Biography
Berlin hardcore dissenters Atari Teenage Riot joined other German techno figures of their era, such as ATR’s Alec Empire, EC80R, Speed Freak and DJ Bleed, in an effort to restore political radicalism to electronic music via increasingly abrasive and hybrid experiments that blended speed metal, acid, jungle and hardcore punk. Empire, Hanin Elias and Carl Crack formed the group in 1992, and their provocative debut single “Hunting for Nazis” appeared the same year on Force Inc., the German techno imprint whose owner Achim Szepanski shared a comparable dedication to radical politics. The band then issued a rapid succession of singles and albums whose signature sound fused brittle breaks exceeding 200 bpm, heavy guitar riffs and relentless shouting. Like Detroit’s Underground Resistance or industrial dance act Consolidated, ATR addressed the broader conservative turn in Western politics, especially in post-Cold War Germany, and advocated fresh, explicitly political strains of youth culture as a countermeasure.
In 1993 the early singles unexpectedly secured a contract with U.K. major Phonogram, which released several tracks before ATR exited the deal—the label had reportedly pressed for more conventional, radio-friendly techno. The group used the advance to fund an album that never materialized for the major and instead launched their own Digital Hardcore Recordings imprint in 1994. Under DHR they issued the albums Delete Yourself and The Future of War along with further singles and EPs. The label soon added like-minded German artists including EC8OR and Shizuo; in 1996 it secured a domestic licensing arrangement with the Beastie Boys’ Grand Royal imprint. Partly through that connection and partly via Alec Empire’s growing profile—he had already placed solo material on Force Inc., Chrome, Mille Plateaux, Riot Beats and DHR—ATR became one of the first new-wave European techno acts to gain traction in the United States, where alternative radio and MTV embraced the band in late 1996. The following year saw the domestic compilation Burn, Berlin, Burn!, which gathered material from the first two albums.
The third album, 60 Second Wipe Out, surfaced on Elektra in 1999 and introduced vocalist Nic Endo. Live at Brixton Academy 1999, a noise recording from a Nine Inch Nails support date, followed on DHR in 2000. The band then paused activity so Carl Crack could pursue psychiatric care and address long-term health problems tied to addiction. The hiatus proved insufficient; Crack was discovered dead in his Berlin apartment on September 6, 2001. ATR disbanded shortly afterward, though the rarities collection Redefine the Enemy appeared in 2002 and the retrospective Atari Teenage Riot: 1992-2000 followed in 2006. Years later Empire and Endo revived the project with vocalist CX KiDTRONiK; the reconstituted trio issued the stylistically faithful album Is This Hyperreal? in 2011 through Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak label in the U.S. The lineup toured Europe, America and Asia, resulting in the live release Riot in Japan 2011. By 2014 MC Rowdy Superstar had replaced KiDTRONiK, and this configuration recorded Reset, initially issued only in Japan before receiving an international release in 2015.
In 1993 the early singles unexpectedly secured a contract with U.K. major Phonogram, which released several tracks before ATR exited the deal—the label had reportedly pressed for more conventional, radio-friendly techno. The group used the advance to fund an album that never materialized for the major and instead launched their own Digital Hardcore Recordings imprint in 1994. Under DHR they issued the albums Delete Yourself and The Future of War along with further singles and EPs. The label soon added like-minded German artists including EC8OR and Shizuo; in 1996 it secured a domestic licensing arrangement with the Beastie Boys’ Grand Royal imprint. Partly through that connection and partly via Alec Empire’s growing profile—he had already placed solo material on Force Inc., Chrome, Mille Plateaux, Riot Beats and DHR—ATR became one of the first new-wave European techno acts to gain traction in the United States, where alternative radio and MTV embraced the band in late 1996. The following year saw the domestic compilation Burn, Berlin, Burn!, which gathered material from the first two albums.
The third album, 60 Second Wipe Out, surfaced on Elektra in 1999 and introduced vocalist Nic Endo. Live at Brixton Academy 1999, a noise recording from a Nine Inch Nails support date, followed on DHR in 2000. The band then paused activity so Carl Crack could pursue psychiatric care and address long-term health problems tied to addiction. The hiatus proved insufficient; Crack was discovered dead in his Berlin apartment on September 6, 2001. ATR disbanded shortly afterward, though the rarities collection Redefine the Enemy appeared in 2002 and the retrospective Atari Teenage Riot: 1992-2000 followed in 2006. Years later Empire and Endo revived the project with vocalist CX KiDTRONiK; the reconstituted trio issued the stylistically faithful album Is This Hyperreal? in 2011 through Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak label in the U.S. The lineup toured Europe, America and Asia, resulting in the live release Riot in Japan 2011. By 2014 MC Rowdy Superstar had replaced KiDTRONiK, and this configuration recorded Reset, initially issued only in Japan before receiving an international release in 2015.
Albums
Singles
