![]() First the A-side looks to the past to bring everyone together, then the B-side dives headfirst into the future. Here they adapt Sham 69’s classic “If The Kids Are United” for the rave generation, mixing the power chords of the original with big beat drums, some hoover sounds, and anti-authoritarian speeches beseeching listeners both young and old to “play this game right.” Though “Kids Are United” would appear on other releases, this limited edition 7” from 1995 has a certain haiku-like perfection. Embodying the “Digital Hardcore” concept most literally, they borrowed liberally from sneering punks like GBH and Exploited but instead wrote their furious anthems on electronic instruments. De Babalon tracks like “Opium” and “Damaged III” embodied this nihilistic streak, as did this video for Empire’s terrorizing “We All Die” or on the Merzbow-worthy deluge that is Shizuo’s “ Blow Job.”ĪTR was the wrecking ball that smashed a path for their labelmates. ![]() The explosive, stuttering drum breaks, laced with frantic screams, movie samples, and tense half-melodies, evoke less a fascism-free future and more the paranoid claustrophobia of an unwell mind. “We are gonna create music to fight fascism, are you in or not?”ĭHR’s output paid lip service to social themes, but the ferocity often felt more personal than political. “This is the mission,” said Empire in a recent interview, describing his attitude at the time. ![]() DHR’s notorious heyday was the later half of the 1990s and focused on a community of Berlin rave defectors. It was released on Digital Hardcore Recordings, run by Atari Teenage Riot’s Alec Empire, and was a standout LP on the label devoted to antisocial jungle and searing, noise-saturated hardcore. Although it’s a singular work-Thom Yorke called it “the most menacing record I own”- If You’re Into It was not created in a vacuum.
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