DEPECHE MODE - 'CATCHING UP WITH DEPECHE MODE' (1985, @sirerecords)
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For a band I've always been a fairly casual fan of, @depechemode won't stop weaving in and out of my life. Last year, a student of mine gave me my first existential crisis simply by telling me she was excited to go to Spain with her family for a graduation present to see Depeche Mode... because they were her mom's favorite band. In DC earlier this year, I wound up showing @sbg_arch and @lousyhumans a video of a barely-out-of-puberty Dave Gahan shimmying to "Just Can't Get Enough" on French TV ca. 1981 (seriously, he looked 15). Last week, @shanerhyne hipped me to the latest episode of The Hit Parade podcast, which went into an insane level of detail about DM's American chart breakthroughs.
I used to own this as a CD, but I found this rare promo version (with a flashy hype sticker) in immmaaaaccculllaattteee condition at @wildhoneyrecords sometime last summer. If I'm not mistaken, tonight may have been the first time I've actively listened to Side 2 of this thing. The Fast-Fashion boys hit quite a stumbling block when Vince Clarke, the one bona fide genius they ever had in the group (sorry), split early on. My opinion doesn't hold much weight, though, considering how there are a billion people across the world willing to grind up and snort pretty much everything this band's put out since he left. Is that metaphor in poor taste, given how close those involved came to killing themselves with drugs in the 90s? Probably!
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Top Tracks:
1. "Just Can't Get Enough"
2. "New Life"
3. "Shake the Disease" (ok, Martin Gore, you can have one)
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#depechemode #davegahan #martingore #vinceclarke #synthpop #synths #bestof #singlescollection #80smusic #catchingupwithdepechemode #NowPlaying #nowspinning #turntable #33rpm #record #myvinyl #vinylcollection #vinyl #80svinyl #basildon #recordcollector #englishmusic #electronicmusic #justcantgetenough
"So tonight let's stay inside; I'll be the husband with a book for a bride."
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JETS TO BRAZIL - 'PERFECTING LONELINESS' (2003, @jadetree // 2017 Reissue)
#nowlistening
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Name a more @blakeschwarzenbach lyric than that one atop this post. I mean, if you're a fan of any of his bands, you probably can, but damn that is quintessential early-30s sentimentality, painting us a picture of the perfect quiet snowy night (similar to the one happening outside as I type this in Central Michigan). This was the first @jets_to_brazil album I heard, so I'm still pretty attached to it over those two JTB albums all the edgy geniuses in the "Jets to Brazil is greater than Jawbreaker" shirts (okay, dude) covet. @magnoliarecordstn got all 3 reissues in, and this was the only one I bought. It's so heart-warming and -breaking, which I guess was always Blake's trademark (and for my money, the last 70 seconds of "West Bay Invitational" was the apex there, but that's just one opinion). Anyway, I'm grateful these songs exist. Who said that Schwartzenbach didn't have a good Adult Contemporary record in him?? That also heavily involved Chris TITR Daly and @magpiecage? And some "pianny," "ambient grit," and "lamp-lit sizzle" among the instruments listed? Man, for all the crap the people behind this album took in the 90s (from their own "fans," mainly), I can only imagine what a new leaf this must have felt like to create.
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Top Tracks:
1. "Psalm" ⛪
2. "Cat Heaven" 🐱
3. "Lucky Charm" 🍀
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#jetstobrazil #emo #gatefold #perfectingloneliness #jadetree #vinylreissue #vinylcollection #adultcontemporary #piano #pianny #chrisdaly #jrobbins #blakeschwarzenbach #catheaven #autumnwalker #pianomusic #songwriter #33rpm #reissue #turntable #latenightlistening #nowspinning
