between Popp and digital artist Robert Seidel for the opening of the German Romantic Museum in Frankfurt.

Other works

Markus Popp contributed to the creation of

Gastr del Sol Gastr del Sol (derived from a combination of the name of a race horse (Gato del Sol) and David Grubbs' previous band Bastro) was an American, Chicago-based band, consisting for most of their career of David Grubbs and Jim O'Rourke. Between 19 ...

's 1998 studio album, ''

Camoufleur ''Camoufleur'' is the fifth studio album by American indie rock band Gastr del Sol, released on February 23, 1998 on Drag City. Critical reception Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described ''Camoufleur'' as "a subdued, meditative affair, b ...

''. He is a member of the duo So, along with Eriko Toyoda. The duo released a studio album, ''So'', in 2003. He is also a member of the duo

Microstoria Microstoria (sometimes in all lowercase) is an experimental electronic duo composed of Markus Popp of Oval and Jan St. Werner of Mouse on Mars, founded in 1994 in Düsseldorf, Germany. Their first full-length album released in 1995, released in E ...

, along with

Mouse on Mars Mouse on Mars is a German electronic music duo formed in 1993 by Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma. Their music is a blend of electronic genres including IDM, dub, krautrock, breakbeat and ambient, featuring heavy use of organic analog synth and ...

' Jan St. Werner. Frank Metzger was a member of the group Steno, along with Rossano Polidoro and Emiliano Romanelli. They released ''Second-Hand Furniture'' in 2007. They were active from 2003 to 2011. Sebastian Oschatz is the founder of Meso, a German media design collective.

Artistry

Disdaining the use of synthesizers, the early Oval instead deliberately mutilated CDs by writing on them with felt pens, then processed samples of fragmented sounds to create a very rhythmic electronic style.

Awards and nominations

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Wohnton'' (Ata Tak, 1993) * '' Systemisch'' ( Mille Plateaux, 1994) * '' 94 Diskont'' (Mille Plateaux, 1995) * ''Dok'' (

Thrill Jockey Thrill Jockey is an American independent record label established by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards and based in Chicago. History Richards started the label in 1992 with $35,000 of family and personal capital, while ...

, 1998) * ''Ovalprocess'' (Thrill Jockey, 2000) * ''Pre/Commers'' (Tokuma Japan, 2001) * ''Ovalcommers'' (Thrill Jockey, 2001) * '' O'' (Thrill Jockey, 2010) * ''Calidostópia!'' (Goethe Institute, 2013) * ''Voa'' (self-released, 2013) * ''Popp'' (Uovooo, 2016) * '' Scis'' (Thrill Jockey, 2020) * ''Ovidono'' (Uovooo, 2021) * '' Romantiq'' (Thrill Jockey, 2023)

Compilation albums

* ''Iso Fabric'' (Tokuma Japan, 1997) * ''OvalDNA'' (Shitkatapult, 2011)

EPs

* ''Aero Deko'' (Tokuma Japan, 1998) * ''Szenariodisk'' (Thrill Jockey, 1999) * ''Oh'' (Thrill Jockey, 2010) * ''Eksploio'' (Thrill Jockey, 2019)

Compilation album appearances

* ''I Said No Doctors!'' ("ISND", Dymaxion Groove, 2017)

References

External links

*
Oval
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oval German musical groups German electronic musicians Musical groups established in 1991 1991 establishments in Germany Thrill Jockey artists