New American Gothic: oOoOO Takes His Eerie Sounds to Berlin Nightclub

By Jake Guidry in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 26, 2011 7:20PM

As far as unpronounceable names in music go, it's hard sometimes to get on board. Between !!!, Nguzunguzu, and Sigur Ros' third LP, ( ), the idea of a conceptually-based identifier can sometimes be alienating. Then again, the three aforementioned acts are all pretty spectacular. Perhaps, then, it should be no surprise that oOoOO, a San Francisco-based electronic producer, released one of the better EPs of 2010.

Pronounced simply as "oh", oOoOO is formally known as Christopher Greenspan. He never intended to have his moniker be oOoOO -- in fact, he hates it -- but when his slowed down, shoegaze-meets-R&B electronic music started receiving attention, it was already too late to change his MySpace name. We feel for him -- it is a pretty awful name -- but he can sleep well knowing that the music speaks for itself. Although he's commonly associated with Salem, a Chicago-based trio known for pioneering a list of obnoxious, blogger-created genres such as "witch house", "illwave" and, er, "rapegaze", oOoOO's sound is more cohesive and polished. And if you're trying to find a name for it, just stop. We mean it. Enough with the new genres.

oOoOO will bring his knowledge of all things gothic and eerie to Berlin tomorrow night for CULT's one year anniversary. Unfortunately, it's only a DJ set, but we figure he'll slip in some of his own tracks and enlighten us to others.

oOoOO is tomorrow, Berlin Nightclub, 10p.m., FREE w/ RSVP, 21+