Lest you think that the Beijing Olympics and America electing the first president cool enough to believably impersonate Al Green were the two defining events of the year 2008, something else happened during that time period that was arguably on equal footing in terms of relative significance, retrospectively: the split EP Heart of a Champion was jointly one of the first releases for Oneohtrix Point Never and Cleveland-based noise musician Andrew Kirschner, and tragically, its initial pressing was limited to a mere 55 cassettes. Those who were able to get their hands on one might’ve been justified in sleeping with it under their pillow, as someone with the surname “Phelps” pillaged for a ridiculous amount of bling.
It’s a rare early release from both artists, and now, Kirschner is doing those of us who didn’t get their hands on it a solid by repressing it through his label Mistake by the Lake Tapes (which also released the original 2008 distribution). You can purchase Heart of a Champion right now, right here, and in the accompanying description, Kirschner makes sure to express his offense at the $40 price tag attached to auctions for the original. You can barely get takeout for $10 these days, so best get on that.
Here’s a track from the release, followed by a special, one-time-only re-embed of our Laser Focus episode with Andrew about Mistake By The Lake:
Heart of a Champion tracklisting:
A1. Oneohtrix Point Never - Untitled
A2. Oneohtrix Point Never - Untitled
A3. Oneohtrix Point Never - Untitled
A4. Oneohtrix Point Never - Untitled
B1. Andrew Kirchner - Untitled
More about: Andrew Kirschner, Oneohtrix Point Never
