“I’m not interested in perfection; I want to show the cracks that let the soul out.” – Anton Corbijn

I was in Berlin for Out Of Line Weekender, but there are obligations that have nothing to do with schedules and everything to do with devotion. Fotografiska’s new Anton Corbijn exhibition was one of them. For me, as a portrait and concert photographer, someone who also photographs musicians and keeps returning to faces as if they might finally confess something essential, Anton Corbijn belongs to that tiny order of artists who stand above influence. Alongside Helmut Newton, Henri Cartier Bresson, and Peter Lindbergh, he occupies the place reserved for gods and impossible standards, the figures one follows knowing perfectly well they cannot be caught.

That is why walking into Corbijn, Anton at Fotografiska Berlin felt less like a casual museum stop and more like entering a sanctuary built for people who understand that music history has a face, and that in many cases Corbijn gave it one.

The exhibition opened on Friday with a party, and that choice made perfect sense. Anton Corbijn has spent more than four decades shaping the visual identity of modern music through photography, videos, and film, so to celebrate him with silence alone would have felt strangely insufficient. Fotografiska turned the museum into a living nocturnal structure, with an artist talk by Anton Corbijn himself, then performances by Sally Dige, Pol, Isolation Berlin, Drangsal, and Anika, while Daisy Weweh and DJ Hell took over Bar Veronika and the Café Bar moved through its own sequence of DJs and live setsIt was not so much a vernissage as a carefully tuned occupation of the building, the kind of opening that understands that Corbijn’s work has always lived somewhere between contemplation and afterhours voltage.

The retrospective itself traces his photographic journey from the nineteen seventies to the present, and what becomes immediately clear is that Anton Corbijn never photographed fame as fame. He photographed aura, fragility, distance, inner weather. His pictures do not flatter celebrity. They interrogate it, strip it, sometimes wound it a little, then offer it back to us with more truth than glamour could ever survive.

There is something almost unbelievable about the accumulation of presences in these rooms. It feels like entering a party where the entire subconscious of the nineteen eighties and nineties has gathered under one roof. Nick Cave is there. Blixa Bargeld is there. Siouxsie Sioux, David Bowie, Joy Division, Björk, Annie Lennox, Martin Gore, Courtney Love, Slash. The effect is almost surreal. Slash can sit next to Cave and somehow the conversation still makes visual sense. Corbijn’s eye gives the room an unusual coherence. Across decades, genres, and personas, these figures seem to belong to the same emotional climate. 

Anton Corbijn expo – Photo review by Karo Kratochwil

And that eye remains devastating.

The black and white work is especially overwhelming. Anton Corbijn understands monochrome the way certain writers understand silence. In his hands, black and white begins as an aesthetic choice and ends as a moral one. It removes decorative noise. It forces structure, mood, doubt, bone. Faces emerge from shadow with that strange mix of vulnerability and self possession that the best portraits carry. The grain matters. The blur matters. The lack of polish matters. In room after room, one sees what Corbijn meant by those cracks that let the soul out. The line immediately brought Leonard Cohen to my mind: “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” Corbijn’s portraits seem to trust the same principle. Perfection closes a surface. Fracture lets a person appear. An Anton Corbijn portrait is not about smoothness or glamour; it rather wants tension, atmosphere, the unstable edge where a person stops performing and starts appearing.

That blurred line is one of the great subjects of the exhibition. Between public figure and private self: between star and somebody, costume and exposure. One of the wall texts includes Corbijn’s remark that he never wanted to be a photographer of the stars, he wanted to show what was behind that. It is one of those statements that sounds simple until one stands in front of the photographs and realizes how rare that ambition actually is. Plenty of photographers have documented famous people. Very few have been able to make fame feel secondary.

What gives the Berlin show its particular richness is the way Corbijn transforms a room full of cultural icons into something far more intimate and unsettling: a study in emotional weather, written across faces. Again and again, one encounters the same quality in those hypnotic eyes that seem to look through the lens rather than into it, whether they belong to Bowie, Björk, Annie Lennox, or Siouxsie. Decades shift, styling changes, California light replaces a harsher European grain, yet Corbijn keeps locating that inward pull, that faintly haunted concentration which makes each portrait feel less like an image than an encounter.

For those of us who photograph musicians, the lesson is brutal and beautiful at once. Anton Corbijn never seemed interested in access for its own sake – he was famously uncompromising, guided less by commercial calculation than by instinct, taste, and conviction. The very idea that he could initially turn away from photographing massively successful acts feels entirely plausible here, because the exhibition makes clear that market value was never the real currency of Anton Corbijn’s work; what mattered was presence, mystery, and the human face under pressure.

That also explains why the exhibition never feels embalmed in nostalgia. There is far too much movement inside it for that. One section follows Anton Corbijn’s deeply personal series a. somebody, where he steps into the skins of his musical heroes in self portraits made in his hometown of Strijen. Another shows Famous, the early black and white portraits that already contain the raw directness of his mature vision. Elsewhere, MOØDe explores fashion as a psychological instrument rather than surface. The clothes in these photographs are not decoration. They are mood, armor, confession.

Then there is the room devoted to the moving image, and it is impossible to overstate how important that room is. Corbijn photographed modern music, then went on to shape the way it moved. Seeing the videos and film material gathered there, one is reminded how much of the MTV era and after it still bears his grammar. Depeche Mode, U2, Nirvana, Coldplay, Arcade Fire, Joy Division by way of Control – the list alone is enough to make you stop. More importantly, the room reveals continuity rather than career hopping. That same visual intelligence runs through the still photographs, the videos, and the films, along with the patience with darkness, the suspicion of perfection, and the rare ability to let stillness accumulate dramatic force without any hint of coercion. Perhaps that is what moved me most deeply, the way Anton Corbijn’s work remains vibrantly alive even when the subject barely appears to move, as though everything were held in a state of concentrated tension. It places its trust in the viewer and asks for real attention, which in an age devoted to speed, polish, and instant legibility begins to feel almost radical. I went in knowing I admired him. I left with something closer to gratitude.

For me, this exhibition was deeply personal, because it gave precise form to something I had sensed for years without ever quite naming: the strongest portrait photography does not take possession of a face, but waits until that face begins, almost against its will, to disclose itself. Anton Corbijn has spent a lifetime working from exactly that conviction, and it explains why his photographs still seem to breathe, still carry risk, still hold something that refuses to flatten into mere cultural memory. At Fotografiska, that quality runs through the entire exhibition, giving it the presence of something living rather than the composure of a museum exercise.And yes, it truly felt like visiting a temple.

The kind of temple where the saints wear black, the lighting is severe, the music never really stops, and you realise, after far too long standing in front of one wall, that you have no desire to leave.

“Corbijn, Anton” is on view at Fotografiska Berlin from 9 May through 20 September 2026

Karo Kratochwil

Based in Wrocław, I work as a music journalist and photographer covering electro, industrial, EBM, gothic, and darkwave. My work includes features and live coverage, as well as concert, portrait, promo, and theater photography. What interests me most is the connection between artistic intention, what the work communicates, and what unfolds live on stage, all in pursuit of the bigger picture behind the music.

(Interview by Janos Janurik) Ever since I got into online music journalism, I’ve always been interested in the background characters around my favourite musicians’ releases that add something important to the product we, the fans end up with.

With this in mind, over the years I have interviewed personalities such as Anton Corbijn (photographer of Depeche Mode and many other music greats), Gareth Jones and Mark Saunders (producers and mixmasters of Depeche Mode and Erasure amongst others).

About eight years ago I had the honour of helping to promote Vince Clarke’s then newly founded mini-record label (VeryRecords) and his releases. In addition to the artists whose albums have been released there in recent years, I also got in contact with Mat Smith, who, like me, is a freelancer – readers of Electronic Sound and Clash know him well – and works as a publicist for VeryRecords as well as being commissioned by Erasure and Mute for a number of press pieces. He also wrote the sleevenotes in the booklet of the new “Cowboy” Deluxe-Edition.

In addition to his journalistic work, he also has his own project “Mortality Tables”, which has just released a new mini-album on cassette and as a digital download. Last November, at the premiere of Vince Clarke’s solo album in London, I had the pleasure of meeting Mat in person and we had a lively chat about our shared passion for music. Knowing how important this project is to him, I approached him and asked him a few questions about it. 

But then life, or rather death, intervened. I didn’t mean this as a cheap shot, but it was indeed a sad event that forced me to make changes to the interview I had with my friend and colleague almost three weeks ago. Now that the aforementioned label is going on holiday, and before I do the same, I would like to bring this exciting musical venture (“The Engineer”) to your attention – and this interview with the man behind it.

SL: Tell us briefly about how you became interested in music. Have you had any musical training, have you learnt to play any instruments? Do you remember the first record you bought?

I grew up in a house where music seemed to always be playing, either on the radio or on my parent’s stereo. My mother listened to a lot of ABBA. Nothing about that was exceptional, particularly. When I used to go to friends’ houses, they always seemed to have the TV switched on, which felt strange to me. My family chose music, and I’ve surrounded myself with it ever since. 

I tried to play the recorder, which was the instrument that most of us learned as kids. My parents gave me a blue one for Christmas one year. I couldn’t play a single note. I briefly learned the basics of notation at school but very quickly forgot all of it. In early high school music classes I was more interested in recording real-life sounds into the Casio keyboard and using those to make compositions. Not long after that, I started making sample-based electronic music on my Amiga 500.

The first album I owned was Nik Kershaw’s ‘Human Racing’. I was given for my birthday the year it was released, along with a Sanyo portable cassette player. I played that album constantly. I wore out the cassette player after two weeks but I still have the ‘Human Racing’ tape and it still sounds incredible to me. 

SL: When did you discover electronic music? And who was the first electronic artist who introduced you to the world of electronic music?

My father is responsible for switching me on to electronic music. There were three pivotal events, and they all relate to times I was with my father.

The first was one evening when my mother was at her restaurant job, and my father was looking after me. I was playing with Lego in the lounge and Gary Numan was performing ‘Cars’ on TV. That performance completely captivated me.

The next was driving around in my father’s car while he did his second job as a debt collector. A friend at work had recorded two tracks from OMD’s ‘Architecture & Morality’ album onto a cassette for him. The songs were ‘Joan Of Arc’ and ‘Maid Of Orleans’, and we’d listen to them over and over.

The third was Soft Cell’s ‘Non-Stop Erotic Videotape’, which he brought home from work one day. That was pretty mind-blowing for a five-year old, and I can only imagine he didn’t realise what it was. It was definitely not suitable for a kid of my age, but, looking back, I don’t remember the imagery – I only recall the music. 

So I owe my father a huge debt for how he shaped my music tastes at a very early age. He was also the one who brought home a cassette copy of ‘The Innocents’ by Erasure and gave it to me. He had no idea quite what he started that day. 

SL: When did you start writing journalistic texts for Mute Records and its artists? What was your first article for Mute and about which artist, which release?

I began a blog called Documentary Evidence in 2003, which was focused on my personal Mute Records collection. I’d just write about the releases from a mostly non-musical perspective, explaining how they made me feel. I still write reviews like that today for Electronic Sound. I also got really interested in telling the stories of specific releases or artists, and that led me to interview people who released music through Mute, or were somehow connected to the label. I have a natural curiosity and inquisitiveness, and that seems to mean people like talking to me and opening up. 

From there I started writing for Clash, and then Electronic Sound and some other places. In 2017 I got asked to chair a panel discussion with Anton Corbijn, Daniel Miller, Paul A. Taylor and Steve Claydon (Add N To (X)) at Rough Trade East in London, about the visual identity of Mute. The first written Mute commission I got was to write a press biography for Chris Carter’s ‘Chemistry Lessons Vol. 1’. I couldn’t believe they asked me to do that, and I couldn’t believe I was being paid to write for the label I loved so much. The team at Mute liked what I did and I’ve been given a few more things to do since then, as well as with the team at BMG who look after the Erasure reissue programme, and Erasure themselves. 

SL: Did Vince Clarke’s VeryRecords label and the associated promotion give you any impetus for your own project, which you called “Mortality Tables”?

Indirectly, yes, but perhaps not in the way you might expect.

My task with VeryRecords was to assemble the press releases. It was the first time I’d worked behind the scenes of a release, where I’d often get involved before the album was even mastered, or before the artwork had even been considered. So I’d be talking to the artists – Reed & Caroline, Alka and Brook – at a very early stage, generally when Vince felt that the album was finished enough for me to listen and for me to start engaging the artists.

It took a while for me to realise this, but the process of working with the artists to write a press release became a collaboration – between all of us, and between my words and their music. I wasn’t just a writer but part of the collective effort to put this music out into the world. I did the same with Nick Hook’s Calm + Collect label, working on releases by Gareth Jones, Spiritual Friendship and others.

In 2019, when I began forming Mortality Tables, I envisaged it as a creative community of collaborators. You can definitely draw a line between that and the ideas that began to form as I worked with VeryRecords and its artists. I also took a lot of inspiration from Vince, who didn’t feel that he needed to only focus on the music that people would expect him to release. That sense of freedom, which Daniel Miller also brought to Mute, directly fed into what Mortality Tables has become. I wanted something where I could work with people making sound art as well as people making images. It had to have artistic breadth. 

I wanted Mortality Tables to be like a gallery, with a portfolio of artists in vastly different disciplines. That’s why Neil Coe deigned the first sleeve image to look like the description of an artwork on the wall of a gallery.

SL: The name of the project refers to the work of actuaries who measure the statistical probability of life insurance payouts. You do something like this in your everyday working life, don’t you?

That’s right. I work with insurance companies all around the world, and have done for over twenty years. I find lots of parallels between the worlds of insurance and electronic music, and the kinds of people I engage with in both of my jobs.

The story goes that I was meeting a friend in a café in Bloomsbury in London one morning. He runs a record label, which is another big inspiration for Mortality Tables. He wishes to remain anonymous, but he is actively involved, in the sense that he must approve anything we decide to do. I call him the Creative Consultant.

So I was meeting him and he had an LP of one of his releases to give me. He asked me if I had a bag to put it in, and I reached into rucksack and retrieved a tote bag. It was from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and had been given to me by an actuary a few years before. The Creative Consultant saw the bag with its logo and Latin inscription (‘e peritia ratio’ – ‘reason from experience’) and asked what it meant. I replied, “It’s all mortality tables and shit like that.” The name stuck.

We created our first Mortality Tables Product that morning. It’s called FORKTALK and is a conversation between two friends. We do not publish the details of our conversations. Its entry in the Mortality Tables Catalogue is MTP0.

SL: Dave Clarkson, who is mostly active in electronic and experimental music and Wonderful Beasts, a sound art/electronic music duo consisting of the anonymous Xqui and Carl Knott (boycalledcrow, Spacelab) were your first artists, right? How did you get in touch with them?

The release that moved Mortality Tables from something conceptual to something ‘real’ was ‘Two Meditations For Freya’ by Goodparley (whose name has now changed to Please Close Your Eyes). That was in 2022. It signalled what I wanted Mortality Tables to be: I would come up with ideas and hand them to someone to ‘respond’ to.

That concept has stayed consistent through the first two years of Mortality Tables. I’ll come up with an idea and pick someone to get involved. At the last count, there are at least fifty people who are collaborators. And it isn’t just sound projects – Mortality Tables encompasses sound, art, and words. And insurance. 

However, all rules in creativity are there to be broken, and I broke my own rules in 2023 with the release of Dave Clarkson’s ‘Ghosts Of Christmas Past (Music From Vintage Toys)’. I had nothing to do with the concept of that album, so I guess that’s a bit like Mortality Tables acting like a traditional record label, which is a description I never want to use. The same is true of Andrew Brenza and Alka’s ‘pod’ and boycalledcrow’s ‘Kullu’. However, all these releases only existed because of an earlier collaboration, and that’s how I got myself comfortable with releasing these projects. You’ll see a few more of those types of projects from Mortality Tables over the next few years. 

In answer to your question about how I find artist, it’s actually really straightforward. Anyone involved with Mortality Tables is someone whose music I’ve written about. As for how I choose an artist for a particular project, that’s mostly a case of matching a collaborator to an idea that feels aligned to what they would usually do. However, some of the most enjoyable projects are where the artist is working a long way outside of what they might normally do.

SL: After artists like Andrew Spackman, Rupert Lally, Simon Fisher Turner and Veryan, two years ago you released a strange and experimental piece called “On Mortality, Immortality & Charles Ives”. The piece is a spoken word piece in which you read out the Mortality Tables’ manifesto: “In life, our one true certainty is death.” This narration, recorded by Gareth Jones, was then sent to Vince Clarke who recorded a musical response to the text, which forms the soundtrack to the release. How did you come up with this, somewhat absurd, idea?

I had bought a copy of a book by Alex Danchev called ‘100 Artists’ Manifestos – From The Futurists To The Stuckists’ at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in 2021. I read each of the manifestos from groups like the Surrealists, Dadaists and Situationists as if they were short stories, and it became a really profound experience. On the back of ‘Two Meditations For Freya’, people had started to ask me what Mortality Tables was all about, so it seemed completely natural (and not absurd at all) to write a manifesto.

Mostly it was designed to help me understand why I was doing this, and then I decided to explain it to everyone else. That’s when I asked Gareth to record my narration. At the same time I approached Vince and an anonymous sound artist called venoztks to create sound pieces to accompany it.

The listener can judge whether it successfully explains what this is all about, or not. It does explain why the composer and actuary Charles Ives is so critical to the evolution of Mortality Tables. In fact, the second Mortality Tables Product to be made available was a postcard containing an illustration of Ives in front of a mortality table from 1874, the year of Ives’s birth. That piece was a collaboration with Savage Pencil who had illustrated a lot of the Blast First sleeves.

SL: Released on June 16th, the 40-copy limited edition cassette “The Engineer” is a charity project for Alzheimer’s disease featuring Vince Clarke, Penelope Trappes, Chris Illingworth, Barney Ashton-Bullock, Lara Jones, Simon Fisher Turner, Hattie Cooke, Gareth Jones, Veryan and others. The title character is your father, isn’t he? Is that why you chose Father’s Day as the release date? Tell us a bit about this project!

The title character, the engineer, is based on my father. This project dates back ten years, probably longer, a long time before Mortality Tables was an idea.

I wrote a short story that tried to deal with my feelings about my father as he approached retirement. He lived for work, had no hobbies or friends, and I envisaged him struggling to cope with the concept of stopping work. I was angry when I wrote it, but I was also scared for him. It’s fiction, but it’s rooted in his reality. His actual retirement was very different to what happens in the story. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2018, and that’s why we’ll donate all profits from ‘The Engineer’ to the Alzheimer’s Society. Sadly he passed away shortly after ‘The Engineer’ was released. 

When I published the story on my blog, an electronic musician called Laica (Dave Fleet) offered to create some music inspired by the story. He composed a beautiful piece but the project never got completed. A few years later, I came up with a different idea, which involved someone narrating the story with a piece of music behind it. That version also never got off the ground at all, but I liked the idea of asking someone to narrate the story. That’s when I asked Barney Ashton-Bullock if he would do it. He has a brilliant speaking voice, and it was perfect for this story.

It was Gareth Jones who suggested the idea of having different artists respond to different sections of narration. He said it was a bit like the Surrealist game ‘Exquisite Corpse’. I think of Gareth as my spiritual guru. He has a way of unlocking ideas, and freeing you from obstacles that are only there because you’ve put them there. ‘The Engineer’ wouldn’t exist in this form if it wasn’t for Gareth. 

From there, it was a case of picking the collaborators and asking them to respond to a specific 30-second section of narration. No one heard the full story, and no one asked to hear the whole thing. The order the artists agreed to say yes determined which section they got. The only rule I gave them was that their sound response needed to last exactly thirty seconds. 

There are two editions of ‘The Engineer’. One is a digital file that combines the narration and sound responses. The other is a cassette that splits the narration and responses apart. That means the only place you can hear Vince Clarke’s sound response without Barney’s narration is on the cassette, which has now sold out. 

SL: Barney Ashton-Bullock (the creator of Andy Bell’s “Torsten” projects), Vince Clarke, as well as Reed Hays, Alka and Gareth Jones will be familiar to most of our readers, but who are the other contributors? 

Again, everyone involved is someone I’ve written about. When I came up with my collaborator list for this, it was important to me to achieve some sort of diversity. So a lot of the artists here are electronic, but you have artists covering everything from pop to sound art. That was deliberate.

I also wanted diversity of textures. That’s why I included Charlotte Keeffe, Chris Illingworth from GoGo Penguin and Luce Mawdsley. When you put all 29 sound responses together as a single piece, it sounds like a right fucking mess. As the responses were coming in over a 30-month period, I realised that the sprawling, messy quality was a lot like my father’s Alzheimer’s – ideas form, are quickly forgotten before they develop, and are then replaced by something else. That wasn’t planned, at all, but now I can see it was a subconscious idea that must have been there from the moment that Gareth suggested involving lots of artists. 

SL: What plans and ideas are currently circulating in your head? Will it be something journalistic or another Mortality Tables release?

I’m always writing, and I’ve got a few big things underway right now, including something for a label I’ve done a few pieces for before.

In terms of Mortality Tables, now that ‘The Engineer’ has been released, all activities will he paused until later in the summer. We’ve released a huge number of Products in just over two years and I need a break. We’ll return later in the summer with Season 03 of LIFEFILES, which is an ongoing project where artists respond to my really basic field recordings.

We’ll also release a single from Please Close Your Eyes, an album from Andrew Spackman and the full version of Andrew Brenza and Alka’s ‘pod’ collaboration. I’ve been working on one of several projects inspired by Charles Ives, ‘Central Park: A Picture-In-Sounds’, which will be issued as a ‘score’ in October, along with some additional performances of the piece. We’ll begin work on another large-scale collaboration called ‘The Impermanence Project’.

Other things will happen. Other things will not.

More information on Mortality Tables releases.

Use code janos for a 10% discount off anything in the Mortality Tables Catalogue. 

I would like to end this article with a personal message from Mat Smith, who asks the readers and the music listeners to support, if they can, the Alzheimer’s Society, which has received the proceeds of the tape release mentioned in the interview. If you feel able to, please donate to alzheimers.org.uk directly.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

This has been a long time in the waiting. Depeche Mode and Anton Corbijn‘s iconic film collection “Strange/Strange Too” are to be released for the first time ever on DVD & Blu-Ray. The release will be available via Sony Music Entertainment on Friday, December 8. In the USA, Canada and Mexico the title will be released through Warner Music Group. Previously available as individual titles in VHS and Laserdisc formats (now out-of-print and highly collectible), “Strange” (1988) and “Strange Too” (1990) are now available for the first-time as a single collection.

The material on the set has been freshly restored from the original Super 8 sources and will include 11 music videos and 6 previously unreleased outtake ‘Vignettes’. When assembling the final edits for “Strange” and “Strange Too”, Corbijn created a visual running order where the individual music videos are perceived as one continuous film, with additional interstitial content not seen in the original clips.

The digipak release will come with a 16-page concertina booklet featuring photographs and new liner notes penned by Anton Corbijn

Will the grainy quality of the videos be lost?

Sony Music Entertainment will release Depeche Mode’s Strange/Strange Too (a much sought-after collection of music videos directed and filmed in Super 8 by Anton Corbijn) on Friday, December 8. Strange/Strange Too will be released through SME worldwide, excluding USA, Canada and Mexico (where the title will be released through Warner Music Group).

For those who fear that the grainy quality of the videos will be lost, don’t worry, the physical nature of Super 8 film means that the stock’s rough and grainy quality becomes part of the finished film’s inherent aesthetic. The film restoration itself underwent a rigorous process over the course of several years with the participation of personnel involved in making the original films including Anton Corbijn. Because this Blu-Ray/DVD release was created from the original Super 8 film stock, the final result may seemingly lack the visual clarity that modern viewers associate with contemporary HD 4k reproduction. In some occasions where the original footage had deteriorated too much, the next best source was used.

First released in 1988 as “Strange – A Black and White Mode by Anton Corbijn,”, “Strange” featured the first five Depeche Mode music clips directed by Anton Corbijn, who shot them mostly in black and white Super 8. “Strange” included the three main singles from “Music for the Masses”, the final “Black Celebration” single (“A Question of Time”) and “Pimpf,” the instrumental closing “Music for the Masses”.

Released in 1990, “Strange Too” (aka “Strange Too – Another Violation by Anton Corbijn”) was shot in full-color and has the bonus videos for “Halo”and “Clean” next to “Personal Jesus”, “Policy Of Truth”, “Enjoy The Silence” and “World in My Eyes”.

Anton Corbijn commented as follows on this release: “To be seen as ‘strange’ in a creative field is no bad thing as it probably means ‘different’ which I find is a very positive description of one’s struggle to be just that. The idea to make this into a connected series of little films and fake interviews came late into the process of shooting these,” wrote Corbijn. “I was shooting all the films myself on black/white Super 8 film. We put all this together on a shoestring budget; those were that kind of days. We have to look at these films in the light of us being young; we were experimenting and I am happy we were given that space at the time by Daniel Miller.”

“Strange/Strange Too” track lists

STRANGE

1. A Question Of Time
2. Strangelove
3. Never Let Me Down Again
4. Behind The Wheel
5. Pimpf

Outtake vignettes:

1. Strangelove
2. Behind The Wheel
3. Behind The Wheel (Shep Pettibone Mix)

STRANGE TOO

1. Personal Jesus
2. Policy Of Truth
3. Enjoy The Silence
4. Clean
5. Halo
6. World in My Eyes

Outtake vignettes:

1. Personal Jesus (Acoustic)
2. Policy Of Truth
3. Policy Of Truth (Trancentral Mix)

For more on Depeche Mode, see The last Depeche Mode show with Vince Clarke on Side-Line.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

(Photos by Brian Griffin, Interview by Janos Janurik for Side-Line) Brian Griffin was responsible for the visual perception of Depeche Mode for a while in the early eighties. He made record covers so interesting, you wanted to own them before you even heard the music. He also photographed one of the most famous record covers from pop history for our favourite group. He waited with his finger on the shutter release – then the perfect moment had come. The final result was then voted the best photo of the 1980s by LIFE magazine. Several years later, the music of “Only When I Lose Myself” was accompanied by his mystical video clip. And now his unforgettable artwork is being collected for Depeche Mode and these pictures, which are actually beautiful impressions of a wonderful journey through time, deserve to be immortalised in an album forever.

Brian Griffin book on Depeche Mode

The photo book is called “MODE” and made by one of the most important British photographers of his generation, who is also a poet and performance artist, Brian Griffin. I was very honoured when he responded positively to my contact request. In 2009, I had the opportunity to interview Anton Corbijn on the occasion of his exhibition opening in Budapest and now I was privileged to have the interview below with Mr Griffin, whose work I have admired since my teenage years. I asked him about his years with Depeche Mode and about this elaborate photographic book project. Enjoy the read!

SL: For more than 35 years, Anton Corbijn’s name has been closely associated with Depeche Mode as the band’s artistic director. From image photos to video production to stage design, he has done everything for the visuals and for the strong band branding. He took over this role in 1986, in the ‘Black Celebration’ era, when you were last responsible for the cover design. Did you meet him back then, did you exchange ideas?

BG: I have never met Anton. Maybe after more than 35 years of Anton, Depeche Mode needs a change to freshen up. What ideas could I exchange with Anton…?

SL: Your work with Depeche Mode began in 1981 when you created the album cover for their debut album. How long had you been in the pop biz? Which famous artists have you worked with?

BG: I had been in the Pop business for only 2 years. It was only a small part of my photographic output when I shot “Speak And Spell”. In fact it remained that way throughout the 80’s. I worked with Iggy Pop, Queen, OMD, Echo & The Bunnymen, Kate Bush. Elvis Costello, John Foxx, Billy Idol, Devo, Ultravox and the list goes on and on. I think something like 200 to 300 record covers.

SL: Ultravox – a musical role model for Vince, Martin & Co – released their masterpiece ‘Vienna’ even before your collaboration with the newly established Depeche Mode, who were signed by Daniel Miller to his recently created Mute label. The record sleeve for ‘Vienna’ was also your work and it shows – at least for me – a bit of similarities to Depeche Mode’s ‘Speak And Spell’ album cover. With Ultravox you used wrapping paper for the cover photo and with Depeche Mode a plastic foil. The difference is that with ‘Vienna’ you wrapped the band Ultravox itself with wrapping paper and with ‘Speak And Spell’ a swan was wrapped in a plastic bag. Did you want to visualise the ‘cool’ synthesizer sound – described by some critics as ‘plastic pop’ – of these two bands?

BG: I really loved the sound of the synthesiser from when I first heard Krautrock, and still do. However with “Speak And Spell” and “Vienna” I was not influenced in any way that can be connected with my use of wrapping paper or plasticated foil.I just did what I felt would be a good idea at the time.

SL: The album cover with the swan is perhaps not your most famous and most recognised work. But the subsequent album cover of ‘A Broken Frame’, which you photographed for Depeche Mode in 1982, has already stood the test of time. Almost everyone knows the story behind this breathtaking photo of the woman in the wheat field with the sickle in her hand, but maybe there are still ‘little stories about this big subject’ that you have rarely told… So what would be your personal story in connection with this record cover?

BG: “A Broken Frame” is probably one of the most famous photographs on earth. I am so proud that I had the talent to produce that photograph. The secret being is there is something or someone watching over me. I have always felt that.

SL: The next time you were commissioned to do a Depeche Mode album cover, you had to go to Switzerland, to the Alps. The once again socialist realism photo was shot on top of the famous Matterhorn. By the way, my favourite photo of you would be the cover photo for the single ‘Love In Itself’ from that era. It was 40 years ago. Looking back, how strong do you find this artistic period?

BG: I never listened to Depeche Mode’s music prior to photographing the covers for them. This period was certainly one of my most creative, especially with my ability in employing artificial light.

SL: The next chapter of Depeche Mode’s adventure in the world of ‘Industrial Pop’ was the ‘Some Great Reward’ album, to which they also owe their world fame. A young married couple in the middle of an industrial estate, perfectly fitting the album motto ‘The world we live in and life in general’. Romantic-dark, like Martin Gore’s lyrics. Most of the songs were about love, but not in the style of traditional pop music. They were self-experienced love and life stories of Martin Gore, in which thousands of fans could define themselves. Depeche Mode has been using this magical recipe for pop songs ever since, with great success. If you could just name one favorite song of Depeche Mode, which song would it be?

BG: “Somebody”

SL; Another milestone in the band’s history was the ‘Black Celebration’ album. The main songwriter, Martin Gore, has repeatedly emphasized that he counts the most important and significant period of the band from the release of this record. Most fans also count this ‘black and gloomy’ album among their personal favourites. You came up with your last cover design idea for Depeche Mode for this record. If I’m not mistaken, the final cover art wasn’t exactly the same as your concept art. Please tell us a bit about this cover story!

BG: All is revealed in my new book MODE.

SL: And now a few words about your band portraits of Depeche Mode. Were the boys – from a photographer’s point of view – treatable? Anton Corbijn once said that Alan Wilder showed the most interest in his work as a photographer/director at that time, the others almost didn’t care what he wanted to get out of a clip or a photo. And how did the band behave in front of your camera?

BG: Their attitude towards me was very similar to what Anton experienced. I preferred that attitude believe it or not, and found it most inspiring.

SL: You also shot a clip for Depeche Mode, the music video for ‘Only When I Lose Myself’. At that time the band was experimenting with other directors, because they had only worked with Anton Corbijn for more than 10 years and wanted to change the routine a bit. How did you get into the picture? Did you get a free hand in the production? What memories do you have of the shooting?

BG: It was wonderful in every way. I gave up photography for film making from 1991 to 2003. “Only when I lose Myself” is one of the best tracks by DM, it is also one of my best films by far. Daniel Miller freaked out when he saw the rough edit, as he had left me to let the creative juices flow. He made us cut the film drastically, but its strengths still shine through!

SL: Speaking of Anton, he has already released two photo albums (‘Strangers’, ‘Depeche Mode by Anton Corbijn’) about Depeche Mode, the latter shortly before Andy Fletcher’s death. Why did you wait so long with your photo album (‘MODE’)? You were part of the band growing up and also contributed to their image.

BG: My friend Vaughn George inspired and encouraged it to happen.

SL: This beautifully designed photo book of yours is the result of a huge fundraiser from the fans. I don’t think you could ask for more recognition as an artist. Please tell us about this project!

BG: This book “MODE” has been made with very little financial reward, and financed by the generosity of the fans. They have not been exploited, but have been rewarded with a beautiful book.

SL: According to your info mail, the photo album ‘MODE’ will eventually be available in stores. Where can the book be ordered by those who did not participate in the fundraising?

BG: This book is self published and distributed by me and will not be available to be purchased in bookshops. For people who did not pledge to the Kickstarter of “MODE”, you can buy the book by visiting the the shop section of my website.

SL: Depeche Mode are currently on tour with their latest album, ‘Memento Mori’, which – albeit unintentionally – is heavily affected by Fletch’s death. When did you last meet the band – with or without Fletch? How will you keep them in your memory?

BG: I met Martin at the Olympic Stadium gig in London before lockdown. I will remember Depeche Mode as the band that inspired me to produce some of my finest album cover photographs.

Side-Line also covered Depeche Mode’s ‘Untitled’.

About Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode formed in Basildon, Essex, England, in 1980, initially under the name Composition of Sound. The lineup that became Depeche Mode came together that year around Vince Clarke (keyboards, guitars), Andy Fletcher (keyboards, bass) and Martin Gore (guitars, keyboards), with Dave Gahan joining shortly after as lead vocalist. The band adopted the name Depeche Mode at a gig at the Bridge House in Canning Town on 24 September 1980, where Mute Records founder Daniel Miller saw them and signed the group.

Depeche Mode’s debut single, “Dreaming of Me,” was recorded in December 1980 and released on Mute in February 1981, followed that October by the debut album “Speak & Spell.” Vince Clarke left the band that November, going on to form Yazoo and later Erasure; Alan Wilder joined on keyboards in 1982 and became an official member from the 1983 single “Get the Balance Right!” The band’s catalog through the 1980s includes “A Broken Frame” (1982), “Construction Time Again” (1983), “Some Great Reward” (1984), “Black Celebration” (1986) and “Music for the Masses” (1987), the latter turning the band into arena headliners in the US off the back of their Rose Bowl concert, later documented in the film “101.”

“Violator” (1990) and “Songs of Faith and Devotion” (1993) marked the band’s commercial peak, but Wilder departed in June 1995, continuing his own project Recoil, leaving Gahan, Gore and Fletcher as a trio. The band released “Ultra” (1997), “Exciter” (2001), “Playing the Angel” (2005), “Sounds of the Universe” (2009), “Delta Machine” (2013) and “Spirit” (2017) as a three-piece, touring with long-serving live members Christian Eigner (drums, keyboards, since 1997) and Peter Gordeno (keyboards, bass, since 1998). Alongside the band, Gahan released solo albums “Paper Monsters” (2003) and “Hourglass” (2007), and Gore released “Counterfeit²” (2003).

Depeche Mode was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 7 November 2020. Andy Fletcher died on 26 May 2022, and Gahan and Gore continued as a duo, releasing “Memento Mori” in 2023 with Eigner and Gordeno again on the road. The band has sold more than 100 million records and placed 54 singles on the UK charts. Brian Griffin’s photography dates to the band’s early-1980s period, alongside director Anton Corbijn’s later, longer-running visual collaboration with the group.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

The Prague concert of Depeche Mode, scheduled for 30 July at the Letňany exhibition grounds, will feature support from our esteemed friends, the Czech electropop band Lakeside X.

The band is one of two support acts, alongside the previously announced Berlin band Hope, who are touring Europe with Depeche Mode as part of the European leg for their current album, “Memento Mori.” Lakeside X recently made their return after a ten-year hiatus with their new album, “Love Disappears.”

“It is indeed a great honor for us and an opportunity to introduce our music to a like-minded audience. Simultaneously, it carries a great responsibility, considering the band selected us,” says Janne Marvannen, the frontman and composer. “We have never concealed our admiration for Depeche Mode, having attended numerous concerts ourselves. In fact, it was on our way back from one of their shows that we decided to form a band,” the singer adds.

“Anyone who watched Anton Corbijn’s documentary ‘Spirits In The Forest’ would relate to our story. Each one of us has a personal, unique, yet somehow interconnected experience with Depeche Mode,” says Robert Broj, the other founding member of Lakeside X. “As someone once said, DM is the soundtrack of our lives, and we consider ourselves fortunate to share that with each other while the band is still active. It’s also true that many of us original fans have started bands, projects, and created our own music, influenced to varying degrees by Depeche Mode’s music. Hence, sharing the same stage with them is a dream come true. Nonetheless, it is also a significant challenge, affirming that we are on the right path and inspiring us to continue our work,” adds the keyboardist.

Lakeside X has already released four albums. Following “Sunrise” (2004), “EXIT: NOWhere” (2007), and “City Of Red Lights” (2010) under the X Production label, the band took a lengthy hiatus before reuniting in 2021. Teaming up with German producer Daniel Myer (Haujobb, Covenant, Architect, Liebknecht), they embarked on a new album, which was released in October 2022.

For more on Depeche Mode, see German electropop label conzoom Records celebrates 15th anniversary… on Side-Line.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

(Photo by Anton Corbijn) The new Depeche Mode album, ‘Memento Mori,’ has been hailed by some as their best work in the past 20 years. However, this praise might be attributed more to the lack of strong releases in recent times rather than the actual merit of the album.

Dave Gahan, the first Depeche Mode member to experience a near-death encounter, survived a severe overdose in 1996 after two minutes without a heartbeat. Tragically, Andy ‘Fletch’ Fletcher wasn’t as fortunate; his arterial rupture on May 26, 2022, left Depeche Mode as a duo. The unexpected passing of Fletcher added a layer of depth to “Memento Mori” and takes listeners on an emotional rollercoaster through its various tracks.

The album does have its strong points, such as Gahan’s return to a more subdued singing style and a shift towards subtler electronic sounds. The evident influence of Kraftwerk can be both a strength and a weakness, as Depeche Mode has long been known for their distinct sound. While it’s refreshing to hear these influences, one cannot help but question if the band is losing their own originality.

What about the production on this new Depeche Mode album?

While the production quality is polished, it falls short of the standard set by Alan Wilder during his time with the band. Some tracks, like “Caroline’s Monkey,” have potential but could benefit from a more refined touch. Other songs, such as “Before We Drown” and “People Are Good,” serve as reminders of the band’s former glory.

The album concludes with 2 quite powerful tracks like “Never Let Me Go” – which has a bit of a post-punkish attitude – and the epic “Speak to Me,” leaving listeners wanting more of this. However, one can’t help but wonder what these tracks would have sounded like under Wilder’s guidance. Especially “Speak To Me” has a lot of potential.

In conclusion, “Memento Mori” is a respectable attempt by Depeche Mode to create a memorable album in the wake of Fletcher’s passing and amidst challenging times. We actually enjoyed it quite a lot. However, it also serves as a reminder that their post-Alan Wilder output has yet to reach the same heights as their earlier work, but the ship has turned in the right direction. Hopefully it will get to the harbour pretty soon.

PS: No thanks to Sony, they didn’t provide a promo of the release.

For more on Depeche Mode, see Depeche Mode’s Secret Gig in LA – An interview with attendee Attosa… on Side-Line.

About Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode formed in Basildon, Essex, England, in 1980, initially under the name Composition of Sound. The lineup that became Depeche Mode came together that year around Vince Clarke (keyboards, guitars), Andy Fletcher (keyboards, bass) and Martin Gore (guitars, keyboards), with Dave Gahan joining shortly after as lead vocalist. The band adopted the name Depeche Mode at a gig at the Bridge House in Canning Town on 24 September 1980, where Mute Records founder Daniel Miller saw them and signed the group.

Depeche Mode’s debut single, “Dreaming of Me,” was recorded in December 1980 and released on Mute in February 1981, followed that October by the debut album “Speak & Spell.” Vince Clarke left the band that November, going on to form Yazoo and later Erasure; Alan Wilder joined on keyboards in 1982 and became an official member from the 1983 single “Get the Balance Right!” The band’s catalog through the 1980s includes “A Broken Frame” (1982), “Construction Time Again” (1983), “Some Great Reward” (1984), “Black Celebration” (1986) and “Music for the Masses” (1987), the latter turning the band into arena headliners in the US off the back of their Rose Bowl concert, later documented in the film “101.”

“Violator” (1990) and “Songs of Faith and Devotion” (1993) marked the band’s commercial peak, but Wilder departed in June 1995, continuing his own project Recoil, leaving Gahan, Gore and Fletcher as a trio. The band released “Ultra” (1997), “Exciter” (2001), “Playing the Angel” (2005), “Sounds of the Universe” (2009), “Delta Machine” (2013) and “Spirit” (2017) as a three-piece, touring with long-serving live members Christian Eigner (drums, keyboards, since 1997) and Peter Gordeno (keyboards, bass, since 1998). Alongside the band, Gahan released solo albums “Paper Monsters” (2003) and “Hourglass” (2007), and Gore released “Counterfeit²” (2003).

Depeche Mode was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 7 November 2020. Andy Fletcher died on 26 May 2022, and Gahan and Gore continued as a duo, releasing “Memento Mori” in 2023 with Eigner and Gordeno again on the road. The band has sold more than 100 million records and placed 54 singles on the UK charts. “Memento Mori” followed “Spirit” (2017) as the band’s next studio album, and the first released after Andy Fletcher’s death in 2022.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Out today is the newest Depeche Mode single “Ghosts Again”, a 3:58 minute strong track which has a more poppy feeling compared to what the band has produced in the past few years. The single would have been a perfect fit for “Playing the angel” – the band’s last good album for many fans – as it has the same drive and sound pallet as “Lilian”, “Precious” or “Nothing’s impossible”.

The accompanying video was directed by Anton Corbijn and is equally a rather dark visual representation.

The single is the first one released from the band’s 15th studio album “Memento Mori” which will be out on March 17th. Depeche Mode’s 15th studio album “Memento Mori” was produced by James Ford and Marta Salogni. In case you might have forgotten James Ford produced the band’s previous album “Spirit”.

Below are a few formats for the new album which will please the collector’s especially because there is a cassette version too (imagine we had written this 20 years ago…).

Here’s the single on Spotify.

And here is the official video as directed by Anton Corbijn.

And for the fans, here’s a brand new remix too.

Side-Line also covered Depeche Mode’s ‘Ghosts Again’.

About Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode formed in Basildon, Essex, England, in 1980, initially under the name Composition of Sound. The lineup that became Depeche Mode came together that year around Vince Clarke (keyboards, guitars), Andy Fletcher (keyboards, bass) and Martin Gore (guitars, keyboards), with Dave Gahan joining shortly after as lead vocalist. The band adopted the name Depeche Mode at a gig at the Bridge House in Canning Town on 24 September 1980, where Mute Records founder Daniel Miller saw them and signed the group.

Depeche Mode’s debut single, “Dreaming of Me,” was recorded in December 1980 and released on Mute in February 1981, followed that October by the debut album “Speak & Spell.” Vince Clarke left the band that November, going on to form Yazoo and later Erasure; Alan Wilder joined on keyboards in 1982 and became an official member from the 1983 single “Get the Balance Right!” The band’s catalog through the 1980s includes “A Broken Frame” (1982), “Construction Time Again” (1983), “Some Great Reward” (1984), “Black Celebration” (1986) and “Music for the Masses” (1987), the latter turning the band into arena headliners in the US off the back of their Rose Bowl concert, later documented in the film “101.”

“Violator” (1990) and “Songs of Faith and Devotion” (1993) marked the band’s commercial peak, but Wilder departed in June 1995, continuing his own project Recoil, leaving Gahan, Gore and Fletcher as a trio. The band released “Ultra” (1997), “Exciter” (2001), “Playing the Angel” (2005), “Sounds of the Universe” (2009), “Delta Machine” (2013) and “Spirit” (2017) as a three-piece, touring with long-serving live members Christian Eigner (drums, keyboards, since 1997) and Peter Gordeno (keyboards, bass, since 1998). Alongside the band, Gahan released solo albums “Paper Monsters” (2003) and “Hourglass” (2007), and Gore released “Counterfeit²” (2003).

Depeche Mode was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 7 November 2020. Andy Fletcher died on 26 May 2022, and Gahan and Gore continued as a duo, releasing “Memento Mori” in 2023 with Eigner and Gordeno again on the road. The band has sold more than 100 million records and placed 54 singles on the UK charts. “Ghosts Again” was released as part of the “Memento Mori” campaign, the band’s first studio album as a Gahan-Gore duo.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Back in the good old days, there was BONG, the official Depeche Mode fan club magazine which ran from 1988 until the closure of the club in 2002. Not that there was nothing before that as the magazine was previously distributed as a newsletter format publication known as the Depeche Mode Information Service, which ran from 1981 through early 1988. Anyhow, that all lays now in the past. Many friendships were built via the magazine, many relations as well and many readers were introduced to other bands such as Nitzer Ebb, Front 242, Pouppée Fabrikk, Cat Rapes Dog via the magazine’s penpal section. The last editor was Michaela Olexova (1994 – 2002) who also closed the doors of the magazine in 2002 with BONG 52, in beauty we must say and with a special attached CD holding 3 rare promo only remixes. Over the years we all also got to see her photographic skills as she became the in-house photographer for the magazine.

20 years later, Michaela revisited her photo archives and compiled the best pictures she took of the band during her reign in BONGland to publish them as “Dream”, a curated collection of Depeche Mode photographs from the period 1994 – 2002. You can order your copy right here: www.michaelaolexova.com.

We hailed Michaela who lives in London with her husband, daughter and cat.

Professionally you work as a website designer, photographer, digital creator, educator, and founder & creative director of Feel Good Websites these days. I see you deliver website templates, is that for WordPress only or for several different CMS types?

Michaela Olexova: My expertise is a brand and website design using the Squarespace platform which is a modern, clean and user friendly strategic tool to help you launch and grow your online business. I’m also about to introduce a new online course to help people create an authentic brand from the scratch that ignites their creativity, inspires them to dream big and believe that anything really is possible.

Let’s dive into the past. Being the former editor of the official Depeche Mode official fan club magazine Bong in 1994 – 2002, you have had some really direct access to the band. Is that still so now, I guess not, do you miss it?

Michaela Olexova: It’s been 20 years since the Bong magazine finished and we’ve all moved on, both professionally and personally. So although I’m still in touch with a few people I used to work with and may catch up with the Band members when they tour, we don’t have any more direct contact. It was a really exciting period in my life and I do miss it occasionally but it gave me so many wonderful memories which I wanted to bring back to life in this book.

Is the Depeche Mode era for you closed with this book now?

Michaela Olexova: I’m still a big fan of Depeche Mode and their solo projects so it can never really be closed… However, this book is one of my dreams come true, as the book title suggests, so I’m super happy and grateful that I can share this personal tribute with the world after all those years as a celebration of Depeche Mode, their music and their fans.

One thing I have realized when going through the book is that those past 20 years have flown away as if it all happened just yesterday. I guess it was also a trip down memory lane for you? How do you look back at that period?

Michaela Olexova: Yes, you’re absolutely right, it doesn’t feel like 20 years ago at all! The Bong magazine gave me a creative platform to explore my many passions and skills, whether it was design, photography, writing, music or production, and I was really lucky that I had the freedom to develop lots of my ideas and the Band trusted I was doing a good job. I guess this experience significantly influenced not only my life but also my career as it lead me to where I am today, running a creative design business and empowering women to dare to live their dreams.

How did you pick the pictures for this book and what order did you go for to present them in the book? I guess you ‘sit’ on a lot more material? What material did not make it and why?

Michaela Olexova: When I started organising my photo archive during the Covid lockdown, I realised I’ve got over 1,000 Depeche Mode photos. There are lots of photos from various tours, studio, behind the scenes and private photo sessions, so I decided to organise them in two chapters – Live and Life. I also had a good idea of the book format and knew I wanted to include about 70-80 photos in the final book so I made several shortlists. First, I went from 1,000 to about 300 photos based on my personal preferences, but also the quality of negatives, and then from 300 to the final 73 photos based on my intuition which then had to be scanned and digitally restored.

Your main focus is on Martin Gore and David Gahan, am I wrong these are also your favourite band members? By the way, where were those Martin Gore pictures taken, was/is that his own house’s garden?

Michaela Olexova: It’s funny you say that but it never really was my intention! The reason you see so many photos of Martin and Dave is simply because they’re both centre of the stage during the live shows and that’s all to it. There are also some great photos of Andy Fletcher on and off the stage – I especially like the ones from his visit to Prague – or Alan Wilder who left the Band soon after I started working with them. As for the photos of Martin Gore, they were taken at his country house in May 1995 when I was preparing my photo exhibition of portraits in Prague at the time and he kindly agreed to do a quick photo session to support my project.

I especially like that you also included non live pics in “Dream”, including studio sessions pictures made in a more relaxed atmosphere, or was that just the surface?

Michaela Olexova: The studio photos were taken over two days I spent with them at Rak Studios in London during the recording session of their album ‘Ultra’. I was there to do interviews with all the Band members for the Bong magazine and everyone was really relaxed and happy for me taking photos of the creative process. My favourite pictures are of Dave rehearsing for the song ‘The Love Thieves’, it was just him on the mic and me taking the photos inside the vocal studio which was a really special moment and I’m glad the relaxed atmosphere shows through these candid pictures.

I don’t know if you have a preferred era of the band visually? I personally was always quite attracted by the 1987 and 1989/1990 visual era of the band, I guess because that’s also when they released my preferred Depeche Mode albums. What about you and why?

Michaela Olexova: I guess the time around ‘Music For The Masses’ is really close to my heart as it’s when I discovered Depeche Mode and got attracted to their music. Growing up in the communist Czechoslovakia with hardly any access to the music or culture from the western part of the world, I was fascinated by their music, fashion, style and visuals. With Anton Corbijn’s moody black & white photos and videos, they managed to create a unique brand that was so different to anything or anyone else out there.

Doing promo for this book from the UK has been a postal nightmare, I see it happen with lots of products being shipped to the EU from outside the EU which don’t get delivered or in the best case get returned. Having your own company Feel Good Websites in the UK as well, do you see more of this Brexit ‘fun’ happening?

Michaela Olexova: Yes, I do but it’s not fun at all! To be honest, I was shocked how difficult it is to deliver a book from the UK to Europe. It’s still a mystery to me that the fans in USA, Brazil or Japan can receive their book within a few days while some of the fans in Europe have to wait for weeks or months because their delivery is stuck at the customs. Luckily, I run a digital business so I don’t have to deal with things like that on daily basis but there’s other post-Brexit issues which make things complicated for both, business owners and customers, and that’s a real shame.

Side-Line also covered Depeche Mode’s ‘s ’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Today we celebrate Epiphany, also known as Theophany in the east, a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God’s incarnation as Jesus Christ. In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates principally (but not solely) the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child, and thus Jesus Christ’s physical manifestation to the Gentiles. And there’s no other king more suitable in synthpop land than Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan in the iconic 1990 video by Anton Corbijn of “Enjoy The Silence” taken from the cult album “Violator”.

Although instead of a king Anton Corbijn actually wanted to reference the themes and storyline of the philosophical children’s book “The Little Prince” from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Recorded in 1989, “Enjoy The Silence” was released as the second single from what was their seventh studio album on 16 January 1990.

It was Dutch director Anton Corbijn who shot the video for the band with Dave Gahan dressed as a king, crown and cloak included as he walks through various landscapes in Scotland, Portugal and the Swiss Alps, with a deckchair. It wasn’t the only video shot for the song, you might remember that a second video was made for a TV promo. It was shot by the French TV (for the TV Show “Champs-Élysées” with Michel Drucker) featuring Depeche Mode lip-synching the song while standing on the observation deck atop the South Tower of the original World Trade Center.

Dave Gahan: “I felt like an idiot!”

The latter video was dismissed as ‘official’ video although Dave Gahan hated making the first video as he was forced to drag a cape in snow and later said “I felt like an idiot!” As a result he also refused to do some scenes.

Note that it was Alan Wilder’s production which turned the song into a hit because the original was a slow and dull track. Songwriter Martin Gore created a ballad-like first version of the song, which the band took into the studio in 1989. At band member Alan Wilder’s insistence, the song was re-worked into the up-tempo version released on the album. It shows that Wilder was a real genius asset in the band during all these years. But that’s for another article.

The different Depeche Mode videos for ‘Enjoy The Silence’

The World Trade Center version with a similar intro as the Anton Corbijn one.

The Anton Corbijn version.

Side-Line also covered Depeche Mode’s ‘These Mortal Covers’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Out on December 03 is a Blu-Ray edition, as well as a double DVD and deluxe version from Depeche Mode’s live concert film “101”. The concert featured was the final show of the “Music For The Masses” world tour recorded at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, on June 18, 1988. That’s 33 years ago… time flies!

The documentary, co-directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus included the winners of a contest who won an appearance in the Depeche Mode film.

The deluxe edition comes in a new HD edition based on 4K scans of the original film reels. The Blu-Ray includes 3 unreleased bonus performances of “A Question of Lust”, “Sacred” and “Something To Do”, as well as the official promotional video for “Everything Counts”.

And that’s not all, the set comes accompanied by a 48-page behind-the-scenes photo book featuring never-before-seen footage; a replica of the original American cinema poster (20 “x 30”); a 16-page book with the photos of Anton Corbijn, as included in the original version of the album; a double CD of the original concert version with 20 tracks from the concert and a download card giving access to 4K downloads of the movie and bonus performances, as well as 24-bit audio files from the live recording.

Although the Blu-Ray and DVD will have 5.1 mixes, there is no sign of audio-only surround sound as we got on the SACD in 2004. A standalone Blu-Ray and a two-DVD sets will also be available. Alos, included are interviews with Dave Gahan, Andy Fletcher, Martin Gore, Daniel Miller and Jonathan Kessler, but none with Alan Wilder. Rather weird…

Here’s a glimpse of what to expect.

Side-Line also covered Depeche Mode’s ‘All Too Familiar’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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(Photo by Anton Corbijn) Out now is “Depeche Mode by Anton Corbijn“, a book that holds over 500 photographs from Corbijn’s personal archives. But that’s not all, it also holds some never seen before, as well as Corbijn’s handwritten captions, sketches, album covers, and personal observations from Corbijn plus an in-depth interview with Depeche Mode.

You’ll recognize formal and informal portraits from places such as Madrid, Hamburg, the California desert, Prague and Marrakech (some taken during the making of iconic videos such as “Enjoy the Silence” and “Personal Jesus”); a multitude of off-the-cuff, candid images; and live shots from all their tours since 1988.

There are (or rather were) 2 editions of which only one is not yet sold out (and which you can order right here).

The first is the € 100 edition (still available here) which comes as a hardcover (24,3 x 34 cm) at 3,67 kg and 512 pages. It’s a multilingual edition available in English, French and German. Next is a collector’s edition (1,786 copies) priced at a whopping € 1.500 (and which is sold out). It came as a hardcover in a clamshell box (31,5 x 44 cm) weighing a healthy 11,91 kg and also counting 512 pages.

Below are two video’s showing the gems. Head here for more info and ordering.

For more on Depeche Mode, see Found on YouTube: Depeche Mode medley by Drum Cellos on Side-Line.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Out via Victim Records is a brand new single and video by Noble Savage, called “Leap Into Shade”. The video was directed by Mexican film director and musician Hari Sama and features Vinny Balbo. The music video, filmed in black and white, pays homage to Anton Corbijn and the early years of bands like Joy Division and Depeche Mode.

Hari Sama: “In the video you see a character (played by Vinny Balbo) who feels completely out of place — but finds a sense of self in androgyny: wearing makeup and dressing with freedom, embracing ambiguity, playing with the possibility of being other. But outside, Vinny still feels uncomfortable, not in an own skin but from an old habit of being isolated from others.”

Noble Savage is a darkwave and postpunk revival project based in Los Angeles, California.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

A new documentary on the cultural impact of Depeche Mode is to be screened in cinemas worldwide for one night only on November 21.

The new feature-length documentary and concert film was directed by Anton Corbijn and dives into the stories of six Depeche Mode fans (“101” revisited that is) combined with footage from the band’s final shows of the band’s 2017/2018 Global Spirit Tour at Berlin’s Waldbühne.

Tickets for the film, which has been made in collaboration with Trafalgar Releasing, Sony Music Entertainment and BBH Entertainment, go on sale on Thursday (September 26). There are 2,400 cinemas in over 70 countries listed to show the documentary.

Side-Line also covered Depeche Mode’s ‘s Dave Gahan joins Humanist for new single ’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Mute and Thames & Hudson have announced details of “Mute: A Visual Document”, a 320-page hardback book, available November 28, 2017 and ready for ordering right here.

“Mute: A Visual Document” is packed with artwork and photography – much of it previously unseen – from the Mute Archives and from Daniel Miller’s own archives, including photography and video stills from legendary photographers, conceptual artworks, rare ephemera and equipment.

The book features comprehensive discographies, a family tree of Mute artists, an extensive introduction and commentary by Daniel Miller – who has curated the materials for the book – plus anecdotal and photographic contributions from key figures in the label’s story, including Moby, Alison Goldfrapp, Anton Corbijn, Bleddyn Butcher, Brian Griffin, Jon Spencer, Barry Adamson, Ivan Novak (Laibach), Angus Andrew (Liars), Adrian Shaughnessy and Tom Hingston.

Mute was created by Daniel Miller to release his debut single as The Normal, “Warm Leatherette” / “T.V.O.D”, in 1978. The label quickly grew and established its reputation through the music of its community of artists – ranging from Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Moby, Can, Diamanda Galás, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds to Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure, Laibach, Liars and Ben Frost.

Here are a few teasers:

Side-Line also covered Depeche Mode’s ‘Where I Wait’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Out now is a brand new videoclip by Depeche Mode, this time for “Cover Me” taken from the band’s latest album “Spirit”. The track will see a single release holding remixes later in October. The video was directed by Anton Corbijn.

The video is just ordinary Corbijn stuff, not exceptional and actually a bit déjà vu, but it fits the track alright and offers some nice visuals as you can see above.

You can view it right below.

For more on Depeche Mode, see Nitzer Ebb / Depeche Mode / Skinny Puppy personnel powered Black Line… on Side-Line.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

“Das its DAF” is a brand new vinyl and CD boxset to be released by DAF, aka Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft. Included in the boxsets are the following releases “Die Kleinen und die Bösen”, “Alles ist Gut“, “Gold und Liebe“, “Für Immer“, “Reworks“ and the special vinyl only 7“ “Sprache der Liebe“ (including 2 brand new, previously unreleased DAF tracks as we revealed a while back).

Included in the boxsets are also a slipmat, a 36-page booklet (with previously unseen pictures from Anton Corbijn & Sheila Rock etc), an original signed autograph card, a poster and a download code.

You can order the 5CD boxset right here and the 5 vinyl LP + 7inch boxset right here.

Preceeding the boxsets will be 2 digital only singles remixed by Moroder / Westbam & Boys Noize / Hell & Görl. The lead singles will have a video to it and are also available in the boxsets.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

We have again found some real gems in the list of releases especially produced for the upcoming Record Store Day on April 22. We put them in a list below.

For those unfamiliar with the phenomena, Record Store Day (aka RSD) was conceived in 2007 at a gathering of independent record store owners and employees as a way to celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture surrounding nearly 1400 independently owned record stores in the US and thousands of similar stores internationally. The first Record Store Day took place on April 19, 2008. A Record Store Day participating store is defined as a stand alone brick and mortar retailer whose main primary business focuses on a physical store location, whose product line consists of at least 50% music retail, whose company is not publicly traded and whose ownership is at least 70% located in the state of operation. In other words, we’re dealing with real, live, physical, indie record stores—not online retailers or corporate behemoths.

So what items did we find in the list of planned releases?

PANKOW – “TIMES”
Format: Grey Color 10″ / Quantity: 175

The two earliest Pankow recordings to see a release were “We Are the Joy” on one of the first Italian new wave compilations (Gathered), and following that “Wither” on a split 7” which was enclosed in the “Free8212” fanzine from Florence. Two other tracks that have never before been released appear together on Times, a gorgeous 10″ vinyl coming courtesy Toronto-based Artoffact Records. This 10″ features spectacular new artwork created by Pankow’s own fm, and is fully authorized by the band. An essential document of one of Italy’s most important electronic artists. The black vinyl version can be bought right here already.

ALICE IN CHAINS – “Get Born”
Format: 2 x 7″ / Quantity: 4000

This special Alice in Chains 45 RPM double 7” single collects four hard-hitting tracks remastered and available on vinyl for the first time. “What the Hell Have I” and “A Little Bitter,” released on the soundtrack to the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Last Action Hero in 1993, were the first to feature new bassist Mike Inez, who’d played with Ozzy Osbourne for five years. “Get Born Again” and “Died,” released on the box set Music Bank in 1999, were the band’s final recordings with original vocalist Layne Staley.

THE CURE – “Greatest Hits”
Format: 2 x LP Picture Disc / Quantity: 3250

Limited edition double picture discs of The Cure’s Greatest Hits. Featuring their best known tracks, including “Love Song”, “Friday I’m In Love” “Never Enough”, “Mint Car” and many more. Curated and remastered by Robert Smith. On vinyl for the very first time for Record Store Day 2017.

THE CURE – “Greatest Hits Acoustic”
Format: 2 x LP Picture Disc / Quantity: 3250

Limited edition double picture discs of The Cure’s Greatest Hits performed acoustically. Featuring their best known tracks, including “Love Song”, “Friday I’m In Love” “Never Enough”, “Mint Car” and many more. Curated and remastered by Robert Smith. On vinyl for the very first time for Record Store Day 2017.

JANE’S ADDICTION – “Been Caught Stealing”
Format: 12″ / Quantity: 3500

Originally released in 1990 in conjunction with the Ritual De Lo Habitual album, “Been Caught Stealing” was a massive hit for Jane’s Addiction. This 4 track replicates the original European 12″ release and contains the album version and a remix of “Been Caught Stealing” plus “L.A. Medley” which includes Woman” (The Doors), “Nausea” (X) and “Lexicon Devil” (The Germs).

MOTORHEAD – “Clean Your Clock”
Format: 2 x LP Picture Disc / Quantity: 1500

Motorhead are immortalized one more time in “Clean Your Clock”, the superb live album recorded at the Zenith in Munich, Germany during the Winter 2015 Bad Magic Tour. The indomitable cocktail of power, purpose and head-crunching volume that Lemmy Kilmister, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee always succeeded in producing is captured superbly by long-time producer Cameron Webb’s mix,giving this landmark Motorhead release the warmth, curve and punch which helped the band achieve international acclaim during a career which saw the Grammy-winning icons sell over 15 million albums and play to millions worldwide.

PINK FLOYD – “Interstellar Overdrive”
Format: 12″ Vinyl / Quantity: 4000

A previously unreleased 14:57 minute recording from 1966, released in mono at 33 1/3 for Record Store Day.

RAMONES – “76-’79 Singles Box”
Format: 7″ boxset / Quantity: 3500

A box of pre-1980 US 7″ singles by the Ramones, authentically reproduced with Sire labels, picture covers where applicable and a selection of great punk rock tracks that changed the course of rock ‘n’ roll. All packaged in a unique cigarette-style outer box, with an insert and individually foil-stamped numbered global edition of 6500. Wall-to-wall Ramones classics including “Blitzkrieg Bop”, “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker”, “Swallow My Pride”, “Rock ‘N’ Roll High School” and a special mono/stereo promo edition of “I Wanna Be Sedated”, all presented the way punk rock should be–as 45 RPM slabs of wax.

THE SMITHS – “The Boy With The Thorn In His Side”
Format: 7″ Vinyl / Quantity: 5000

A 7″ single featuring previously unreleased versions of “The Boy With The Thorn In His Side” and “Rubber Ring”. Includes new artwork featuring Salford actor Albert Finney.

U2 – “Red Hill Mining Town”
Format: 12″ Picture Disc / Quantity: 7000

To coincide with the 30th anniversary of U2’s iconic album “The Joshua Tree”, Island Records will release a 2017 mix of ‘Red Hill Mining Town’ on limited edition 12” picture disc, featuring the classic photography of Anton Corbijn in colour. The previously unreleased mix is by Steve Lillywhite, who produced the band’s critically acclaimed debut, ‘Boy’. ‘Red Hill Mining Town’ is famously “the single that never was”, originally discussed as the second single from The Joshua Tree but then put to one side at the last minute in favour of ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’.

VANGELIS – “Blade Runner” Original Soundtrack
Format: LP Picture Disc / Quantity: 3500

2017 sees the 35th anniversary of the original release of Ridley Scott’s 1982 cult film Blade Runner. The original soundtrack, composed by Vangelis will be released on picture disc for the first time, housed within a die-cut single sleeve jacket. (Limited worldwide release of 7500.)

CONJURE ONE – “Conjure One”
Format: 2 x LP / Quantity: 900

Originally released on CD in 2002, Conjure One was the brainchild of Front Line Assembly and Delerium co-founder Rhys Fulber. The debut set a new standard in world electronica and went on to sell over 50,000 CDs globally. The album features guest vocals by Sinead O’Connor, Poe, Marie-Claire D’Ubaldo and Chemda as well as mixes by electronica pioneers Junkie XL and Carmen Rizzo. It’s being released on double 45 RPM 180g colored vinyl for the first time, and includes a download card with three new bonus tracks.

PINK FLOYD – “London 1966 – 1967”
Format: 12″ Picture Disc / Quantity: 650

The first studio recordings from the classic ’60s Pink Floyd line up released for Record Store Day on limited edition 12″ picture disc vinyl.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Available now is the newest video for Depeche Mode’s first single “Where’s The Revolution”, taking from the new album ‘Spirit’ out March 17th. You can watch the video right below.

The new Depeche Mode album “Spirit” will be released as a 2CD set and 2LP set next to the normal version. You can order this deluxe set right here where you will also have the option to buy it on vinyl.

Side-Line also covered Depeche Mode’s ‘Monday’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Out on on November 11, 2016 via SONY Music Entertainment – and already available for ordering right here –  is be “Video Singles Collection”, a 3DVD library anthology containing more than four hours of Depeche Mode music videos (and two-plus hours of audio commentary) including work by Julien Temple, Anton Corbijn, D.A. Pennebaker, John Hillcoat and others..

“Video Singles Collection” is the first official Depeche Mode archival title to be released under the SONY imprimatur since it acquired the rights to the Depeche Mode catalog in July 2015. No Blu-ray set though, which is rather disappointing and surprising since the older videos really could use the format.

Note that more Depeche Mode releases will see the light as “Video Singles Collection” is the first in a series of retrospective projects around Depeche Mode. You might get yet another best of… hoorah…

Back to the actual item. The set includes 55 newly restored versions of the video singles in addition to four rare alternate videos and new commentary on specific individual clips, recorded by members of Depeche Mode especially for this release. Vince Clarke and Alan Wilder have not been asked to deliver input.

You can order the set right here from Storming The Base.

Here is the list of videos featured on the release:

• Just Can’t Get Enough (directed by Clive Richardson)
• See You (directed by Julien Temple)
• The Meaning of Love (directed by Julien Temple)
• Leave in Silence (directed by Julien Temple)
• Get the Balance Right (directed by Kevin Hewitt)
• Everything Counts (directed by Clive Richardson)
• Love, In Itself (directed by Clive Richardson)
• People Are People (directed by Clive Richardson)
• Master and Servant (directed by Clive Richardson)
• Blasphemous Rumours (directed by Clive Richardson)
• Somebody (directed by Clive Richardson)
• Shake the Disease (directed by Peter Care)
• It’s Called a Heart (directed by Peter Care)
• Stripped (directed by Peter Care)
• But Not Tonight (directed by Tamra Davis)
• A Question of Lust (directed by Clive Richardson)
• A Question of Time (directed by Phil Harding)
• Strangelove (directed by Anton Corbijn)
• Never Let Me Down Again (directed by Anton Corbijn)
• Behind the Wheel (directed by Anton Corbijn)
• Little 15 (directed by Martyn Atkins)
• Strangelove ’88 (directed by Martyn Atkins)
• Everything Counts (Live – from “101”) (directed by D.A. Pennebaker)
• Personal Jesus (directed by Anton Corbijn)
• Enjoy the Silence (directed by Anton Corbijn)
• Policy of Truth (directed by Anton Corbijn)
• World in My Eyes (directed by Anton Corbijn)
• I Feel You (directed by Anton Corbijn)
• Walking in My Shoes (directed by Anton Corbijn)
• Condemnation (Paris Mix) (directed by Anton Corbijn)
• One Caress (directed by Kevin Kerslake)
• In Your Room (directed by Anton Corbijn)
• Barrel of a Gun (directed by Anton Corbijn)
• It’s No Good (directed by Anton Corbijn)
• Home (directed by Steven Green)
• Useless (directed by Anton Corbijn)
• Only When I Lose Myself (directed by Brian Griffin)
• Dream On (directed by Stephane Sednaoui)
• I Feel Loved (directed by John Hillcoat)
• Freelove (directed by John Hillcoat)
• Goodnight Lovers (directed by John Hillcoat)
• Enjoy the Silence ’04 (directed by Uwe Flade)
• Precious (directed by Uwe Flade)
• A Pain That I’m Used To (directed by Uwe Flade)
• Suffer Well (directed by Anton Corbijn)
• John the Revelator (directed by Blue Leach)
• Martyr (directed by Robert Chandler)
• Wrong (directed by Patrick Daughters)
• Peace (directed by Jonas and François)
• Hole to Feed (directed by Eric Wareheim)
• Fragile Tension (directed by Rob Chandler and Barney Steel)
• Personal Jesus 2011 (directed by Patrick Daughters)
• Heaven (directed by Timothy Saccenti)
• Soothe My Soul (directed by Warren Fu)
• Should Be Higher (directed by Anton Corbijn)

Bonus Alternate Music Videos

• People Are People (12″ Version) (directed by Clive Richardson)
• But Not Tonight (Pool Version) (directed by Tamra Davis)
• Soothe My Soul (Extended) (directed by Warren Fu)
• Stripped (Unreleased Alternate Cut) (directed by Peter Care)

Bonus audio

• 2016 audio commentaries by Dave Gahan, Andy Fletcher and Martin Gore

For more on Depeche Mode, see Depeche Mode to announce tour dates and new album on October 11 on Side-Line.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

When a-ha announced (yet another) farewell tour, it was my guess that the best place to see them live would be in Oslo, Norway. After all they formed in that very city in 1982 and the public there is always that little bit more enthusiast.

I quickly booked my wife and I seats for the April 30 concert at the Spectrum venue near the Oslo Central Station, got some really cheap Ryanair tickets and found a good Airbnb flat in the Majorstuen area (just a few minutes by tram from the city center and in walking distance from the Vigeland park) to spend a few days. At the same moment we also took some time to meet up with Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange and family, producer John Fryer and his wife, plus the members of the Norwegian acts Kant Kino, Essence Of Mind and Electro Spectre.

The support act for the a-ha’s shows in Oslo on April 30 and May 1 was Frøkedal & Familien. Frøkedal is a Norwegian songstress who mixes minimal pop music with folk, traditional music and bits of electronics. It was quite well received by the public, not in the least thanks to Frøkedal’s very modest way of talking to the public. Whilst watching the support act I noticed that there was free wifi available (a service unknown in Belgium) with some pretty good connection, so instead of just taking pictures I decided to just start tweeting out live. As a result you can follow the concert below via the tweets sent out. Enjoy!

For those still in Norway tomorrow night (May 3rd), know that a-ha will play a one-off live show called “Afterglow” with advanced scenography by Void. The concert will equally take place in Oslo at the Spectrum venue. For the show, a-ha will clear away their normal stage-production to give room to a very different concert performance in collaboration with Void, a computational design studio working in the intersection between design, architecture, art and technology.

If the live show we saw this weekend was already offering an excellent visual experience (Anton Corbijn should have a close look to get some inspiration) then the “Afterglow” show will probably be stunning. Judge for yourself below.

Prepping for @aha_com in #Oslo pic.twitter.com/mtHptrzknB

— Side-Line Magazine (@sidelinemag) April 30, 2016

#mortenharket #selfie #ahaoslo2016 #ahaoslo16 promises to be a great evening! pic.twitter.com/jssY9mnnNc

— Side-Line Magazine (@sidelinemag) April 30, 2016

@aha_com has started playing in #oslo #spektrum #ahaoslo16 opening track… pic.twitter.com/C7gvWl8loG

— Side-Line Magazine (@sidelinemag) April 30, 2016

#ahaoslo16 fans go nuts #oslo #spektrum 🙂 good vibe. pic.twitter.com/EMmPawBjXK

— Side-Line Magazine (@sidelinemag) April 30, 2016

The swing of #ahaoslo16 things in #oslo @spektrum pic.twitter.com/aYqtxWZ3wK

— Side-Line Magazine (@sidelinemag) April 30, 2016

Looking for the whales introduced by @mortenharket #ahaoslo16 #oslo @spektrum pic.twitter.com/SqrHh4FLW9

— Side-Line Magazine (@sidelinemag) April 30, 2016

Pål Waktaar goes velvet with @annelidrecker #ahaoslo16 @spektrum #oslo pic.twitter.com/5eTZJ5WgHm

— Side-Line Magazine (@sidelinemag) April 30, 2016

#smartphone lifeline #flashmob at #ahaoslo16 pic.twitter.com/tmEFavyjCK

— Side-Line Magazine (@sidelinemag) April 30, 2016

Absolutely top visual work at #ahaoslo16 with @annelidrecker doing an excellent intro @spektrum pic.twitter.com/xAkvupqEfh

— Side-Line Magazine (@sidelinemag) April 30, 2016

Lots of live recordings being made at #ahaoslo16 , if you don't have tickets, youtube will be your #firstaid #ehbo pic.twitter.com/Sc5MAl9nNh

— Side-Line Magazine (@sidelinemag) April 30, 2016

Hunting high and low #ahaoslo16 you now know what you are missing @spektrum in #oslo pic.twitter.com/wjcZ0oo4rE

— Side-Line Magazine (@sidelinemag) April 30, 2016

Hunting high and low singalong moment #ahaoslo16 @spektrum #oslo pic.twitter.com/MXeSBsX6Ln

— Side-Line Magazine (@sidelinemag) April 30, 2016

Sun always shines on tv #depechemode #wime shot at #ahaoslo16 @spektrum #oslo pic.twitter.com/cOOJPaTObr

— Side-Line Magazine (@sidelinemag) April 30, 2016

Major fun during the living daylights #jamesbond #ahaoslo16 @spektrum #oslo thanks for tuning in. CU in next concert pic.twitter.com/dSdHFmveWD

— Side-Line Magazine (@sidelinemag) April 30, 2016

Take on me #ahaoslo16 @spektrum @aha_com did it again. #oslo and thank u @Ryanair for the great flights! pic.twitter.com/I2p9dy7Hs0

— Side-Line Magazine (@sidelinemag) April 30, 2016

Gente molona que conoces en los conciertos de @aha_com . Directo desde #Belgica @sidelinemag #ahaoslo16 pic.twitter.com/JqLGZsGN3Z

— Mónica Castelao (@castelao19) April 30, 2016

Me han pillado ! Gracias @sidelinemag ! 😂 #ahaoslo16 @aha_com https://t.co/KZ1UKlP40q

— Mónica Castelao (@castelao19) April 30, 2016

@sidelinemag @spektrum @aha_com @Ryanair thank you for posting the pics

— Sabrina Crunch (@sabrinacrunch) April 30, 2016

Side-Line also covered a-ha’s ‘Afterglow’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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