Mr. Oizo - All Wet

Mr. Oizo
All Wet
2016
Spotify

There is little doubt that Mr. Oizo has firmly secured himself as one of the best techno producers working today. Tons of albums, tons of movies the list goes on and on of what He has accomplished. On the covers of this new album All Wet we get a look at Quentin Dupieux's famous character Flat Eric in 8-bit form, more or less symbolizing the direction on this record. Much of the album feels glitchy, skittery and at times mind numbingly repetitive. On "Freezing Out" we hear peaches rhyme "Check on her vagina" and "moving to Regina" and it is those kinds things that feel a bit thrown together. That is a theme that permeates a lot of the record, Mr. Oizo begins an idea but before He fully fleshes it out He has moved on. There is only one track over three minutes and many of them barely break the two minute mark. It really does feel like He is just giving you a taste of what this could sound like in a big room French Disco, but not giving you the real juice. This however is just his thing, his creativity is directed in so many different directions. The album is not without it's highlights though, "End of the World" a collaboration with Skrillex really utilizes the best of both producers. Skrillex brings the big room EDM and Trap vibe while Mr. Oizo is able to maintain that disco/house sensibility However in the end the repetition of "Now its going to be exciting/to watch the end of the world" in a robotic voice over and over again.

The record also is not without it's straight up fucking weird shit either. "Chairs" is a twitchy techo track that is also very very minimalist. The only vocal is a distant talk/sing of the word chairs over and over again. The way it is said however almost feels like a joke, as if Dupieux knows how ridiculous calling a song chair actually is. The industrial inspired "You Liver" feels like a nod to a party culture where meeting someone drunk in a club is a definition of love. The computer voice repeats "Give Me You Liver/And I'll give you my heart" ad nauseam further hammering the point home. "Hand In The Fire" is the first track where a proper vocalist is used, Charlie XCX, but her talents are washed out in the big room EDM beats that Mr. Oizo uses. The track almost sounds more like Skrillex made it than "End of the World" does. What we are left with is a record that seems half thought out, a lot of really good ideas and some flashes of brilliance but they never fully come together in a real way. His style is still wildly interesting and avante garde, but All Wet simply misses the mark.

5.9 out of 10