Dive – Scraping Tokyo '95

Of all the live albums Dive have issued, this is the one to own. For sheer brutality and mental disintegration it is impossible to top Scraping Tokyo 95'. Do as the liner notes command and play at maximum volume.

Perhaps the setting influenced his performance, Dirk Ivens sounds absolutely unhinged. The sheer anger sealed onto this disc bristles with an animosity unmatched in the annals of electronic performance. To own this thing is to feel the blood seeping out of it's case and into whatever you chose to play this creature through.

I can smell the smoke and feel the strobes punctuating every word and assuredly spastic twitching gesture. If only more recordings had been made from this four day tour of Japan.

The set list is primarily composed of material from the then-newly issued studio album Concrete Jungle, although plenty of covers and even work from the First Album sneak out of the speakers. It just blows my mind how much bombast Dive pack into what they do with such a minimum of not only equipment but also vocal input. Many of the tracks on Scraping Tokyo 95' are distorted rhythms and the screaming sometimes possessed sounding voice of Dirk Ivens.

If it gets any rawer than this from Mr. Ivens, I would be tempted to nail boards across my windows so as to keep the inherent psychosis of this album intact. I like it yes sir, I do.