Mr. Oizo
Stade 2
Release Date: Nov 29, 2011
Genre(s): Electronic, Club/Dance, International
Record label: Because
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Album Review: Stade 2 by Mr. Oizo
Average, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 3.5/5
Review Summary: More of the weird and wonderful from electro's black sheepI don’t know what it is exactly, but I love itAnd with that rather honest proclamation does Stade 2 begin, another drug-induced and psychotic chapter in the kaleidoscopic and perplexing saga that is the life and times of one Quentin Dupieux. And perhaps that statement is the most accurate summation of Oizo’s music, as his music really does seem to exist in its own little world, devoid of proper declaration or documentation. And yet he represents possibly the most definitive and distinct meaning of the term electro with his harsh and biting take on French house, with his snub-nosed beats and cascading sheets of electronic rain battering against each other like a rave nightmare, only occasionally finding themselves broken in two by some idiosyncratic expression or another.
Based on rating 6/10
An uncompromising and occasionally unlistenable antidote to the melodic commercial house of fellow Frenchmen Guetta, Solveig, and Sinclar, Stade 2, the fourth studio album by Quentin Dupieux, aka Mr. Oizo, suggests that his Flat Eric-assisted one-hit wonder status isn't likely to change anytime soon. Dominated by a cavalcade of twisted bleeps, loops, and squiggles, the follow-up to 2008's Lambs Anger is a part hypnotic/part headache-inducing slab of organized chaos, with only the chopped-up ballroom-inspired "Ska" and the early-'90s acid house of "Datsun" offering any respite from the predominantly twitchy acidic sound succinctly summarized by the lone robotic voice on opener "Introeil" ("I recorded some new stuff/I don't know what it is yet/But I like it").
Based on rating 2/5
‘Eccentric’ doesn’t seem a particularly accurate descriptor for Quentin Dupieux. ‘Calculatedly batshit,’ perhaps. Dupieux’s work, both as a film director and as a musician (under the cutesy, self-consciously tongue-in-cheek moniker Mr. Oizo) displays all the signs of a distinctly unhinged personality, yet rarely possesses the gripping danger of authentically deranged work.
Based on rating D-
Before delving into a world of glitchy, hypnotic sounds, Quentin Dupieux, aka Mr. Oizo, greets his listeners on the first track with a robotic voice’s explanation to what lies ahead: “Good morning. This is me again. Mr. Oizo. I just recorded some new stuff. I don’t know what it is exactly.