After 2005's wilfully weird Moustache (Half A Scissor) came and went with barely a blip of label support from F Communications in Europe and Mute stateside, it looked like Quentin Depieux (the French producer behind Mr. Oizo) was set to fade away down the road of eccentric obscurity. He had another career as a filmmaker and had already made a lot of money with his 1997 chart-smasher "Flat Beat." But ever since hooking up with the Ed Banger crew, with many of those producers incidentally carrying the influence of his twisted French touch, Mr. Oizo has taken on a new life. Lambs Anger is his third proper album and his first for Ed Banger, and it's a solid return to form from a guy who always knew how to weave an addictive hook into a dance floor track but who, for some reason, found it too easy to bother with for a few years. The first half of the album shines with some of the hookiest and most assured beats to this side of Justice, with tracks like "Two Takes It" and "Positif" making a very strong case for why this album should become as big as it sounds. This is essential listening.
How long have you been working on Lambs Anger?
It took me six weeks; it just happened very quickly this time. I don't know why exactly. But six weeks is really long, too, if you exploit the time well. I made a lot more music than I needed and after the six weeks, I decided to keep the good parts and to develop some of them, others went into the bin. It was very natural, without too many questions. It was quite easy.
Do you feel your music has changed a lot from the last album to this one, from being more experimental to more melodic?
Yeah, for sure. In the past, I used to work in a very complicated way. I was thinking too much and I was probably trying too hard. But when you do something one way, like Half a Moustache, there is no point doing it again. I love music but if I'm always making the same kind of music I become bored. And then I don't even have the strength to finish tracks. So I have to surprise myself and keep changing.
(Ed Banger)How long have you been working on Lambs Anger?
It took me six weeks; it just happened very quickly this time. I don't know why exactly. But six weeks is really long, too, if you exploit the time well. I made a lot more music than I needed and after the six weeks, I decided to keep the good parts and to develop some of them, others went into the bin. It was very natural, without too many questions. It was quite easy.
Do you feel your music has changed a lot from the last album to this one, from being more experimental to more melodic?
Yeah, for sure. In the past, I used to work in a very complicated way. I was thinking too much and I was probably trying too hard. But when you do something one way, like Half a Moustache, there is no point doing it again. I love music but if I'm always making the same kind of music I become bored. And then I don't even have the strength to finish tracks. So I have to surprise myself and keep changing.
