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Music

Oui Paris

OUI PARIS at Brockton Collective (442a Dufferin), tonight (January 27), free before midnight. See listing.


Last month’s Yes New York party was conceived as a one-off event, but the art installation/dance party’s transformation of Oz Studio into the supercool, leather jacketed L.E.S. Strokes scene of the early 2000’s was popular enough – so popular it literally broke the floor – that organizers Michael Joffe and Jonathan Dekel have mounted a sequel.

Oui Paris goes down tonight at Brockton Collective, whisking the fantasy scene from America to France and transforming the 2,000 square foot Brockton Collective into a sweaty, hedonistic paean to Parisian nightlife from the ‘60s to the present. Where Yes New York hearkened back to a very specific moment in time, Oui Paris is more about attitude: a sultry, exotic, self-conscious cool that teeters on the line between cheesy and sexy.

“Yes New York focused a lot on the Lower East Side but Oui Paris is more about the sound than the place,” says Michael Joffe, who works as Manager of Digital Innovation at Glassbox Media by day. “The Paris dance scene is really strong visually, so it lent itself to a more immersive experience.”

In order to do so, the organizers have implemented an interactive element that they’ve deemed “the world’s first Instagram music visualizer”. With the help of developer Phillip Mendonça-Vieira, they’ve created a display wall that will project partygoer’s pictures in real time, in the ersatz nostalgic haze of the Instagram photo app. All you need to participate is a smart phone.

“Instagram has become a huge part of sharing life experiences… and in a way it tells much more of a story than a status update,” Joffe explains. “So with this party we wanted to do an experiment wherein a tool that is used to share experiences becomes the reason for the event itself.”

“The app polls custom tagged Instagram pictures based on what’s being played as well as pictures taken nearby and flips to a 3D slideshow displaying recently tagged photos with #OUIPARIS.”

Given the increased size of the event, there’s a bit more at stake this time around. But says he Joffe hopes to make this an ongoing series:

“If it doesn’t fail, we promise to do it again.”

When it comes to party bangers, there’s a wealth of French music to choose from, so we asked co-organizer/event DJ Jonathan Dekel (who also works as a staff pop culture writer at Dose.ca and moonlights in the band Neon Windbreaker) to give us a taste of what he plans to play tonight. We requested a mini-playlist of five songs. He gave us six. Here are his choices, avec commentary:

Justice – Genesis

“I always open my DJ sets with this track. It’s a great tone setter. An unmistakable statement that informs the audience shit is about to get real.”

Serge Gainsbourg – En Melody

“Erotic and funky as hell, En Melody is the birth place of modern cool manifested in one deep ass jam written by pretty much the coolest motherfucker on the planet.”

Air – Kelly Watch the Stars

“While we’re all for the bangers, Air is the perfect middle ground between 60s French chic and early 2000s.”

Daft Punk – Around the World

“Infectious, cheesy and apropo. Untouchable.”

Uffie – Difficult” (SebastiAn “2006 Parties” Remix)

“This is a quintessential collaboration track from that scene. Great remix by the track’s original producer.”

Mr Oizo – Flat Beat

“Because it’s infectious and essential.”

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