Maoupa Mazzocchetti has been re-exploring the legacy of experimental music artists with a pop sensibility—like Devo or The Residents—for some time now, and on his new Album Gag Flag it’s unescapable. While seemingly being more on the serious side with some of his earlier output, a unique, satiric approach to mainstream culture now shows not only in his music, but also in the visual art and graphic design he creates. Using the self-fictional character “Snippet Boy,” Mazzocchetti toys with his own appearance. It’s a total fit for the unpredictable dynamics of the analog production he seems to prefer, the EBM inspirations that still pop up here and there as well as all the other fun experiments, the voice effects, the guitar sounds.

The video for “Private Investigator on a Guitar Men” we’re premiering exclusively below is a prime example of the wild and twisted universe Mazzochetti’s works stem from nowadays. Directed by Juliette Lizotte, who also co-wrote the script, it basically stays true to the title of the tune. It shows a detective’s meticulous investigative work on a guitar player—and his mermaid friend. Of course, the whole thing is anything else but straightforward—it’s an absurd trip from beginning to end. Even better: It makes Gregor Samsa, who turns into a bug completely through the course of Kafka’s famous novella, look like a bloody beginner—as the guitar player goes all the way to an insect and back to human in a matter of minutes, just to basically explode after all…

Even though life may well be “infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent,” as the most famous investigator of all time once put it: Congrats to Low Jack’s Editions Gravats on another oddball that reminds us vividly that artistic absurdity remains way more fun than the political one that keeps harassing us every day. Here’s the video—have at it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t834HWZxd5Y&feature=youtu.be

Maoupa Mazzocchetti’s Gag Flag will be released on vinyl and in digital formats this upcoming Wednesday, September 19th.

The video for “Private Investigator on a Guitar Men” is directed by Juliette Lizotte; written by Juliette Lizotte and Maoupa Mazzocchetti; masks, costume, and props by Juliette Lizotte and Marilou Chabert; insects by My Lê Chabert; mermaid costume by Tessel Brühl.