Glimlicht - Oxides of Time

Released: May 10

In his first release of 2026, ambient drone artist Glimlicht explores the altered texture of one of the greatest Zelda games of all time through manipulation of tape loop. Taking some of the iconic music of the game, the melodies are recorded to tape and then degraded, looped and creatively diminished. The end relate feels like something with just enough familiarity for those who spent countless hours playing and something serene and ghostlike for those who are new to Ocarina’s playful soundtrack. 

Throughout the fifteen track album, there are five tracks that act almost as chapter points or markers. Each one is named “Memory Oxide” and numbered I, II, III, and so on. While they mostly stay in line with the rest of the album, these periodic tracks exhibit something grainier and more drone-like compared to the rest of the album. The third and fourth of these tracks are especially grainy and dark, with the fourth starting of so slowly and degraded that it feels like it is barely holding itself together at times. It stands out as one of my personal favorites on the album as the slow and lumbering but also slightly sweet melody is absolutely lovely. Aside from these five tracks point marker tracks, most of the others are cheekily named after places and events in the game. “Chip Day” stands out as one of the happier sounding ones, even as it wildly clips through broken melodies and percussion. “Fire in the Woods” is far less playful but the distortion on top this track feels well-placed, like a surging flame over the washed out melody playing on worn-out tape. And then there’s the quite surreal and strange “Ever-Expanding Room” which sounds very much like its name as it opens with this mind-bending rush of sound that warps and wiggles as if it is actually growing larger. 

Oxides of Time isn’t a particularly complex album in theme or sound. But it is a supremely enjoyable re-contextualization of what is now old media. The game itself was a classic and is still enjoyed today, but the processing of the music on this album makes it feel like it was so long ago and just yesterday at the same time. There’s a hazy fog around it all, but it’s not so thick that you don’t recognize the original picture. It’s a well-done album in which the warmth of nostalgia and tape saturation intertwine beautifully.