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He´s the Techno punk, the wanderer between the worlds: Berlin DJ and producer BOYS NOIZE (Alex Ridha) releases his 4th solo album MAYDAY today.
BOYS NOIZE is back with MAYDAY, his most dynamic album to date. Infectiously energetic, uncompromisingly aggressive, capturing the energy and spirit of punk, fused with the relentless power of raw techno and an electrifying dose of classic rave and industrial, MAYDAY transports the innocence of a bygone era into the here-and-now without sounding anachronistic or nostalgic. Collaborations with Poliça, Hudson Mohawke, Benga, Remy Banks, Spank Rock, and some special secret guests broaden the range still further (check the liner notes), while maintaining the classic rugged-n-raw BOYS NOIZE style.
“MAYDAY is me taking the music I love to the future, no matter how uncertain the future seems," Alex explains.
Genre-bending DJ Hudson Mohawke on the one hand, indie darlings Poliça on the other – the names alone speak volumes about Ridha’s universal approach to music. In that sense, BOYS NOIZE is the perfect representative of a generation that no longer gives a damn about genre boundaries. For years, techno dogmatists stuck their nose up at his connections to the indie, punk and hip hop scenes. At the same time, he wasn’t mainstream enough for the industry dog-and-pony show. He was, in other words, caught between the worlds. He anticipated a development that today seems self-evident. “This openness has always been important to me,” Ridha explains. “I definitely wouldn’t describe my sound as straight techno. Actually, that’s part of MAYDAY´s point: to show that there’s a world between the worlds.”
The album title MAYDAY, appropriately, refers to the international distress signal. “MAYDAY is my warning signal against blind categorization and conformist synchronization,” says Ridha. “A call for individuality and diversity – and a tribute to outsiders.”
MAYDAY is also a statement of Ridha’s commitment to the album as an art form – an almost rebellious stance these days. In an album, an artist can map the entire breadth of a particular phase of his work, capturing much more than a mere snapshot.
MAYDAY finds BOYS NOIZE in the eye of the storm, broadcasting live from the maelstrom. BOYS NOIZE has always existed in that space between diehard apostle and festival favorite, purist and popular, DJ for the DJs and kids in the crowd alike, at once techno, industrial and hip-hop, anarchist, outsider, raver, cyberpunk, counterculture advocate, prankster. MAYDAY captures these disparate elements in their most volatile form.
As an artist and producer, BOYS NOIZE has created a sound that is peerless, uncompromising, and enduring – respected in the scene, banging from underground to mainstream, his work flies in the face of convention at every turn. He’s remixed Depeche Mode, Daft Punk, David Lynch and Nine Inch Nails, collaborated with Snoop Dogg, Erol Alkan,and Jarvis Cocker, worked on Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Special” and the soundtrack for Oliver Stone’s forthcoming film "Snowden", and founded similarly diverse group projects with gifted pianist Chilly Gonzales (Octave Minds), Erol Alkan, Skrillex (Dog Blood), and Mr. Oizo (Handbraekes).
Alex Ridha made his DJ debut at the age of 15, taking a teenager´s love of house and techno to a global scale. He's been anointed one of the "Top 10 DJ's Who Rule The World" by Rolling Stone, elected “Best Electronic Act” by Beatport 3 years in a row, and lauded by virtually every dance authority. He´s rocked the world's biggest stages, lit up Coachella three times, stormed Lollapalooza, and headlined festivals and clubs on every continent – from Berlin techno temple Berghain to Fuji Rock in Japan and Justin Vernon’s Eaux Claires Festival in the woods of Wisconsin. All on his own terms.
BOYS NOIZE will premiere his new show at Sonar, Barcelona, on June 18. Boys Noize conceived the spectacle together with visual artists SUS BOY and LIL INTERNET, exploring a thematic narrative inspired by cyberpunk, 80's industrial and surveillance in contemporary society.
BOYS NOIZE live and DJ sets:
05.25 - Paris, FR @ Le Gaite Lyrique
05.30 - Detroit, MI @ Movement Festival
06.03 - Offenbach, DE @ Robert Johnson
06.04 - Luxembourg, LUX @ Lenox Club
06.17 - Eindhoven, NL @ We Are Electric
06.18 - Barcelona, ES @ SONAR (LIVE)
06.22 - Ibiza, ES @ PACHA
06.24 - Paris, FR @ Solidays (LIVE)
06.25 - Scheessel, DE @ Hurricane (LIVE)
06.26 - Neuhausen Ob Eck, DE @ Southside (LIVE)
07.01 - Arras, FR @ Main Square Festival (LIVE)
07.02 - Marmande, FR @ Garorock (LIVE)
07.09 - Lisbon, PT @ Alive Festival
07.10 - Aix Les Bains, FR @ Festival Musilac (LIVE)
07.14 - Bern, CH @ Gurten Festival (LIVE)
07.15 - Graefenhainichen, DE @ Melt! Festival (LIVE)
07.16 - Ostrava, CZE @ Colors of Ostrava (LIVE)
07.17 - Dour, BE @ Dour Festival (LIVE)
07.19 - Nyon, CH @ Paleo Festival (LIVE)
07.21 - Ibiza, ES @ Amnesia
07.23 - Regensburg, DE @ Zuckerbrot & Peitsche
07.29 - Montreal, CAN @ Osheaga (LIVE)
07.30 - New York, NY @ Studio E (LIVE) w Health, Poliça, Venus X
07.31 - Fontana, CA @ HARD Festival
08.05 - Salmo, CAN @ Shambhala Music Festival
08.08 - Madrid, ES @ Mondo
08.12 - Budapest, HUN @ Sziget
08.17 - Vienna, AUT @ Frequency
08.20 - Inverness, UK @ Groove Loch Ness
08.25 - Zurich, CH @ Zurich Open Air (LIVE)
08.26 - Dublin, IRL @ Opium Room
08.27 - London, UK @ SW4 (LIVE)
08.28 - Haarlemmermeer, NL @ Mysteryland
10.28 - Live Oak, FL @ Suwanee Hullaween
http:///www.boysnoize.com (tickets)
http://www.facebook.com/boysnoize
http://www.instagram.com/boysnoize
http://www.twitter.com/boysnoize
Boys Noize discography (highlights):
- Oi Oi Oi - 2007
- Power - 2009
- Out of the Black - 2012
- Octave Minds (Boys Noize & Chilly Gonzales) 2014
- Mayday - 2016
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