For those of us who can't keep up with every ultra-limited vinyl, tape, and CDR release, this 2CD anthology compiles three full-lengths ("Betrayed In The Octagon", "Zones Without People" and "Russian Mind") and a smattering of other tracks from Daniel Lopatin's astonishing Oneohtrix Point Never project.

This release gives the listener the full gamut of the OPN sound, from spooky extended space drones, to new age-y textures, to Krautrock, to analog synth techno-minus-beats, to the occasional noisy bit, and even a stray bit of psych-folk tucked away at the end. "Emil Cioran" sounds like a lower-fi version of FSOL circa "Lifeforms", and in a way this album sort of resembles that sprawling masterpiece (especially the cover art), only replacing the post-rave chill-out-room atmospherics with something a bit more primitive sounding. There's truly a lot to love here, but I think the centerpiece has to be "Physical Memory" (track 2 on disc 2), a sweeping, fuzzed out epic that basically manages to sum up a great deal of what I love about ambient music in its 11 minutes.

This is the best purchase I've made in a long, long time. I almost feel like I'm slighting it by not giving it the full 10, but there's a few moments here and there that I'm not quite so crazy about. Otherwise, this might just be the "Selected Ambient Works II" of this decade. Truly an utterly essential release. 9/10 -- Paul Simpson (14 January, 2010)