Mayday

Editors’ Notes Punishing, kinetic electro and catchy rap hooks, Mayday nods to rave’s early days. For his fourth album, Boys Noize tapped some of electronic music's most experimental minds—namely Kanye West-collaborator Hudson Mohawke and dubstep pioneer Benga—to fuse techno and hip-hop. The result is an ambitious, adrenaline-pumping LP of warehouse bangers with a few big twists: He dips his toes into heavy metal on “Hardkotzen,” loosens up on the swaggy synth-pop song “Birthday,” and explores indie rock on “Starchild,” a wonderfully unexpected slow song featuring the Minneapolis band Poliça.