Skullduggery!

>> Boys Noize releases a cranium-crushing new album, doesn’t give a damn about copycats

FIRST, NOT HIRST: Alex “Boys Noize” Ridha

One of a few promising virtuosos to recently emerge from Thomas Bangalter’s cult-like following of young producers, Berlin’s Alex Ridha, aka Boys Noize, returns to Montreal tonight to release his bloodthirsty new album, Oi Oi Oi. The disc is a turbulent wash of sonic id that jars listeners onto their feet from the first second of the first track. A continual tumult of blows rains upon the ears, completely—almost conspicuously—unfettered for the entirety of the album. According to Ridha, the relentless vibe is a product of the album’s planning, or rather lack thereof.

“Actually, I didn’t really plan to do an album,” admits Ridha. “It was just my regular work in the studio between touring. I was thinking of releasing each track as a single on my label after recording it, but I found some more artists for my label, so the release plan was already scheduled. So I had to wait to release my own stuff. During that time, I produced more tracks, and after a year, I already had like 15 tracks. It wasn’t planned as an album and I wouldn’t really call it a classic album either, because there’s not really a story to it like you might expect.”

When the Mirror last spoke with Ridha in December of 2006, he said, “When I hear bad copies of myself or Justice or something like that, then I’ll know it’s time to move on to something else.” Would that mean that if he encounters a fabulously expensive copy of himself, he’ll know it’s time to stay put? Such was the question when allegations were whispered that Damien Hirst’s diamond-encrusted skull, currently the most expensive price tag in the world for a piece of art, was a knock-off of the distinctive disco-ball skull on Boys Noize’s releases.

“It’s truly very similar,” acknowledges Ridha. “He’s just got those big, expensive diamonds instead of the mirrors. But I don’t really like the Damien Hirst skull, so I don’t care if he stole the idea. The one I use is a bit older, so he probably saw it and got inspired by it, but I think it’s just a big waste of money. Who needs this expensive skull? It’s just ridiculous, really.”

When not lending artistic licence to multi-millionaires, Ridha spends time treating the voices of prominent singers to his unmistakable mixing style. A stunning version of Feist’s “My Moon My Man” appears as a bonus track on Oi Oi Oi.

“I really love her voice. Her voice is so soft that I didn’t really want to play around with it. It wasn’t possible to add any additional loud music onto it, so I just programmed my 808 and played something warm and quiet, so you can hear the voice. I also think she strays a few centimetres from the mic when she sings, so it wasn’t as easy to catch her voice as it was with Marilyn Manson, for instance. I wanted to do something sweet for her.”

In the future, beyond upcoming remixes of Marilyn Manson, Justice and others, expect to see Ridha putting his mettle to the production of various bands’ albums. “I’ve got some offers to produce some bands’ albums, and I like the idea of producing albums. I think that’s where I see myself in a couple of years.”

With DJ Mini at le Parking tonight,
Thursday, Sept. 13, 10 p.m., $9