by MARV » Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:31 am
25 RANDOM THINGS....
about DEPECHE MODE, their Music and the Sounds Of The Universe BOX SET
1. The Sounds Of The Universe Deluxe Box Set comes with 3 CDS, 1 DVD of 3 films, 2 hardback books, 5 art cards, 2 badges, 1 poster and a certificate of authenticity.
2. The band personally curated the content to be featured in this package and wanted it to include as much as possible from the recording sessions.
3. This is the first time the band has parted with any demos for release, going into their personal archives for the selection – i.e., Little 15, Walking in My Shoes.. [did you think this was as unlikely as we did?].
4. The video for Wrong features a small cameo from Spike Jonze and the "passenger" is Julian Gross from American art rock legends Liars.
5. During the recording process for Sounds Of The Universe, the band recorded more songs than ever before for a new album.
6. The band came up with the name for the new album quite early in the process. Martin said that it just felt that it summed up the eclectic nature of the songs and the sounds on the album.
7. Anton Corbijn shot the band in San Francisco for the first time, specifically with the box set in mind. Straight roads and steep hills, Karl Malden was nowhere to be seen.
8. There are 5 art cards in the box. They are a random selection of 14 different designs. The designs are interpretations of Anton Corbijns Sounds Of The Universe symbol by some exciting up-and-coming designers and artists (including one by a former Mute recording artist).
9. The bands' addiction to foosball is clearly noted with footage of tournaments held in the studio from 1984, mixed in with footage from the recording of Sounds Of The Universe. But who from the band is the reigning champion?
10. When recording vocals Dave says he doesn't go into any vocal booth. He just holds a microphone and works the song like he does live. He likes to crank up the speakers and just perform it live, 3 or 4 takes and if it's right, if it's feeling good, he feels good!
11. The box set includes 2 x 84 page hardback books. One features the lyrics and is accompanied by Anton Corbijn photos. The other includes candid instudio photos captured by Daniel Miller, Ben Hillier, Luke Smith and Ferg Peterkin.
12. The 2 badges were designed especially for the box, so give a sly wink when you see a fellow box owner wearing one; it's akin to an exclusive Depeche Mode Ford Mustang club.
13. Martin thinks all the songs on the album sound very different. The fact that he has been buying so much stuff, old analogue drum machines and synthesisers on eBay, has helped to shape the new record in some ways. Packages were turning up daily and they were using them as they arrived and that obviously had an impact on the record.
14. The box set includes a DVD with 3 films: 'Making the Universe / Film'; 'Sounds Of The Universe (A Short Film)'; and 'Usual Thing, Try And Get The Question In The Answer' (a conversation with the band discussing recording techniques, intercut with personal archive footage from previous album sessions).
15. The upcoming tour starts on May 10th in Tel Aviv, Israel. This is exciting for the band as it is the show they were supposed to finish the last tour with, but were unable to due to hostilities creating a very fragile environment for the people of Tel Aviv.
16. What is really happening in the video for Wrong? How do you think he got there?
17. SixToes, who remix Jezebel, is a band that features 2 members of the Mute staff who run the in house studio at the label.
18. The new album plus 5 bonus tracks is included in the box set in 5.1 surround sound.
19. On the band's website there is an opportunity to enter a competition to win the chance to see the band in a live tour rehearsal concert. The country in which the performance will be is in Europe and is smaller than the state of Rhode Island. It is......
20. Sounds Of The Universe is the bands' 12th studio album and although the global release date is April 20th, fans in Germany get an early date of April 17th but America has to wait an extra day until April 21st.
21. The stark video for Wrong was directed by Patrick Daughters who previously worked with Liars, Kings of Leon and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
22. On their last tour, the Mode played to 2.8million people, across 31 countries. evident again were the open mouthed shocked expressions of disbelief from family and friends of the devoted fans that had been dragged along to see the electronic band that really can't be any good live can they? Oh, oh yes they can.
23. Sounds Of The Universe marks a reunion between Depeche Mode and producer Ben Hillier, who previously produced their 2005 album "Playing The Angel". The new album was recorded in Santa Barbara and New York.
24. Programming (and photo) duties were carried out on the album by Luke Smith from critically acclaimed electro pop band Clor.
25. For the first time ever Martin and Dave share a song writing credit. This came about after Dave heard and loved an instrumental that Martin had composed and set about to write lyrics for it, the result is 'Oh Well'. a first for Martin in terms of collaborative song writing duties on a Depeche Mode album.
i had to smile when I read number nine re. the foosball. One of my warmest concert memories is driving up to Worcester, MA for one of the Devotional shows and being invited to the after party backstage. Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher invited me and some other random fan to a friendly game of foosball. They totally whipped our asses - those guys are CHAMPIONS. Lots of memories from that night. Such great fun [:)]
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