Ghost Riders

Performer: Suicide
Producer: Suicide
Distributor: Ryko Distribution

Notes: Suicide: Alan Vega (vocals); Martin Rev (various instruments). Recorded at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1981. Includes liner notes by David Fricke. Personnel: Alan Vega (vocals). Liner Note Author: David Fricke. Recording information: Tenth Anniversary Suicide Concert, Walker Art Center, M (09/19/1981). Unknown Contributor Roles: Paul Marotta; Tim Holmes. The ROIR label, which specializes in little-known classics (probably because of the label's former policy of releasing material on cassette only), has recently begun to reissue most of its classic treasure trove of recorded material on compact disc. From Television, to obscure dub, to this live release by legendary New York avant-noise band Suicide, every release is a must-have. This live recording of Suicide (taken from a 1981 tenth anniversary show in Minneapolis) demonstrates what a powerhouse of a band two men, a microphone and one cheesy keyboard could be. Singer Alan Vega sometimes whispers his way through classics such as "Sweet White Lady" and the title track, and sometimes wails like a lost soul wandering parched in a post-apocalyptic city, while Martin Rev's white-noise drone thunders like a cross between an air raid siren and a Farfisa organ. There's also a great cover of ? and the Mysterians' "96 Tears," that almost makes the original sound tepid. A lost classic, not for the timid.

As Suicide, New York City's Alan Vega and Martin Rev created a type of music unlike anything else going on around them in the punk era. Combining Vega's punk/futurist Presleyisms with the electronic squeaks and squawks of Rev's keyboards and rhythm machines, Suicide created a sinister yet strangely joyous noise that inspired everyone from the Cars to the 21st century Electroclash movement. Though they'll forever be identified as part of the downtown NY no wave scene of the 1970s and early 1980s, they've periodically reunited in the decades since.

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