New York City in the 1970s was an urban nightmare: destitute, dirty, and dangerous. As the country collectively turned its back on the Big Apple, two musical vigilantes rose out of the miasma. Armed only with amplified AC current, Suicide's Alan Vega and Marty Rev set out to save America's soul. Their weaponized noise terrorized unsuspecting audiences. Suicide could start a riot on a lack of guitar alone. Those who braved their live shows often fled in fear--or formed bands (sometimes both). Thi…
1979 Canadian edition on Basement with exclusive different cover of the 1977 first album by Alan Vega and Martin Rev, an unparalelled masterpiece of experimental synthetic rock'n'roll.
1990 first LP re-issue on Danceteria of a cassette previously released by ROIR in 1986 with a live recording of the duo of Alan Vega and Martin Rev from 1981. With insert.
“Lester Bangs liner notes place Suicide in its proper historical context: A document of a force of nature – the filthy loud subway station heart of NYC. Suicide pioneered everything from synth-pop to industrial disco – low rent electronic angst-fest. Vega runs rough shod over the whirring blast of Rev’s homemade synth.” – Rolling Stone Record Guide
*2022 stock * 'Suicide took mid-70's NYC underground attitudes to extreme, but logical, ends. Singer Alan Vega's often terrifyingly apocalyptic vision was perfectly complimented by keyboardist Martin Rev's pulsating, sizzling accompaniment on rhythm box and synthesizer. Their psychotic electronic blues was the sound of American culture sliding towards destruction. On stage, they were routinely heckled by audiences unappreciative of their minimalist explorations (they actually incited riots while…
"On Suicide's First Rehearsal Tapes, recorded in 1975, Alan Vega and Martin Rev create minimalist aural structures, traces of which would surface on their eponymous debut album, released on the Red Star label in late 1977."These songs are not a sketchpad of semi-formed ideas. The First Rehearsal Tapes comprise an audio diary of two men out in the ether, measuring themselves as evolving individual artists and as a unit who would rely on inseparability to realize their unique and often confrontati…
Suicide's landmark self-titled LP was originally released in 1977, seven years after the group's initial conception as part of the performance art scene on the Lower East Side. It is hard to overstate the importance of the seven tracks on Suicide, which paved the way for punk, industrial, hip hop, noise and beyond. "Ghost Rider" accelerates with brutal anguish and desire for everything rock 'n' roll. Martin Rev's utterly singular "instrument" pounds out a synthetic soundscape, while Alan …
Known to Rev & Vega as the Baby Faced Killer who they so kindly chaperoned through that lost downtown night world crucible from where both their futuristic, and highly influential, black arts would be born. Artistic Kings & Queens from the dumpster side of town. Lydia gets all wet and dirty with thought of what young Frankie Teardrop might do to her, over a twisted frug of an electronic beat-nicked soundscape by one time Lemon Kitten, David Knight. Rules are for breaking. Here we like to break…
Limited edition of 3000, 6CD set. Audio verité recordings (mastered by the incomparable Denis Blackham) of Suicide playing live from September 1977 to August 1978. These recordings cover most of their early shows at CBGBs and Max's Kansas City, plus their first-ever tour across Europe and the UK, these being their dates outside the USA. As you will hear, a crucial year in Suicide's development as both musicians and performers and their mission to stretch the label of punk rock to the very limit.…