Depeche Mode Remastered
Landscape Photo
Licorice returns to New York City's Blue Note Jazz Club, 131 West 3rd Street, on July 8th as part of the Late Night Groove Series. Licorice's Blue Note shows are always something special, so make plans to get there for some post-July 4th fireworks. Doors open Saturday at midnight.
Have a new video for "History's Stranglers" here from their new record coming out in July.
Jack White's "don't call it a side project" side project, The Raconteurs, have added some additional shows to their summer tour. At the present time, The Raconteurs (a/k/a The Saboteurs in Australia) will play a series of shows overseas before returning to America's left coast. In making their way back east, White, Benson and the boys will hit the 2006 Lollapalooza Festival.
Thanks to Dale Pantalione for sending in his review of last night's Radiohead show. If anyone else sees a show and wants to publish a review, send it over and we'll link back to your MySpace page.
If you're in the Brooklyn area tonight check out Pela at NORTHSIX w/ Longwave and The English Department - 66 North 6 Street Brooklyn, NY 11211.
And, for our friends in the Sarasota Spring, NY area - Army of Me will be at The Grotto for a FREE show tonight. 388 Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY (518.584.2283) 22+ (this is not a typo) - show: 11pm.
For those in DC, stop by the Velvet Lounge for Justin Jones.
Also, for the DC folks this Saturday June 3rd, Wes Tucker & the Skillets have a cd release party at Iota -2832 Wilson Blvd. Arlington VA, music starts @ 9:00pm.
Don McCloskey is at the Rickshaw Stop in San Fran this Saturday Night.
Licorice will celebrate the release of: "Live at the Baggot Inn," a collection of songs from 16 acts recorded at the club throughout the past year by playing one intimate set. The CD and release party are in memory of former soundman Jon Anthony who recently passed away. 100% of the proceeds from the night and sales of the CD will be donated to Music Rising, an organization dedicated to rebuilding the Gulf Region note by note, in Jon's name. Licorice's "Swisher" appears on the disc. Tickets will be $10 and will include a CD with admission.
James Blunt will play a not so secret Myspace show tonight at The Cutting Room, 19 W. 24th St., NYC - (212) 691-1900. James scored big points and lived up to his last name last week at the Novella Awards when he quipped "it's continued to get me laid" in response to critics of his heavily played tune "You're Beautiful."
Head Automatica will be performing a special live acoustic performance at Virgin Megastore Times Square in New York this coming Monday, June 5th @ 11pm to celebrate the release of their new record which will be available in stores June 6th.
While Mike Gordon & Ramble Dove prepare for a summer of honky-tonk (with no badonkadonk), they have posted a couple tracks from a Burlington, VT Radio Bean session on Gordon's website
Depeche Mode have endured the fickle musical landscape for roughly twenty five years. Experiencing career highs (Violator), career lows (David Gahan's heroin problems), and a comeback or two (Exciter, Playing the Angel). To pay tribute to their longevity, Rhino has remastered three of Depeche Mode's album's from their 80's heyday: Speak & Spell, Music For The Masses, and Violator.
The remaster includes remixed stereo versions of the original recordings, additional songs, 5.1 surround sound and DTS versions on DVD, and a "Behind the Music" style "mini-film." However, because it was the record that kicked things off for the band, I'll focus on Speak and Spell.
Depeche Mode were unique when Speak and Spell was originally released and not simply because they disposed of the guitar, bass, and drum and replaced them with synthesizers. Thier uniqueness stemmed from matching all these sounds with their finely crafted pop songs. Vince Clarke, Andy Fletcher and Martin Gore manned the synths behind David Gahan's innocent vocals. "Just Can't Get Enough", a Depeche Mode classic and arguably their most recognizable tune on Speak and Spell, still has that heart thumping beat. That first record also included Depeche Mode classic's "New Life" and "Dreaming of Me."
Clarke's songs range from fluffy dance party song's to extremely dark and menacing. On the remaster they include the not so subtle, but upbeat, tale of heartbreak "I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead". The homoerotic "Boys Say Go" and "What's Your Name?" are almost laughable after 25 years of debate on the "sexuality" of Depeche Mode. The songs hold up as instrumental's, but I can't imagine Gahan or Gore even entertaining such light fare. "Puppets" and "Photographic" are much more indicative of the template that Gore would adopt in future Depeche Mode songs. These are the hidden gems of Speak and Spell.
Gore's infancy as a song writer is on full display for their first album. The forgettable "Big Muff" follows the somber "TORA! TORA! TORA!" - which is solid enough for repeat listens and hints ever so slightly at the musician that Gore would become. Gahan's vocals which seemed muffled on the original release gain a little more strength on the stereo remaster and are completely liberated in the 5.1 and DTS versions. More than on any other Depeche Mode release Gahan comes across more as a figurehead rather than a front man, especially on the aforementioned "Boys Say Go" and "What's Your Name?."
For pure and casual Depeche Mode fans, the retrospective mini-film Do We Really Have to Give Up Our Day Jobs?, makes this remaster worth it's weight. Clarke, Fletcher, Gore, and Gahan are positively giddy when they remember the genesis of Depeche Mode. Clarke, of course, left after Speak and Spell and went on to form Yazoo (Yaz in America) and later the hugely successful Erasure. Twenty five years has dispelled any acrimony that occurred at the time. Clarke's leaving the band is only mentioned in a textual epilogue at the close of the mini-film.
One of the other highlight's of the mini-film is the interview with Brian Griffin who conceptualized the cover photo for Speak and Spell. He owns up to the fact that the cellophane covered swan is a bit over the top and finally admits he has no idea what he prompted him to submit such a horrible cover to the band, though the band seem to give him a pass.
Never having heard Dolby 5.1 or DTS sound I was rather impressed at how much more life the process gives to the music. Depeche Mode's electronic sound is more vibrant in the surround sound digital format. Gahan's vocal's, as previously mentioned, are placed in front of the music rather than in between the groups monophonic keyboards. "Just Can't Get Enough" and "Dreaming of Me" are revived with the new format and "Photographics" dark robotic melody simmers.
This refresher in Depeche Mode circa 80-81 makes you a little better for the effort you put into the listening experience. Producer Daniel Miller said it best, "They were never New Romantics, they were Futurists." Twenty plus years, the future has arrived and now Depeche Mode helps us romanticize about the not too distant past.
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