Mr. Oizo – Stade 2 5.2

                Mr. Oizo has a history for doing the weird. Each one of his albums possesses a certain weird charm. Their messiness and near brokenness is usually the key selling point. Unfortunately, with Stade 2, Mr. Oizo appears to be stuck in a rut. Nothing on here indicates the sort of charm or talent Mr. Oizo has for either catchy, hyper-caffeinated melodies or barely together beats. The amount of energy is there, but there doesn’t appear to be any purpose for it. Instead it just whirls around, hoping to hit on something special, and missing. 

                On Stade 2, Mr. Oizo sticks with a relatively conservative 4/4 beat and sloppy noises. At times these actually can be quite interesting, such as on the darker “Datsun”. Even on “Datsun” though, the sounds are too reminiscent of ‘Moustache (Half a Scissor)’ specifically ‘Nazis’. The other sons on Stade 2 are even less engaging. “Douche Beat” is even weaker, having a spastic form of beats and noises with a robotic voice informing the listener who the song is for. 

                 The rest of the songs are, and this is sad to say, forgettable. For a musician that normally manages to create some extraordinarily catchy songs, this is a big disappointment. Nothing on here is worth coming back to, as all of it speeds by in a series of boring 4/4 beats and odd assorted noises. Hearing ‘Stade 2’ makes me worry about Mr. Oizo’s future. It makes me wonder whether or not the Ed Banger label in general can come out with meaningful, relevant music ever again.