Album Review

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.