#4: Mr. Oizo, Mr. Oizo and Mr. Oizo

No Friday Night Thought last night because, despite the fact that it was a Friday (which is everyone’s favourite blogging day, I’m sure), I was asked to review We Love Sounds at the Empire. As a bonus, after several frustrating phone calls, text messages, and general back-and-forthing, I got to interview Quentin Dupieux, better known as French musical genius Mr. Oizo (pronounced ‘wah-zo’).
This was something of a nostalgic experience, because the first interview I ever had published in Rave Magazine (link) was an email interview with Oizo. In that, he told out-and-out fabrications and generally played up his image as the bad-boy surrealist of French music. It was hot on the heels of his album Moustache (Half a Scissor), which remains practically unlistenable, with the exception of lead single ‘Stunt’, which, it turns out, Oizo co-produced with Sébastien Tellier.

Things have changed much in the past few years. Oizo has changed labels (he’s now released by Ed Banger, although he isn’t signed to them; he negotiates a new contract for each release), and his music has become much more dance-oriented and electro-flavoured. In person, he was as disarmingly honest and bullshit-free as he was inscrutable and prevaricating over email. He told me plenty of interesting things about French music in general, some of which I’m bound not to put in print. I am able to tell you that Daft Punk are working on a new album right now, and that it will use some new production methods.

Since the interview will be out in Rave soon, I won’t go on about it. I will, however, tell you about what happened afterwards. I stayed behind in the green room to chat with Oizo before his DJ set, and while I was there he was accosted by many of the other artists, including members of Bonde Do Rolê, who regard him as a legend. He was also harassed by a certain young DJ who runs a certain Brisbane club night (names suppressed to protect the ignorant). This guy kept asking Oizo about his favourite labels, his favourite tunes to drop, his favourite producer, etc., and got really put off by the fact that Oizo couldn’t or wouldn’t answer his relentless questions—not to mention the fact that Oizo hadn’t heard of things like the Sweat It Out label, or Gameboy/Gamegirl, or other minor-league shit that only Australia’s legion of electro-loving, pill-popping, Tsubi-wearing fuckwads care about. The best bit came when the guy asked Oizo, as he was leaving the green room to start his set, what he was going to play. Oizo stared at him and said, point blank, “Jazz.” Of course, his set was nothing like that: it was a feast of demented, dissonant electro. But he made his point—Mr. Oizo: 1,000,000; Brisbane’s fashionista dance music scene: 0.

Mr. Oizo: ‘Flat Beat’ (from Analog Worms Attack)

The song that started it all, and introduced the world to the “the furry yellow shit” (Oizo’s words), Flat Eric. If you can’t dance to this, you should see your doctor.

Mr. Oizo: ‘Patrick 122’ (from the Transexual/Patrick 122 EP)

From Oizo’s latest EP on Ed Banger. I particularly love the demented sax solo, which has been ripped whole cloth from Gary’s Gang’s ‘Do It at the Disco’ and then completely mutilated. Brilliant.