Atari Teenage Riot

Somewhat surprisingly, ATR's early singles landed them a recording deal with U.K. major Phonogram in 1993, through which they released a number of singles before skipping out on their contract (the label reportedly wanted more straight-ahead, commercial techno from the group). Using their Phonogram advance for the full-length album they never delivered, ATR formed Digital Hardcore Recordings in 1994, the imprint under which they released most of their subsequent material, including the full-lengths Delete Yourself and The Future of War, plus a number of singles and EPs. DHR also expanded to include a number of up-and-coming German artists -- including EC8OR and Shizuo -- with similar political leanings, and signed a domestic licensing deal with Beastie Boys' Grand Royal label in 1996. Partly as a result of that deal and partly through the increasing popularity of ATR member Alec Empire (who released a number of solo full-lengths and singles through Force Inc., Chrome, Mille Plateaux, and Riot Beats, as well as DHR), ATR became one of the first new-school European techno artists to achieve success in America, with alternative radio and MTV picking up on the group in late 1996 and the release early the following year of Burn, Berlin, Burn!, an American compilation collecting tracks from the first two albums.

From 🇩🇪 Germany