For anyone with a comprehensive enough understanding of the international electronic music scenes, the names Mr. Oizo and Masayoshi Iimori should both be instantly recognizable. While the former has long enjoyed a massively comprehensive career, Iimori has really found his groove internationally these last few years with a series of hard-hitting releases. Born in France and signed collectively to both Ed Banger and Brainfeeder, two equally legendary labels oozing with talent, Mr. Oizo rapidly rose to prominence following the release of his 1999 “Flat Beat”, which is where the 2019 “Rythme Plat” (French for Flat Beat) comes into play, with Oizo recruiting Masayoshi Iimori for an official remix.
I’m not one to scroll through SoundCloud anymore like I used to, which is also partially why I’m a little behind on this one, but imagine my surprise when I see Masayoshi Iimori sharing an official remix of Mr. Oizo. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Iimori flip an Oizo track, and I actually think it was through his 2015 bootleg of “Positif” that I discovered the stylings of Masayoshi Iimori for the first time. Apparently I’m not the only one either, with a quick scroll through of the song’s comments providing a myriad of people referencing various events where Mr. Oizo played the song out during sets over the years. So if there was an origin to this official remix, I guess we can thank 2015 Masayoshi Iimori for going so hard.
This is a Masayoshi Iimori remix to the very core, and it’s beyond exciting to know that the Tokyo-based producer will be heard by an all-new audience because of this. The remix of “Rythme Plat” comes out alongside Mr. Oizo’s recently released EP of the same name, and is available now for free download via Mr. Oizo’s official website.