Artist: Atari Teenage Riot
Release: 2000
Label: Digital Hardcore Records
Tracklist:
1. Live At Brixton Academy 1999
Live At Brixton Academy 1999 is a document of the final Atari Teenage Riot live action, supporting Nine Inch Nails at one of the largest shows of the band's career. 1999 was a tumultuous year for ATR. Their latest record, 60 Second Wipe Out, had not been as well received as their previous records, and members of the band, particularly head provocateur Alec Empire, found themselves exhausted and stagnated. Internal tensions also took their toll on the other members: Hanin Elias became pregnant, Carl Crack was suffering from psychosis resulting from extended drug abuse, and members of the band were arrested during an anti-WTO protest in Berlin.
These tensions were manifested in a harsh, manic, and devastating 26-minute noise set at the last show of their British tour with NIN, which was later released as a limited edition CD on the band's Digital Hardcore label (Apparently a video of this set exists as well; contact the blog if you know anything about this.) Live At Brixton Academy bears little resemblance to their more "conventional" songs, closer to industrial music, power electronics, or Metal Machine Music than their punk-inspired roots. Instead of shouting slogans over brutal four-on-the-floor dance beats, the members of the band elected to get behind their electronics and spray their audience with sonic tear gas. In 1997, ATR were joined by German-Japanese noise artist Nic Endo, who contributes layered and textural waves of punishing synthesizer squall to this release.
While this document is not representative of the rest of ATR's (excellent) catalog, in many ways it stands out from their other releases. As aggressive as songs like "Start the Riot" and "Destroy 2000 Years of Culture" are, they can only do so much to provoke a riot. Live At Brixton Academy is the sound of a riot in progress.
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-CB Radio
3 comments:
I was at that show. Totally nuts. It seemed like they were just making fun of the audience. People were pissed.
sounds like it was a blast, then.
I was also there. One of the most outstanding gigs of my life. Still not sure if i enjoyed it but fuck, any band that can make you feel physically sick is good in my books.
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