Artist: Atari Teenage Riot/Asian Dub Foundation
Title: Paranoid/Free Satpal Ram
Format: 7" picture disc
Label: Damaged Goods
Catalogue Number: DAMGOOD 132
Year of Release: 1997
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I'm mining a particularly rich seam of coloured vinyl at the moment, I might have to work out some kind of chart or top ten of the favourites or something.
Looking back at that first sentence, it's probably not the best way to introduce a single famous for promoting the cause of (perhaps) wrongly imprisoned Satpal Ram, who served 13 years for stabbing a man in a restaurant.
If you would like to find out more about the case, please go ahead and search to your heart's content. You'll find the internet has much to offer in the way of misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda for both sides. The best synopsis I have found is in this post (by 'best' I mean most level-headed, even-handed, and clearly-not-a-front-for-the-BNP).
I must be one of the only people who didn't buy this single for that reason, as I'm quite a fan of Alec Empire and Atari Teenage Riot, at least from this period anyways (get Squeeze the Trigger, ignore anything after & including Intelligence & Sacrifice). I also quite like picture discs.
The ADF song is pretty good though, a catchy guitar-riff, righteous shouting of the lyrics. It sounds great in bars, I've found - but as home-listening goes, it's hard to get worked up about.
The ATR song is similar, but I prefer the music - crunchy, distorted beats, even shoutier vocals, some by a scary girl. The production is better, and more interesting. For example, just when you think the song is ending, and you're getting up to take the needle off the record, another blast of noise and shout of "PARANOID!" comes at you, which made me jump, and jumpy. I'm not as paranoid as you though.
