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seedarklyxeroWelcome to another edition of my weekly goth/industrial music feature,
SeeDarkly Sunday DisCOVERies!
If you missed the introductory explanation of what this even is, click here to get caught up. :)
I decided that now would be a good time to address a dilemma about covers and I finally figured out how to handle the problem. It's entirely possible that Depeche Mode is one of the single most covered synth-pop bands. I could conceivably feature a cover of Depeche Mode every week here for the rest of my life and never have the well run dry. There are hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of published covers of various Depeche Mode tracks: on tribute albums... as singles... in a multitude of genres... just this year one band even released their own rendition of an entire Depeche Mode album!
Part of the reason appears to be that singer/songwriter Martin Gore usually signs off on EVERY cover that comes to him, even though he might not "particularly like...the majority of them," as he put it recently in an article, referring specifically to covers of Personal Jesus.
In that March 19, 2015 Rolling Stone magazine article, Gore continued "...I usually approve them, because they're my fans. Nobody's going to want to cover that unless they're actually a fan. And to say, 'No, you can't release that because I don't like it,' is a bit unfair. I get tons of stuff coming in from, like, Germany and Eastern Europe, people singing in really bad accents but I always approve them."
And, to be fair, he's not wrong... many are bad. But among many there might be a gem or a few. So any time there is a fifth Sunday in a month I'll spotlight one cover of a Depeche Mode song that may uniquely qualify as such. I'm also going to try to find one that may be obscure or at least less familiar than say, for example, Marilyn Manson's popular cover of Personal Jesus. In fact, with so much focus on that particular track, let's flip the disc and check out the other side this month:
Axxon - Dangerous
Dangerous appeared as the "b-side" track on Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus single, released in August of 1989. Axxon, from out of Cape Town, South Africa, released a version and a remix on their Bite Your Tongue E.P. in July of 2012. The style is a quite a bit more edgey and industrial than the synthpop sound of the original. Axxon's current status is unknown but this release remains available. Check it out:
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week: School is letting out for the summer; maybe it's time for a "prom-track..."
;)
Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
I'll be spinning in Boston one Monday in June, when I am very likely to play today's featured cover among others! Check my schedule for details on that event and other future events as well.
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
May 24 - Black Boots - This Shit Will Fuck You Up (Combichrist)
May 17 - Siouxsie & the Banshees - The Passenger (Iggy Pop)
May 10 - Emika - Let's Dance (David Bowie)
May 03 - Mindless Self Indulgence - The Logical Song (Supertramp)
Directory of All DisCOVERies
SeeDarkly Sunday DisCOVERies!
If you missed the introductory explanation of what this even is, click here to get caught up. :)
I decided that now would be a good time to address a dilemma about covers and I finally figured out how to handle the problem. It's entirely possible that Depeche Mode is one of the single most covered synth-pop bands. I could conceivably feature a cover of Depeche Mode every week here for the rest of my life and never have the well run dry. There are hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of published covers of various Depeche Mode tracks: on tribute albums... as singles... in a multitude of genres... just this year one band even released their own rendition of an entire Depeche Mode album!
Part of the reason appears to be that singer/songwriter Martin Gore usually signs off on EVERY cover that comes to him, even though he might not "particularly like...the majority of them," as he put it recently in an article, referring specifically to covers of Personal Jesus.
In that March 19, 2015 Rolling Stone magazine article, Gore continued "...I usually approve them, because they're my fans. Nobody's going to want to cover that unless they're actually a fan. And to say, 'No, you can't release that because I don't like it,' is a bit unfair. I get tons of stuff coming in from, like, Germany and Eastern Europe, people singing in really bad accents but I always approve them."
And, to be fair, he's not wrong... many are bad. But among many there might be a gem or a few. So any time there is a fifth Sunday in a month I'll spotlight one cover of a Depeche Mode song that may uniquely qualify as such. I'm also going to try to find one that may be obscure or at least less familiar than say, for example, Marilyn Manson's popular cover of Personal Jesus. In fact, with so much focus on that particular track, let's flip the disc and check out the other side this month:
Axxon - Dangerous
Dangerous appeared as the "b-side" track on Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus single, released in August of 1989. Axxon, from out of Cape Town, South Africa, released a version and a remix on their Bite Your Tongue E.P. in July of 2012. The style is a quite a bit more edgey and industrial than the synthpop sound of the original. Axxon's current status is unknown but this release remains available. Check it out:
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week: School is letting out for the summer; maybe it's time for a "prom-track..."
;)
Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
I'll be spinning in Boston one Monday in June, when I am very likely to play today's featured cover among others! Check my schedule for details on that event and other future events as well.
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
May 24 - Black Boots - This Shit Will Fuck You Up (Combichrist)
May 17 - Siouxsie & the Banshees - The Passenger (Iggy Pop)
May 10 - Emika - Let's Dance (David Bowie)
May 03 - Mindless Self Indulgence - The Logical Song (Supertramp)
Directory of All DisCOVERies