electro is actually cake

Boys Noize's sophomore album Power is, yeah, not mind-blowingly great. It's a careful extension of the arid electro his debut Oi Oi Oi had people trading hickies over.

With all the attention Mr Noize, aka Alexander Ridha, received over the past two years the pressure to set the bar higher might've given him some sleepless nights. So he's gone the other way and produced an album that is, overall, less edgy.

The best example is the track 'Nerve' lacking a hard kick drum. Instead Ridha has used the synthline like a violin. This creates rising and falling tempo in all the right places. It fucks my life.

'Rozz Box' does the industrial electro thing as Oi Oi Oi was renowned for, 'Gax' is whimsical and catchy, 'Kontact Me' is like a modern horror movie theme song and 'Transmission' needs a few listens because it's got this annoying synthline that, eventually, makes you realise how clever this Boy(s) really is.

Boys Noize - Jeffer (Modeselektor Remix)

Modeselektor have got the right idea. They turned this little slut of a track into upbeat, hippity-hoppity electro with a minimal glaze over the top. Yeah, it's like peach-glazed Savarin cake.

Boys Noize - Heart Attack (MMMatthias Edit)

The original is like a shoegazey lullaby. MMMatthias takes it to a place i think the electro genre is already heading - toward lo-fi, damp, ruminating dance music.

Boys Noize - Kontact Me (MMMatthias Edit)

This is a lightly edited version of the original and would be great for a party playlist because it's shelf life will probably be about four minutes. But it's still worth listening to because it's like ripped stockings. A bit wow until you rock up to work in them.

Grab your copy of Power right here.