# 94 Diskont > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/94_Diskont > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/94_Diskont.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/94_Diskont > Source revision: 1348530893 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}} {{Infobox album | name = 94 Diskont | type = Album | artist = [Oval](/source/Oval_(musical_project)) | cover = Diskontcover.jpg | alt = | released = 1995 | recorded = | venue = | studio = | genre = {{hlist|[Glitch](/source/Glitch_(music))|[ambient](/source/Ambient_music)}} | length = 52:09 | label = [Mille Plateaux](/source/Mille_Plateaux_(record_label)), [Thrill Jockey](/source/Thrill_Jockey) | producer = | prev_title = [Systemisch](/source/Systemisch) | prev_year = 1994 | next_title = Dok | next_year = 1998 | misc = {{Extra album cover | type = studio | cover = 94Diskont-streaming.jpg | caption = The cover of ''94 Diskont'' used for the 1996 release and thereafter. }} }} '''''94 Diskont''''' (stylised as '''''94diskont.''''') is the fourth album by German [electronic music](/source/electronic_music) group [Oval](/source/Oval_(musical_project)). It was released in 1995 via [Mille Plateaux](/source/Mille_Plateaux_(record_label)) in Europe and in 1996 by [Thrill Jockey](/source/Thrill_Jockey) in the United States. It was the final Oval release to feature Sebastian Oschatz and Frank Metzger. It has received critical acclaim. ==Background== Oval received both praise and controversy for its styling methods, such as literally deconstructing music and digital audio by using [exacto](/source/X-Acto) knives, paint, and tape to damage the surfaces of compact discs, only to stitch the sound back together in loops of melody punctuated by the disc's physical skips.{{cite web|url=http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/seconds/oval-do-while.htm|title=Oval: Do While|date=4 January 2006|access-date=23 November 2006|last=Macdonald|first=Cameron|work=[Stylus Magazine](/source/Stylus_Magazine)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230195315/http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/seconds/oval-do-while.htm|archive-date=30 December 2006|url-status=dead}} On its initial release, ''[Select](/source/Select_(magazine))'' noted in their review that Oval "sound unlike any other combo" on ''94 Diskont''. The review went on to note that group have been described in desperation as [techno](/source/techno_(music)) and critiqued this reference stating "try dancing to the sort of erratic pulsing and hiccuping that comes over like the read-out from a dying alien's electrocardiograph". ''94 Diskont'' was released as a companion piece to Oval's previous album, ''[Systemisch](/source/Systemisch)''. The album's centerpiece is "Do While," a 24-minute track originally composed for the group's 8-channel, 128-speaker modular sound installation named Wohnton (translates into home tone) in a stereo mixdown. The installation was shown throughout Europe between 1994 and 1996 on various occasions, ranging from art exhibitions to [techno](/source/techno) [rave](/source/rave)s. A radio edit of the song, "Do While [⌘](/source/Command_key)X", is also included on the album. The US pressing by Thrill Jockey adds two additional songs and, on vinyl, moves "Do While ⌘X" up in the running order to appear directly after "Do While", instead of closing the album. Both US and international [vinyl](/source/gramophone_record) versions of the album came with a [remix](/source/remix) [LP](/source/Gramophone_record) that contains remixes by [Mouse on Mars](/source/Mouse_on_Mars), [Scanner](/source/Robin_Rimbaud), [Cristian Vogel](/source/Cristian_Vogel), and [Jim O'Rourke](/source/Jim_O'Rourke_(musician)).{{cite web|url=http://www.thrilljockey.com/catalog/?id=100031|title=Thrill Jockey Records: Oval: ''94 Diskont''|access-date=18 February 2011|last=Macdonald|first=Cameron|publisher=[Thrill Jockey](/source/Thrill_Jockey)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217040258/http://www.thrilljockey.com/catalog/?id=100031|archive-date=17 December 2010|url-status=dead}} ==Composition== ''94 Diskont'' is considered to be an album in the [glitch](/source/Glitch_(music)) and [ambient music](/source/ambient_music) genres, composed from brief loops that overlap. On ''[Pitchfork](/source/Pitchfork_(website))'', [Philip Sherburne](/source/Philip_Sherburne) regards that ''94 Diskont'' was when Oval found their potential in their methods. Sherburne further notes that its sound of "[bit-crushed](/source/Bitcrusher) chirps and desiccated hiccups" would be used to define glitch music. Alike the works of [Erik Satie](/source/Erik_Satie) and [Brian Eno](/source/Brian_Eno), the album "both fades into the background and charges the very air around you".{{Cite web |last=Pitchfork |date=2016-09-26 |title=The 50 Best Ambient Albums of All Time |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9948-the-50-best-ambient-albums-of-all-time/ |access-date=2025-06-08 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}} ==Reception== {{Music ratings | rev1 = [AllMusic](/source/AllMusic) | rev1Score = {{rating|5|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/94-diskont-mw0000080753|title=''94 Diskont'' – Oval|publisher=[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)|access-date=29 June 2011|last=Tausig|first=Ben}} | rev2 = ''[Select](/source/Select_(magazine))'' | rev2Score = 4/5{{cite magazine|title=Oval: ''94 Diskont''|magazine=[Select](/source/Select_(magazine))|issue=59|date=May 1995|page=99|last=Morrison|first=Dave}} }} Dave Morrison of ''[Select](/source/Select_(magazine))'' gave the album a four out of five rating, first mentioning the group's unorthodox method of obtaining the sounds on the album, then noting that "this out-on-a-limb approach wouldn't mean a thing if the results weren't so brilliant." ''[The Wire](/source/The_Wire_(magazine))'' placed the album at number five on its 1995 of top albums of the year.{{cite web|url=http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/363/|title=Top 50 records of 1995|access-date=18 February 2011|work=[The Wire](/source/The_Wire_(magazine))}} Ben Tausig of [AllMusic](/source/AllMusic) awarded the album five stars and stated, "''94 Diskont'' is undoubtedly a standout in the field of electronically advanced, [glitch](/source/glitch_(music))-heavy music." In their 1998 list of "100 Records That Set the World on Fire (While No One Was Listening)", ''[The Wire](/source/The_Wire_(magazine))'' wrote of the album: "From nothing but digital detritus, Oval construct a resonant holism of pure crystalline beauty. The balance of this disc is given over to brief excursions into textural exposition, pushing back the boundaries of sound as music."{{cite magazine |title=100 Records That Set the World on Fire (While No One Was Listening) |magazine=[The Wire](/source/The_Wire_(magazine)) |issue=175 |date=September 1998}} In a 2003 feature, the [webzine](/source/online_magazine) ''[Pitchfork](/source/Pitchfork_(website))'' placed ''94 Diskont'' at number 47 on its list of the top 100 albums of the 1990s. Mark Richardson of ''Pitchfork'' declared, "Sounds appear as multi-layer holograms, with both sources and ghosted copies simultaneously vying for attention, a piece of sonic trickery used to create some of the most serene and aquatic music of the '90s."{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/5923-top-100-albums-of-the-1990s/?page=6|title=Top 100 Albums of the 1990s|page=6|date=17 November 2003|access-date=18 February 2011|last=Richardson|first=Mark|work=[Pitchfork](/source/Pitchfork_(website))}} Richardson would later state in a 2016 piece that ''94 Diskont'' "was the first sound of a new future".{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/features/resonant-frequency/9730-a-glitch-in-time-how-ovals-1995-ambient-masterpiece-predicted-our-digital-present/|title=A Glitch in Time: How Oval’s 1995 Ambient Masterpiece Predicted Our Digital Present|date=5 October 2015|access-date=26 September 2016|last=Richardson|first=Mark|work=[Pitchfork](/source/Pitchfork_(website))}} In 2016, ''Pitchfork'' named ''94 Diskont'' the seventh best ambient album of all time.{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9948-the-50-best-ambient-albums-of-all-time/?page=5|title=The 50 Best Ambient Albums of All Time|page=5|date=26 September 2016|access-date=26 September 2016|last=Sherburne|first=Philip|author-link=Philip Sherburne|work=[Pitchfork](/source/Pitchfork_(website))}} ==Track listing== {{Track listing | headline = Original Mille Plateaux pressing | title1 = Do While | length1 = 24:04 | title2 = Store Check | length2 = 4:01 | title3 = Line Extension | length3 = 3:05 | title4= Cross Selling | length4 = 6:09 | title5 = Do While ⌘X | length5 = 4:50 }} {{Track listing | headline = Thrill Jockey pressing (US) | title1 = Do While | length1 = 24:04 | title2 = Store Check | length2 = 3:58 | title3 = Line Extension | length3 = 3:02 | title4 = Cross Selling | length4 = 6:06 | title5 = Commerce Server | length5 = 4:56 | title6 = Shop in Store | length6 = 4:00 | title7 = Do While ⌘X | length7 = 4:50 }} {{Track listing | headline = Bonus 12" | title1 = Do While (Jim O'Rourke) | length1 = 5:36 | title2 = Do While (Scanner) | length2 = 6:53 | title3 = Do While (Mouse on Mars) | length3 = 8:55 | title4 = Do While (Christian Vogel) | length4 = 6:27 }} ==Notes and references== {{reflist}} ==External links== * {{Discogs master|14200}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20101217040258/http://www.thrilljockey.com/catalog/?id=100031 ''94 Diskont''] at [Thrill Jockey](/source/Thrill_Jockey) {{Oval (musical project)}} {{Authority control}} Category:1995 albums Category:Oval (musical project) albums Category:Thrill Jockey albums Category:Mille Plateaux (record label) albums --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [94 Diskont](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/94_Diskont) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/94_Diskont?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.