Oumpuo Vol.2

In the 1960s, French surrealists Raymond Queneau and François Le Lionnais started the literary movement Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle, or OuLiPo (which translated means Workshop for Potential Literature), and which was designed to foment the creation of new forms of writing by imposing limits upon it. From that came other branches for painting, film, music, cartoons, and even cooking. Two of these spinoffs, Ouvroir de Musique Potentielles (OuMuPo, for music) and Ouvroir de Bandes Dessinées Potentialles (OuBaPo, for comic strips), were used together in the French label Ici d'Ailleurs' OuMuPo series. The guidelines that Ici d'Ailleurs imposed insisted that the end of the 42-minute album would be the same as the beginning (so that the whole thing could be listened to continuously), that the music of at least six artists on the O1O1 electronic division of the label would be used, that there would be a short musical passage acting as the theme, and that the producer would choose a personal constraint. The 16-page accompanying booklet also had its own set of restrictions. Former X-Ecutioner DJ Rob Swift and artist Étienne Lécroart worked together for OuMuPo, Vol. 2. Swift chose a segment of a song from French rapper Gravité Zero to act as the theme of the album, and imposed upon himself the rule of having his mother choose the titles on the record and to never mix before midnight. Now, the question is if the nine-track record that Swift produced is really much different than any other remixed collection. Yes, there is the repetition of a theme; yes, the album begins and ends with the same clip; yes, six different artists have songs used. But if this is really an extraordinary leap from the usual realms of DJing, it's not obvious. Which isn't to say it isn't good: Swift is a talented and highly respected DJ, and he produces a congruous album that doesn't depart drastically from the original songs, keeping their sound and feel while adding his own scratches and well-executed effects. The melodies can be haunting and dark (like in Micro:Mega's "Annex 6") or bluesy and funky (Bästard's "It Ain't No Funny at All" and I N Fused's "Countryside"), but they all work together to form a nicely functioning whole. OuMuPo, Vol. 2 certainly underlines the diversity of Ici d'Ailleurs and Swift's ability to mix practically any kind of music, and it must have been fun to make, but does it achieve the originality the creators of the movement hoped for? Well, probably not. ~ Marisa Brown|