Mr. Oizo
Lambs Anger
(Ed Banger)

The important thing to consider with any Mr. Oizo record is its ratio of certifiable "bangers" to just hyperactive nonsense. Producer Quentin Dupieux is handy with an analog synth and drum machine, but he can also get a little ADD/OCD/Ed Banger Family with the bit-crushed samples. By this standard, Lambs Anger is Oizo's best record yet—it may lack anything as ubiquity-bound as "Flat Beat," but it's pretty much wall-to-wall dance jams, with the exception of a couple funny interludes and the inevitable, instantly regrettable Uffie guest spot. That vocal turn is shown up easily by Carmen Castro's smart take on Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock's "It Takes Two," "Two Takes It." The whole album is more upbeat than Analog Worms Attack's forays into instrumental hiphop and less aurally assaulting than Oizo's more recent Ed Banger beat- manglings. Other highlights include lead single "Positif," which plays out like a groovier reprise of Moustache (Half a Scissor)'s "Stunt," and the cracky hardcore of "Bruce Willis Is Dead," which references L.A. Style's, only subbing Bruno for James Brown (there's a metaphor about sample degradation in there somewhere). The whole album, though, is a consistently rewarding run. Nine years after Mr. Oizo's breakout single, here finally is his breakout full-length.