Atari Teenage Riot

Delete Yourself! (1995)

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I may be reaching here, but there is a legitimate genre called "digital hardcore," or "hardcore techno," and it's one of the many splintered fragments of the electronic scene. Guitars and glitches, drums and vocals–like colors, when mixed together they can make an interesting offshoot. (Think the Prodigy, Mad Capsule Markets, Nine Inch Nails, Refused, and Nasum. Seriously!!!) Atari Teenage Riot probably best represents this academic achievement in brevity and noise. If you've never heard of these guys, well, you're in for a treat that might be a bit nasty, but with a good aftertaste.

Originally released in 1995 under the title of that same year, Delete Yourself! is the debut album by these German anarchists, whose message of anti-fascism/anti-Nazism caused much controversy in Berlin amongst the neo-Nazi-influenced techno scene. This was a radical reaction to the establishment of both punk and electronic music, and thus, should be looked upon with an open mind like all music should be.

From the get-go, the album literally starts off with the idea and phrase, "Start the riot!" The music is fierce and the drums shatter with over 150-200 BPM (the standard in hardcore techno…), so you better get used to the up-tempo, never-ending progression of ATR at their game. It's meant to be in-your-face, and along with the political speech, carried by way of loudspeaker-shouted vocals and electronic white noise, it can take its toll. Songs like "Into the Death", "Delete Yourself" and "Atari Teenage Riot" keep the same pace and never let up. A feeling of sameness will most likely plague your mind, but that will change once you listen carefully to each number and hear all the little quirks and touches the members contribute to the music. Producer and lead singer, Alec Empire adds nice layers, fusing multiple genres and samples into each second of each track. Audio takes from various old-school anime and video games clash with more refined selections such as Sham 69, James Brown, Sex Pistols, Dinosaur Jr. and Nirvana. It really never becomes a dull moment, and with other members like Hanin Elias giving her high-pitched vocals a test on tracks like "Speed", and the late MC Carl Crack plodding along with his Michael Franti-inspired approach to lyrical content and expression, the music remains a one-shot, yet highly stylized moment.

If you like to dive into the more fringe movements of music, then give this a go. Or heck, if you still like downing pixie sticks while playing Gran Turismo on some sort of substance and wearing neon-colored clothes, then by all accounts, start the riot…