Maybe we missed the point. After all the commotion about the new sound
of electronica, Alec Empire and his Atari Teenage Riot, headlining the
spectacle of the Digital Hardcore showcase at the Metro in Chicago on
Nov. 29, left this audience bemused, but unimpressed with the future of
underground in the States.

Electronica is it… or so the kids have been told. Rumblings from the
east for the past year have heralded this fact. The commercial success
of electronica "prodigies" from London and aging rockers crying "me2" to
get on this bandwagon should've warned folks about the buzz surrounding
Herr Empire. However, with the such heavyweights as Jon Spencer, Grand
Royal, and Rage Against the Machine riding his jock, Empire and his army
have the necessary creds to try to win the ears (and dollars) of the
most sceptical kids in the country: the undie rockers.

EC8OR took the stage looking like harmless club kids. But as soon as
their sound revved into a full-treble scream, the question was not
whether they'd harm us, but how much. This coed duo stalked around the
stage like EMF on speed–even though EMF probably was on speed–either
way they definitely had faster equipment and, for that matter, lacked
the encumbrance of having to actually play their songs. Their sequencers
and drum machines maintained an infinite loop of repetitive,
mind-numbing noise for the extent of their set allowing them to act out
their strange karoake fantasy for twenty-five minutes. The affect was
deafening.

Ditto for Shizuo, but add an explicable figure in full footbal
gear–that is American football–and a creepy Betty Page type to the
nonsense.

Atari Teenage Riot could've outdone their peers and validated all this
praise for electronica. They could have blown us away. Instead, they
just dissappeared. When the familiar sounds from ATR's last LP "Burn
Berlin! Burn!" broke the silence, the audience strained to make out the
figures of Empire and his cohorts. Strobe lights, programmed to the
music, fought the complete darkness throughout the set. ATR appeared
only in awkward flashes while they pummeled the audience with asinine
phrases like "Delete Yourself!" and "Start the Riot". Towards the end of
the set, the music in its constant din, light came through and there he
was, Alec Empire… in leather pants.

Evidently, ATR learned some lessons from Wu-Tang–whom they toured with
this summer–and applied it to the Digital Hardcore Showcase: you can
jump around on stage and yell stupid shit and American kids will thrown
down the 15 bucks to see it. But if electronica is going to follow suit
with hip-hop and abandon performance as a medium, then let it be known,
the new sound sounds best on your stereo.