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Welcome to SeeDarkly Sunday DisCOVERies:
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
It's time for another Fifth Sunday A La Mode featuring a cover of Depeche Mode. New to the blog and wondering why Depeche Mode covers get such attention? That's addressed here if you'd like to go back and look. This month has fallen into a theme of "obscurity" more by accident than intent. The track featured today isn't really all that obscure but its origin might not be so commonly known. The group covering it, however, probably isn't on many people's radar at all.:
Nerd Revolt - Photographic (Depeche Mode)
The first known recording of Photographic appears to date back to a three-song 1980 demo by the group under their original name, Composition Of Sound. After they changed their name to Depeche Mode, Photographic was officially released in January 1981 on a various artists compilation titled Some Bizzare Album predating their debut single, Dreaming of Me by almost a month. (There is some indication of a Spanish-only release of the track as a single, but its actual release date is unclear.) They re-recorded the the track before including it on their debut album, Speak & Spell, released in October 1981. Vince Clarke wrote the track, which has a bit of contextual irony now considering his departure from the band after this album was in part due to his complaint over the numerous photo sessions with the band taking up too much of his time.
They performed the song consistently on tour throughout the eighties, even after Clarke left the band. It has been covered by a variety of artists across the globe, three dozen times at least. The first known cover was done by Bigod 20 as a b-side to their 1988 single America. Other notable covers include those by Batman Bite Me and Zeromancer.
One of the most recent covers of Photographic was released as a video by the dark electronic synth duo, Nerd Revolt, in 2011. They had been collaborating on a blog that focused on various art-forms, including photography, film, and instrumental music. Keyboardist Maurice Jackson aka M.0 had already worked briefly with other projects like Deathline International but their pursuit of musical expression seemed to truly launch after recording this cover, which was vocalist iLL.F.O.'s first lead performance. Her style is a husky but audible whispering approach that suits the song well. Musically, it's clear M.0 drew from a variety of elements throughout Depeche Mode's career for inspiration giving a unique allusion to its roots as mixed with their more modern sound. Nerd Revolt have since released two full albums which do not include this cover, nor the three other covers they've done: Minimal by Pet Shop Boys, Demons by Imagine Dragons, and Don't Think Twice, It's Alright by Bob Dylan (all three of which are also not on either of their albums, though Minimal and Photographic are on some of their other digital distribution outlets.) Perhaps we can expect a rarities compilation from them one day. These Nerds didn't specifically point out that their tribute came during the same time as the original's thirtieth anniversary but it and its timing are remarkable nonetheless!
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
OCTOBERWEEN BEGINS! A month in tribute to various Halloween-specific songs... and this year you can expect a lot of fun spooky shlock!
Feel free to tell me what you think about today's cover! Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Sep 23 - Riviera F - Echo Beach - (Martha and the Muffins)
Sep 16 - Project Pitchfork - In The Year 2525(Zager & Evans)
Sep 09 - Skold - Pale As Chalk (Leæther Strip)
Sep 02 - Bestial Mouths - Being Boiled (The Human League)
Aug 26 - 4X4: Suzi Quatro/J.G. Thirlwell/Soft Lighting/Norman Sane - Warm Leatherette (The Normal)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
It's time for another Fifth Sunday A La Mode featuring a cover of Depeche Mode. New to the blog and wondering why Depeche Mode covers get such attention? That's addressed here if you'd like to go back and look. This month has fallen into a theme of "obscurity" more by accident than intent. The track featured today isn't really all that obscure but its origin might not be so commonly known. The group covering it, however, probably isn't on many people's radar at all.:
Nerd Revolt - Photographic (Depeche Mode)
The first known recording of Photographic appears to date back to a three-song 1980 demo by the group under their original name, Composition Of Sound. After they changed their name to Depeche Mode, Photographic was officially released in January 1981 on a various artists compilation titled Some Bizzare Album predating their debut single, Dreaming of Me by almost a month. (There is some indication of a Spanish-only release of the track as a single, but its actual release date is unclear.) They re-recorded the the track before including it on their debut album, Speak & Spell, released in October 1981. Vince Clarke wrote the track, which has a bit of contextual irony now considering his departure from the band after this album was in part due to his complaint over the numerous photo sessions with the band taking up too much of his time.
They performed the song consistently on tour throughout the eighties, even after Clarke left the band. It has been covered by a variety of artists across the globe, three dozen times at least. The first known cover was done by Bigod 20 as a b-side to their 1988 single America. Other notable covers include those by Batman Bite Me and Zeromancer.
One of the most recent covers of Photographic was released as a video by the dark electronic synth duo, Nerd Revolt, in 2011. They had been collaborating on a blog that focused on various art-forms, including photography, film, and instrumental music. Keyboardist Maurice Jackson aka M.0 had already worked briefly with other projects like Deathline International but their pursuit of musical expression seemed to truly launch after recording this cover, which was vocalist iLL.F.O.'s first lead performance. Her style is a husky but audible whispering approach that suits the song well. Musically, it's clear M.0 drew from a variety of elements throughout Depeche Mode's career for inspiration giving a unique allusion to its roots as mixed with their more modern sound. Nerd Revolt have since released two full albums which do not include this cover, nor the three other covers they've done: Minimal by Pet Shop Boys, Demons by Imagine Dragons, and Don't Think Twice, It's Alright by Bob Dylan (all three of which are also not on either of their albums, though Minimal and Photographic are on some of their other digital distribution outlets.) Perhaps we can expect a rarities compilation from them one day. These Nerds didn't specifically point out that their tribute came during the same time as the original's thirtieth anniversary but it and its timing are remarkable nonetheless!
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
OCTOBERWEEN BEGINS! A month in tribute to various Halloween-specific songs... and this year you can expect a lot of fun spooky shlock!
Feel free to tell me what you think about today's cover! Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Sep 23 - Riviera F - Echo Beach - (Martha and the Muffins)
Sep 16 - Project Pitchfork - In The Year 2525(Zager & Evans)
Sep 09 - Skold - Pale As Chalk (Leæther Strip)
Sep 02 - Bestial Mouths - Being Boiled (The Human League)
Aug 26 - 4X4: Suzi Quatro/J.G. Thirlwell/Soft Lighting/Norman Sane - Warm Leatherette (The Normal)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies