Atari Teenage Riot
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ATR Logo
Atari Teenage Riot is a German hardcore techno group formed in Berlin in 1992. Highly political, they fused left-wing anarchist anti-fascist or Anti Nazis views with punk vocals and the newly emerging techno sound that was called digital hardcore, which is a term Alec Empire later used in the name of his record company. According to Empire, "Digital Hardcore initially meant the final questioning of everything, of the whole. The next step was a shorter one. The absolute negation, even to answer one's own existence with a "No". If "No" is true, then suicide can be as much as an event as pressing the buttons on your remote control." (MEAN Magazine, July 1999)
The group was founded as an attack on the increasingly neo-Nazi influenced German techno scene and consisted of three Berliners - Alec Empire (from Berlin), Hanin Elias and MC Carl Crack. ATR's early releases (which included songs like "Hetzjagd Auf Nazis!" / "Round Up the Nazis!") were surrounded by controversy in Germany due to the prevailing "no politics on the dance floor" attitude.
After signing to Phonogram, a major European label, in 1993 the band received an unusually large financial advance which they duplicitously used to set up their own record label: Digital Hardcore Recordings or DHR. ATR never delivered a commercially viable demo to Phonogram.
In 1997 ATR was joined by Nic Endo, a Japanese-American noise/soundscape artist during the Beck tour.
In 1999 ATR released 60 Second Wipe Out, an album that fazed out all use of sampling and brought on board New York City rappers the Arsonists. According to Magnet Magazine, "Empire's guitar-playing values speed-thrash malevolence, and when paired with Endo's painful skronkage, the album is decidedly denser than its predecessor."
The group decided to effectively disband in 2000 and to not consider the band's future until 2003. Carl Crack died a few months later of a drug overdose. His death caused Empire some anguish and made any reformation less likely. Since the collapse of ATR the surviving members have all pursued separate and successful careers. Endo and Empire have collaborated since but relations between Elias and Empire appear to remain strained despite their mutual business interests. This is because, as she states in interviews, Hanin Elias decided to set up her own record label, where she did not feel oppresed by the mostly male artists. Her record label is named Fatal Recordings.
In March 2002, ATR's album Future of War (1997) was banned in Germany. According to Alec Empire, Future of War was noteworthy because of its "left-rooted crtitque of the 'modern' high-tech-war, as we had seen it all some years previously during the Gulf War."
Discography
Albums
- Delete Yourself (DHR 1995, DHR 1999)
- Kids Are United (DHR 1996)
- Speed / Midijunkies (DHR 1996)
- Deutschland Has Gotta Die! (Grand Royal 1996)
- Not Your Business (Grand Royal 1996)
- Sick to Death (DHR 1997, Beat Records 1997)
- The Future of War (DHR 1996, Beat Records 1997)
- Burn Berlin Burn (Grand Royal 1997)
- Destroy 2000 Years of Culture (Interdord 1997, Cortex 1998)
- Live in Philadelphia - Dec. 1997 (DHR 1998)
- Revolution Action! (DHR 1999)
- 60 Second Wipeout (DHR 1999, Beat Records 1999, DHR 2000)
- Too Dead for Me (DHR 1999)
- Live at Brixton Academy (DHR 1999)
- Rage (DHR 2000)
- Redifine the Enemy - Rarities and B-Side Compilation 1992-1999 (DHR 2002)
External links
- Digital Hardcore Records (http://www.digitalhardcore.com)de:Atari Teenage Riot