Sebastian Tellier, Mr Oizo & SebstiAn - Music From The Motion Picture Steak

Viva la France! With their burgeoning music scene in full flight at the moment, one label has made it their mission to deliver quality sounds to the masses. French label Ed Banger Records has helped make France the number one destination for electro, with high profile acts like Justice, SebastiAn, Uffie & Dj Mehdi on their roster. Also on the label is producer/writer/director Quentin Dupieux, otherwise known to the music community as Mr. Oizo. Making his name with the 1999 Levi’s commercial ‘Flat Eric’, which featured the monster hit Flat Beat, Dupieux has since utilised his many talents in the creation of his new film Steak, which he wrote and directed and also composed the soundtrack to, alongside fellow Frenchmen Sebastian Tellier and SebastiAn.

Now seeing as I haven’t seen the film, I’m going to judge this record purely on the music. I’m not sure if this will provide an incomplete picture, because I won’t have any clue as to what the motivation behind certain tracks are. But seeing as it’s a French film that hasn’t been released in Australia (or so I think anyway), there’s nothing I can do for the moment. Still, I am of firm belief that a soundtrack can make or break a film. Look at Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, the soundtrack that made an awesome film even more awesome. I come into this review knowing little about Steak, except that it’s set in the year 2016, and facelifts are the in thing. Now it’s a far fetched concept, but one that if you has an open mind, is entirely plausible. So what we have here is a soundtrack that, put simply, is quite unlike one I’ve heard before.

Starting out with Arrival, a moody atmospheric piece, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was heading down into darker territories. Then comes Skatesteak. Almost like the backing track for an 80s computer game, the electronic sounds giving it an almost comical feel. I’d be interested to see what scene ends up being paired with this track. The signature French electro sound pops up on Chivers as a Female, and continues with Ringardos. But that isn’t all this soundtrack has to offer. The slow strings on Stadium are reminiscent of a quiet scene from a western movie, while Itea has that epic movie feel to it.

Only one track on the album is over three minutes in length, the rest ranging from as short as a forty second sample of dialogue from the film. Again, not having seen the film, I’ve had to imagine what was going through the heads of Mr Oizo, Tellier and Sebastian. On Hashis Vers they fashion an electro ho-down sound, while Blue Wet Shirt sounds like a mish mash of sounds, with little coherence. Victimo feels like it has come straight out of an old, cheesy vampire movie, and Top 50 utlises brass instruments, juxtaposed with an eerie intro. It’s different, but interesting at the same time. C.H.I.V.E.R.S is electro at its most thumping, while Bonhomme is a strange foray into a sly fantasy land. Rounding out with the metronomic Bleue and the whimsical Construction, it’s a odd collection of tracks that surprisingly, works. But perhaps that’s because I listened to it as a whole and not one or two tracks individually.

There’s a storytelling aspect to this soundtrack that’s undeniable. If only I knew what the story was. But that’s the appeal of this album. It’s different, and I don’t think it would have intrigued or confused me as much if it had been less weird. Now all that remains is for me to watch the movie, where all the images that have been created out of sound, come to life before my eyes.

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