Until the 2012 National Student Radio Conference in Bradford
University of Sunderland
107 Spark FM is a radio station exclusively for Sunderland ran based at the University of Sunderland broadcasting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The station...
Boys Noize are in fact one man, the Berlin-based self-taught 24yr old Alex Ridha, and with his splendidly titled debut Oi Oi Oi, he’s made a run for dance album of the year that already seen sterling efforts from LCD Soundsystem, Justice and a resurgent Chemical Brothers. Rightly cited as completely amazing by contemporaries such as Soulwax, Tiga, Erol Alkan and Tiefschwarz, you might have also heard his work on remixes for Bloc Party, Feist and Kaiser Chiefs.
"Opener & Down" sets out the Boys Noize ethos from the outset – pummelling electro and plaster-shifting bass, operating in a more punishing take on Daft Punk. It’s no coincidence that the sleeve features a Damien Hirst-esque skull done as a mirror ball, the art is probably a small side project of Ridha’s wherein he collects the remains of his audience after a particularly heavy set. The beauty of it all is that its all done on analogue – no digital, so the sound is filthy in its sharp shards of brutal noise.
Stand outs on an album of stand outs include the sleazin’ throb of "Oh!", the clattering car chase funk of "Lava Lava", and the very dirty "The Battery". There’s also the remix bonus of Feist’s "My Moon My Man" just so you can hear what Ridha does with other people too.
It’s not for the fainthearted casual disco traveller, oh no - Oi Oi Oi leaps up and down on your brain like a pair of 20-holed techno Dr Martens, it’s for those about to rock. And then some. It’s heavy, it’s noisy, it’s the sound of computers going beserk – seriously, anyone with a vague interest in throwing shapes will love it.
Come on – Feel the Noize (or should that be Boys? Oh no, hang on…). Amazing.
Reviews provided by the nice people at BBC Music - have a look at the original page here