This is a reissue of an album that was originally released in 2007, and am I glad that the good folks at anticon did, because I totally missed it the first time through, and that just ain’t right. This album was created as the soundtrack to This is My Element, a skateboarding film put out by Element Skateboards. The film isn’t especially noteworthy, unless you’re really into skateboarding. And quite frankly, I think the soundtrack holds up better as an album without the film to weigh it down, which feels a little bit of an odd thing to say, but sometimes that happens.

If you’re familiar with the niche that Odd Nosdam has carved himself as a producer over the years, then this album will slide right into place for you. If not, I think this could be a good introduction for new listeners. It’s not his most grand, or most epic, or most weird music, and therefore easily accessible to most listeners. Which isn’t to say this album is dull or unchallenging - far from it. What this album is to me is an album of atmospheres, and that makes it an album that can seep into your ears and your brain before you are even consciously aware of all the complex things going on in his music. It’s easy to turn on this album as you go throughout your day and have your own personal soundtrack - sometimes there’s some tension (“Cop Crush”), sometimes there are soaring highs (“Fly Mode”), sometimes its reflexive (“Ethereal Slap”).

For those not familiar with Odd Nosdam, he has a penchant for making his albums sound like they are being played on an old record player, with a sonic quality that conjures up images of putting on a piece of wax you found in a second-hand store. He also loves to mash up old keyboards and organs with beats and melodies from of samples that don’t quite fit together, driving a slightly off-course path that just manages to work as he pushes the beat forward. Sometimes this can be challenging in a way that casual listeners might not be able to handle (I was told by a deejay once that his production for Sole’s “Sin Carne” drove him so crazy in its jilted-ness that he turned it off in the middle of the song during his radio show). If you are able to get past that wall, though, richness awaits you, because Odd Nosdam understands the subtleties of grandness and simplicity, and he manages to weave them together quite well. Reverb-heavy guitars dance with keyboard samples and snare hits that are in and out of times with each other, and it’s all brilliant.