It was a warm, unassuming summer Friday night in Washington, DC when German-born techno vunderkind Alex Ridha, better known as Boys Noize, made a pit stop to blast our nation's capital with pounding beats before heading off to the infamous HARD Summer 2011 Festival in LA. Our only warning of what was to come that evening came directly from the man's twitter: "I think Washington needs some real jackin ghetto sounds tonight". I think I speak for us all when I say that was exactly what we needed to disrupt the slinking, swampy DC summer.
[download] Light Year - Sex Education (Original Mix)
It is no secret that Mr. Ridha, who is equally notorious for his incredible live sets as he is for his keen studio productions, does not give a damn when he's manning the wheels of steel. Sure, he'll play to the mood of the room, as any good DJ should, but at no point will he compromise his artistic integrity by playing a track which does not have the entire room saying to themselves "What is that sick, sick man doing up there?? I've never heard anything like this!" as they compulsively dance like absolute lunatics. And Ridha most certainly lived up to our soaring expectations, sending wave after wave of raw, unadulterated "jackin ghetto sounds" straight to our brains as the dancefloor writhed in elated response. I didn't once leave the dancefloor for so much as a second, happily accepting the fact that this man had every last one of us in the palm of his hand.
[download] House Syndicate - Jam The Mace
A particularly memorable highlight of the night, of which there were many, had to be when he dropped a go-to track of his, DJ Deeon's "Work This M.F.". An old-school "ghetto-house" track with a simple 303 bassline, knocking drums, and a hilarious vocal sample ("HaHaHaHaHa"), the track is a main-stay in his sets for a reason. Boys Noize pumped that thing out with extreme emphasis on the low-end, sending the entire crowd into a frenzy as each kick hit.
[download] DJ Deeon - Work This M.F.
From "Ion" to "Jeffer", each song played was mixed in meticulous fashion, layered exquisitely and timed perfectly. As the night seemed to near its end, the room heard the telling sounds of "Yeah" in the speakers, only to find it layered over an a Capella from the Chemical Brothers' "Swoon" which served as the perfect finish to a legendary set the likes of which Washington, DC has never seen before. And from what I hear from Augustus and Patrick, his set at HARD wasn't too shabby either, so be sure to look for our forthcoming review of the entire event!
We (Sir Real, Augustus, Patrick) are headed to the great state of Nueva Jork for the second edition of Electric Zoo. I'd say "Look out for us!" because we'd love to meet some readers, but you don't know what we look like... Anyway, here's what our schedule looks like (read: this is what's absolutely necessary you see while at the Zoo). Note: being able to see anything before 3 o'clock is somewhat of a joke, because we'll probably be sleeping.
Day 1
[12:00] Joris Voorn
[1:00] LA RIOTS
[1:50] Markus Shulz
[2:15] Joachim Garraud
[3:10] AFROJACK
[3:30] EROL ALKAN
[4:45] FAKE BLOOD
[5:50] CHUCKIE
[7:00] MAJOR LAZER
[8:00] Consider getting some fucking nourishment
[8:30] AXWELL (rumors of the whole of SHM showing up)
[9:30] CHEMICAL BROTHERS
