Paris
10/05/1999 -
Mr. Oizo's strength is his total mastery of image and sound, and also who he surrounds himself with, like this irresistible puppet named Flat Eric, the real star of the ad. A subtle and endearing cross between an old yellow washcloth and a renegade from the late Jim Henson's Muppet Show, Flat Eric has melted the whole world with his eternal smile and his lanky arms with a minimalist techno background.
Before this stroke of genius, Quentin had only made a handful of clips for his friend Laurent Garnier and recorded two maxi 45's on his label F Communications.
Today, like the Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde of Gainsbourg's song, he wears as laurels a doubly artistica schizophrenic hat: while Mr. Oizo takes care of the programming, samples and production of the musical material, the alter ego Quentin Dupieux projects his flash, imagination… and friendly menagerie.
Like his noble predecessors of this French wave which is running before the wind; Daft Punk, Air and more recently Cassius or Alex Gopher, Mr. Oizo rides his success, made possible by the power of instrumental music but also alas from the removal/disappearance ( ? ) of this rich and beautiful language which is so furiously handicapping when it comes to grabbing success on the world level. As a parallel to this pessimistic vision of French expression, we fortunately have the world of jazz where no one will ever be able to reproach a Jean-Luc Ponty of a Michel Petrucciani for not singing in French ... for the simple reason that their music is not vocal.
At this hour of the second millennium which is resolutely European where in our last purely French strongholds such as cuisine or fashion, the British designers from Alexander Mac Queen to Stella Mac Cartney are calling the shots in haute couture, it is reassuring to see all of these young "Frog" musicians shaking things up in the international scene such a long time after Gainsbourg and Plastic Bertrand.
So, if this "French Touch" touches and wins like Cyrano, we must rejoice. But we musn't forget what makes this success: its youth and incredible vitality.
Alex Gopher has just turned thirty. Parallel to his music career where he "masters" other people's records at Translab studios, his tiny personal sound lab, Alex also plays at the art of a techno Dr. Frankenstein, gathering ill-assorted loops and improbable samples to create a funky sound that is as refreshing as different. Four maxis later he signed his first album "You, My Baby & I" whose first single "Party People" was videoclipped in two nights of shooting by the dazzling Quentin Dupieux.
In the neo-Stalinist decor of the Parisian suburb Kremlin-Bicetre's municipal swimming pool, a stones throw from Porte d'Italie, (at the entrance to Paris) Quentin directs his little group of technicians and extras. As very often these techno videos are filmed like a short film without worries of really sticking to the music. And if this time, the puppet Flat Eric is absent from the set, Quentin Dupieux has substituted another character just as endearing...you could even say he grows on you because it happens to be a "mud man", a clay version of the abominable snowman who splashes all of the sequences of the clip with his clumsy gestures until the final scene when he disintegrates in a shower stall.
Like Flat Eric, his superstar washcloth with laughing eyes, the "mud man" has a look as melting as E.T. to incarnate in him alone the techno-baroque universe of Quentin Dupieux. Lost in this tiled universe, the "Mud Man" will do everything he can to fit in with the others, but each of his clumsy gestures puts him farther away. If he brushes his hair, he sprays the mirror with mud and when he falls in love with a friend and tries playing frisbee with her, it's a total disaster. Filmed in two intense nights, Alex Gopher's clip is a winning bet on video art light years from the basic and festive illustrations, which we would have expected for a title such as "Party People". But isn't it just the force of this French touch to surprise us when we least expect it?
These rare birds have certainly not finished surprising us.
*in French "drôle d'oiseau" ( pronounced "wazo" ) literally funny bird, means oddball.
Gérard Bar-David
01/01/2009 -
28/10/2005 -
05/11/1999 -