Texture, one of Shallow Rave's erstwhile hip-hop afficionados, got the chance to listen to a stream of the new album (and major-label debut) of Death Grips the other day, courtesy of the lovely chaps at The Skinny.
While we're duty bound not to share anything about the album with you that isn't already public, we can say that 'The Money Store' is a breathtaking, intense, apocalyptic tour-de-force. The Quietus has a very good track-by-track analysis of the album, and we have to wholeheartedly agree with their assesment, that it sounds like: "2-Live Crew meets Tetsuo 2: Bodyhammer."
With upfront, down-low, synth-led productions, the punishing drums of Zach Hill, and MC Ride in fine, furious flow, we predict this will be one of (if not THE) best albums of 2012. And they have another one dropping later in the year. We're super hyped.
Below you'll see the four tracks Death Grips have already made public. Jaunt on over to Third Worlds to grab the mp3s of these badboys, and whet your appetite for 'The Money Store.'
Atari Teenage Riot's latest video taps into the contemporary zeitgeist, referencing Anonymous, occupy and the 99%. It feels slightly off-message that a track dedicated to Anonymous begins with a massive namechecking shout out to themselves, but sponsoring activist fans by re-releasing a video cut together from fan footage is, well, pretty decent. I'd like to be cynical about it, but ATR do genuinely seem to give a fuck, and that's hard to fault.
More digital hardcore from Atari Teenage Riot, with Nic Endo delivering powerful and uncomfortable messages about the sex trade the world over. Regardless of whether you think ATR have returned to form, or failed to live up to their standards, their motivations are unquestionably important.
Atari Teenage Riot - Is This Hyperreal? (June 20th)
Atari Teenage Riot's new studio album, their first in 10 years, is vicious, nasty music for angry people, full of jackhammer beats, overdriven noise and screamy, riot-inducing vocals - it's absolutely awesome. Opening with the two recent singles Activate and Blood in my Eyes, ATR launch into gloriously mental, breakbeat-driven hardcore, full of hooky sloganeering and raucous gang-vocals, the latter drawing the powerful vocals of Nic Endo to the forefront. Drawing on subject matter as diverse as political activism, sex traffic, freedom of information and plastic surgery, ATR cut through the malaise and apathy of the consumer culture like a chainsaw through a mattress. There's more of the same in Codebreaker and Rearrange Your Synapses; three-chord, high speed machine music that rips up everthing in its path with cheerful abandon. However, as fun and effective as the breakbeat madness is, it's limited in its scope and can grow a little repetitive - title track Is This Hyperreal? is one of the album's stand-out numbers, working a series of vocal chants over a beatless 303 bassline that continually threatens to erupt and comes across like some early Scorn or Head of David number. With hints of (Pandemonium-era) Killing Joke's brooding paranoia, Nic Endo, Alec Empire and Cx Kidtronix take turns at inciting the listener to action and rebellion, and the rare sense of restraint actually delivers a far more powerful message than bellowing along at 180bpm.
One of ATR's central concepts has always been a fascination with machinery and the evolution of digital technology, both lyrically and technically; there's a nice homage to the retrograde Atari sound in Collapse of History, which begins with the classic pong sounds building up a beat. As well as being one of ATR's most interesting aspects, it's also a limitation at times, and Empire rarely lets vocals pass through the mix untreated - everything has to have delay, distortion and reverb, which can become frustrating and make tracks feel overworked towards the latter half of the album. Overall, Is This Hyperreal? is a brilliant slice of digital hardcore that sits neatly alongside ATR's other works, and hopefully, is a springboard for a triumphant return. Considering the tour dates lined up (wot, no Glasgow show?) it seems a fairly sure shot.
Atari Teenage Riot are nothing short of legendary. Having changed the face of both electronic and rock music in their intense career, and given the world a vast number of collaborators, apprentices and bastard permutations, they've left a legacy that will last for decades. I saw them perform last night at the Arches (current line-up of Alec Empire, Nic Endo and MC CX Kidtronix) and holy fuck did they rip it up! I used to love Ministry, Fear Factory and Red Harvest, who I thought were heavy, but to paraphrase Dalai Dahmer, discovering Atari Teenage Riot is like thinking Maiden are heavy, then seeing Slayer in full effect. This was a near-unrelenting blast of amen breaks, d'n'b tempos and shouty punk sloganeering that never lost itself in the white noise that often smothers black or speed metal. Classics like ATR, Revolution Action and Destroy 2000 Years of Culture rattle past in a blaze of call and response, with MC CX Kidtronix and Empire taking it in turns to whip the crowd up with a mixture of fierce anti-capitalist rhetoric and mindless fuck-punk nihilism.
Managing to be more brutal than death-industrial like the Berzerker whilst retaining a groove, ATR's mechanical battery never lapses into simple crush-kill-destroy techno - it's intense, mad-mental fun, and peppered with subtle melodies. Nic Endo, who handles most of the backing tracks from an MPC, is possessed of a delicate but powerful voice that cuts through the noise with amazing clarity - her solo performance when Empire retreats behind his drum machines was one of the many highlights.
Some people have seen fit to write Atari Teenage Riot's reformation off as a cash-cow, or a vanity project, and truthfully, this is not the same band that terrorised Glasgow back in 1993, but neither is it the same world, musically or politically. This is still a band at the height of their talents; invigorated, enthused and unafraid to experiment or take risks. The break-up of Rage Against The Machine put one of the many nails in the coffin of political music, and a backlash carried through the early 21st century which saw a socially-conscious agenda as a hindrance to performance. Atari Teenage Riot in 2010 is a reminder that performance is protest, that music can be inspiring, intelligent and remain as vitalistic as chewing on fresh adrenal glands.
With economic collapse, illegal wars and students actually motivated and angry enough to march on the government and physically break their security, it feels like we once again need bands like Atari Teenage Riot. We need million-selling artists whose new single is free on soundcloud. We need albums controversial enough to be censored and banned by the German government, and artists wild enough to play the tracks from it every time they perform. We need music that screams rebellion, white-hot anger, and the glorious freedom of creativity.
