There was a time when you could walk into your average record store and find the singles section by spotting the big block of black rows. These rows signaled the whereabouts of the Ds and tended to eat up a disproportionate space of the singles section. In 2004, the Mute label condensed all of these releases into Remixes 81-04, which itself was ironically (or fittingly) presented in multiple versions. This particular version is a triple-disc set that attempts to function as a representative sampling of Depeche Mode's innumerable remixes. It does an admirable job, making a point to highlight glorified extended versions and radical reworkings alike.
Touring the Angel was a 2005/2006 concert tour by English electronic group Depeche Mode in support of the act's 11th studio album, Playing the Angel, which was released in October 2005.
Pioneering English band Depeche Mode took the underground electronic club sounds of the early '80s and expanded them to stadium-sized levels within a decade, becoming one of the best-selling international groups in the process. One of the first acts to establish a musical identity based completely around the use of synthesizers, they debuted with a bouncy electro-pop spirit which gradually developed into a darker, more dramatic synth-rock style that ultimately positioned them as one of the most quintessential alternative bands of their era.
2005's Playing the Angel proved to be one of Depeche Mode's strongest albums - the combination of Ben Hillier's production, the emergence of David Gahan as a songwriter following his initial solo effort and a clutch of striking songs that openly embraced arena-level bombast following the much more subtle Exciter resulted in wide praise and a well-received tour. As a result - especially given the return of Hillier, the first producer to work on two Depeche albums in a row since Flood's heyday with Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion - Sounds of the Universe was initially suspected of being Playing the Angel redux, something the swaggering lead single "Wrong" didn't undercut at all. After all these years, though, Depeche can still pull out surprises, and what's quite astonishing about Sounds is how they've returned to the equipment and textures of their early-'80s work…
In the Sky I am Walking (American Indian Songs) is an important work in Karlheinz Stockhausen's oeuvre from the 1970s. It receives its only commercially available recording here aside from Stockhausen's private label edition. Scored for a male and female singer, this long song cycle uses texts by Native Americans and incorporates the use of "unusual vocal sounds" from a palette of vocal timbres developed by the two singers in their years of experience performing new music and meeting singers from around the world, including Native Americans. Stockhausen closely prepared the piece with the singers.
2005's Playing the Angel proved to be one of Depeche Mode's strongest albums - the combination of Ben Hillier's production, the emergence of David Gahan as a songwriter following his initial solo effort and a clutch of striking songs that openly embraced arena-level bombast following the much more subtle Exciter resulted in wide praise and a well-received tour. As a result - especially given the return of Hillier, the first producer to work on two Depeche albums in a row since Flood's heyday with Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion - Sounds of the Universe was initially suspected of being Playing the Angel redux, something the swaggering lead single "Wrong" didn't undercut at all. After all these years, though, Depeche can still pull out surprises, and what's quite astonishing about Sounds is how they've returned to the equipment and textures of their early-'80s work…