RadixJournal - December 27, 2023


Depeche Modeļ¼š Sounds of the Universe


Episode Stats


Length

57 minutes

Words per minute

107.58032

Word count

6,227

Sentence count

269

Harmful content

Misogyny

8

sentences flagged

Toxicity

20

sentences flagged

Hate speech

26

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

The 500 is a production of Native Creative Podcasts. In this episode, we discuss Depeche Mode's second album "Sounds of the Universe" and compare it to the band's first two albums, "Exciter" and "A Broken Frame."

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Thank you.
00:00:30.000 Thank you.
00:01:00.000 I know you know what you're doing to me.
00:01:08.920 I know my hands will never be free.
00:01:14.600 I know what it's like to be in chains.
00:01:19.940 I know my hands will never be free.
00:01:50.320 And Ben Hillier also produced this album.
00:01:55.420 And there was a conscious effort to bring in analog sounds.
00:02:00.980 And I think that probably came about along with the kind of 80s revival.
00:02:10.500 I mean, there's people who always love the 80s and to dress up like the 80s and et cetera.
00:02:16.000 But it was hipper and cooler around that time.
00:02:20.640 And so I think, in a way, Depeche Mode was conscious of itself.
00:02:28.340 And it was self-consciously trying to re-enter its glory days and not create new music or new sounds like they did with Exciter, to be honest.
00:02:46.620 Which maybe isn't the greatest album, but is trying.
00:02:52.280 It's going down a different path, let's say.
00:02:54.100 And it's also an Obama-era album to the degree that some of the lyrics are a bit...
00:03:08.100 How shall I say this?
00:03:12.260 Martin Gore thinks that his lyrics are a little edgier or more shocking than they are.
00:03:17.080 It's a little safe while playing with danger.
00:03:23.340 And I'm thinking about Jezebel in particular with this critical comment.
00:03:28.040 And I think even Sounds of the Universe expresses something about the Obama-era.
00:03:35.940 Now, granted, it came on the heels of a stock market crash and there was a lot of doom and gloom.
00:03:44.340 But there was also a repudiation of the Bush-era of hyper-conservatism, the Iraq War, et cetera.
00:03:53.960 At least in theory.
00:03:55.400 At least that was the ideal or overall message, et cetera.
00:04:03.560 It was that we're going down a different path and we've elected someone named Barack Hussein Obama.
00:04:09.280 Isn't that good?
00:04:12.040 And so I think there is a...
00:04:14.300 I mean, it's a very Depeche Mode album.
00:04:16.060 It's analog.
00:04:17.740 It has an analog feel to some of the sounds, I should say.
00:04:22.640 Because in many ways, that analog quality is false.
00:04:26.960 It's not actually an analog album.
00:04:28.800 That would have been interesting and daring and maybe successful or unsuccessful.
00:04:32.400 Who knows?
00:04:34.160 But it's trying to evoke something.
00:04:37.440 It's going for a little bit of that hopeful globalism vibe of 2009.
00:04:49.220 These are my overall impressions.
00:04:50.920 I don't dislike this album.
00:04:53.080 When we started to talk about it, you were like, well, let's make this quick because this
00:04:59.640 is not one of their best.
00:05:01.060 That's fair.
00:05:02.680 And I do think the album sounds a lot like Depeche Mode all the time.
00:05:08.560 I mean, I think a lot of the songs are listenable and a lot of the songs are really good and memorable.
00:05:16.000 I think some of them are kind of deep cut classics, I guess you could say.
00:05:21.260 But I don't think the album in itself is as interesting as some of the other ventures.
00:05:29.060 And it's noteworthy that in subsequent albums, they'll go away from let's try to get an analog
00:05:38.640 sound or something like that.
00:05:40.500 And they'll go to let's try to get a truly analog sound in the sense of a guitar or let's
00:05:46.220 let's go for a blues, let's go for some Americana, which gels really well with Depeche Mode.
00:05:56.600 You see that in Music for the Masses or Pleasure, Little Treasure, where they're evoking Elvis
00:06:01.740 and Bad to the Bone and all that kind of stuff.
00:06:04.180 And it's interesting that they left this era of music behind.
00:06:11.980 And when they started to look backwards and not try to find a new path, but were self-consciously
00:06:17.980 going backwards, so to speak, as in spirit, that they're going to go back to a blues American 0.99
00:06:24.680 sound.
00:06:25.220 And I think this was a somewhat successful, somewhat meh album of rekindling the 80s.
00:06:38.720 These are my opening thoughts.
00:06:41.220 What do you think about that?
00:06:43.780 Yeah.
00:06:44.180 I mean, with the opening track in Chains, with the synthesizers starting up, basically, tuning
00:06:52.660 themselves or whatever, I definitely get that impression that it's kind of looking back
00:06:59.140 almost to speak and spell, not in the lyrical content necessarily, but certainly insofar as
00:07:05.520 using those old analog sounds.
00:07:22.660 It just, the one thing I will give Ben Hillier credit for is on this album and playing the
00:07:41.620 angel and Delta Machine, all three of the albums that he produced.
00:07:47.600 He kind of, he's steering them in a, it's not synth pop so much as it is synth rock, I guess.
00:07:54.460 Like, there is kind of an edge there, but.
00:07:57.460 There's some loud guitar and some kind of bended notes, a little bit out of tune.
00:08:02.000 Some distortion.
00:08:03.640 Yeah.
00:08:04.080 Distorted notes.
00:08:04.940 Yeah.
00:08:05.800 But, you know what this album's lacking is I just feel like it, they, it doesn't sound fun.
00:08:12.100 You can say A Broken Frame is their worst album, but it still sounds fun.
00:08:19.100 I don't know if that's a you thing, that very well might be, but this album just doesn't really
00:08:23.640 sound that fun to me.
00:08:25.960 What do you think about that?
00:08:28.260 No, I think that's, I think that's a totally apt criticism. 0.99
00:08:33.800 It's not a fun album.
00:08:35.680 I don't know if they've done fun albums.
00:08:38.040 Yeah, it, but I'm saying it almost sounds like a job in some ways is if that, do you
00:08:45.400 know what I mean?
00:08:45.860 It, yeah, well, I would like to have that job.
00:08:49.560 I mean, I, as nine to fives go, I mean, Fragile Tension is a great song.
00:09:08.040 It's a fragile tension that's keeping us going.
00:09:28.040 It may not last forever, but always it's far away.
00:09:34.980 Many people don't like wrong because it almost is like a rap or hip hop song or something.
00:09:44.340 Like, I was born and the wrong, I was born with the wrong sign in the wrong house with
00:09:51.620 the wrong ascendant seat.
00:09:53.020 I mean, the only thing I would say is that I like almost every song on the album.
00:10:19.120 And I even like Jezebel, I like Corrupt, Perfect, I mean, I get it in the sense of, that's what
00:10:31.620 I said before.
00:10:32.300 It's like a, it's like an album of classic deep cuts.
00:10:37.440 So there's no, I mean, even wrong, which was the initial single is, and, and as one of
00:10:44.780 their more kind of poppy songs that they produced in at least a decade, even that I don't really
00:10:52.560 think is a classic.
00:10:53.980 It's, it's, it's kind of like an, a, a, a, a B side or a deep cut or, or whatever.
00:11:00.080 It's, but you know, there's some, I don't know, there's some really good things on this
00:11:07.800 album.
00:11:09.100 Fragile Tension, they went analog in the sense that in the, in the opening bars of that, I
00:11:14.720 could hear bells being, it's, it's like they were striking a cowbell or some kind of percussion
00:11:20.780 instrument.
00:11:20.980 I'll just go delve into my snobbery again.
00:11:50.960 And listening to it on vinyl, getting close to the speakers, really getting kind of overwhelmed
00:11:55.580 by the sound.
00:11:56.220 You hear these things that when I'm just listening to it with my, you know, junky kind of air
00:12:02.760 pod headphones while at the gym, you know, you just don't listen to the detail.
00:12:07.720 And there's some interesting details that come out of that analog ethic that they're putting
00:12:12.780 forward.
00:12:13.220 And I, I, I guess also, even with something like Fragile Tension, it doesn't, it's a great
00:12:22.000 song.
00:12:22.560 It's cool.
00:12:23.300 I like this just weird chord that they go to.
00:12:26.660 Oh, no, no, no.
00:12:27.420 Excuse me.
00:12:27.880 I'm thinking of Little Soul.
00:12:29.600 This weird chord that they read.
00:12:32.340 I might've been thinking about Little Soul.
00:12:34.100 Maybe I'm...
00:12:34.660 When you're talking about the bells.
00:12:35.880 Yes.
00:12:36.320 Yep.
00:12:36.500 Maybe that's kind of telling that I'm mixing up the songs.
00:12:41.660 Mm-hmm.
00:12:42.840 My little soul will leave a footprint
00:12:48.000 But I'm gentle in the universe
00:12:59.880 That's focusing itself inside of me
00:13:05.460 A singularity
00:13:09.000 And it does this, like, it's, I don't know exactly what chord it's doing,
00:13:34.900 but it's, it's really reminding me of Everything Counts or, um, some other things where it
00:13:41.660 just totally changes key, you know, it, it goes from, you know, C sharp minor to, and then
00:13:47.720 it throws in a C major chord or something, just this, like, wild, uh, not, not technically
00:13:52.900 a key change, but just a really unusual, um, chord.
00:13:56.700 And I, I like it.
00:14:02.560 It's all very, it, it's all listenable, it's all classic Depeche Mode, but then
00:14:07.440 there's nothing, like, there's nothing as kind of edgy and in your face as, say, Master and Servant
00:14:14.340 There's nothing as iconic as Enjoy the Silence or People are People or any of that kind of stuff
00:14:23.940 And, and, and I think a lot of the times the, the lyrics are, you know, good, but maybe really lacking something
00:14:35.860 Lacking just that kind of turn or something you're expecting
00:14:39.940 Um, like, Jezebel is an, is an example where, you know, they're, again, they're evoking biblical themes, which is very Martin Gore
00:14:51.000 Although, here, the Jezebel is just kind of like a, you know, as they said in 2016 or in the 2017 Women's March, like a nasty woman, you know 0.98
00:15:00.500 They call you Jezebel whenever we walk in 0.94
00:15:03.680 You're going straight to hell for wanton acts of sin, they say
00:15:08.340 And that I'll have to pay
00:15:11.020 But I need you just this way 0.58
00:15:14.780 So it's, it's a, you know, it's a girl who's maybe a little dangerous, a little loose, a little, maybe a little bitchy 1.00
00:15:22.800 Maybe unstable, maybe suffering from borderline personality disorder
00:15:28.440 We don't know, but she's not really the Jezebel of the Bible
00:15:32.040 And then you get to the chorus and it's
00:15:36.640 Open their eyes to the beauty
00:15:40.260 Open their hearts to the fun
00:15:42.780 That's clangy
00:15:44.920 Open their minds to the idea
00:15:47.740 That you don't own someone
00:15:50.780 They call you Jezebel
00:15:55.660 For what you like to wear
00:16:00.120 You're morally unwell
00:16:04.380 They say you'll never care for me
00:16:10.200 But what they fail to see
00:16:14.360 Is that your games are the key
00:16:24.380 Open their eyes to the beauty
00:16:33.660 Open their hearts to the fun
00:16:42.480 Open their minds to the idea
00:16:51.040 That you don't own someone
00:16:57.100 I mean, I would respect this song if Martin Gore was actually talking about owning someone, in fact, because that is a dark, possessive, obsessive thought that's actually interesting.
00:17:15.080 And the thought of not owning this sexy girl with a dragon tattoo and borderline personality disorder
00:17:23.900 That's not that interesting
00:17:26.900 And that's not pushing, that's not resisting anything
00:17:29.320 It's not pushing up against anything circa 2009
00:17:31.980 And so it's just kind of, you know
00:17:35.500 Yeah, totally
00:17:38.000 I think it definitely could be a pro-feminist song 1.00
00:17:41.860 With that open their minds to the idea that you don't own someone
00:17:46.200 Yeah
00:17:46.880 But he also says Jezebel is morally unwell
00:17:51.440 And then he's still, he's challenging
00:17:54.760 They say
00:17:55.260 They say
00:17:56.260 Yeah, so they say
00:17:58.260 Yeah, he's challenging the male subject, female object dichotomy 0.99
00:18:04.480 But literally, he might just have to pay for sex with Jezebel 1.00
00:18:13.780 Who I assume is a prostitute 1.00
00:18:16.220 But the paying for the sex never really escapes the male subject, female object dichotomy 0.93
00:18:23.520 By the way, I think this song is the best song on the album
00:18:27.300 And I think that the chords are the best, most interesting on here
00:18:32.820 Like they do that typical Martin Gore
00:18:37.860 I found out actually the term for this
00:18:40.920 The chromatic median
00:18:42.760 So what he does, you know, that I've said before
00:18:45.660 Is going from like the one minor to the major or minor minor
00:18:50.140 So for example, in this song, it's G sharp minor 9 to B minor major 7
00:18:56.400 And those definitely clang
00:18:58.960 Or not clang in a bad way, I'm sorry
00:19:00.660 They definitely have this dissonance
00:19:02.400 That Martin is definitely known for in his chord structures
00:19:07.820 But overall, yeah
00:19:10.700 I think when you mentioned the Obama optimism
00:19:14.840 The Obama era optimism
00:19:16.180 That's, I think that's actually correct
00:19:18.860 And I think that that's part of the problem with this album
00:19:23.000 I don't think Depeche Mode is good as an optimistic band
00:19:26.660 I think there's more optimism to Dave and Dave songs than Martin's overall
00:19:32.000 But I don't think that they particularly flourish with, you know, this 2009 optimism
00:19:40.560 What's funny though, is that this album is kind of more so the tour is kind of cursed in a way
00:19:47.420 Because Dave gets diagnosed with cancer during the tour
00:19:52.920 Gets gastroenteritis during the tour
00:19:55.300 Fletch's dad dies during the tour
00:19:57.640 And they at least miss, have to cancel, six shows
00:20:01.880 I mean, one in Athens of them describing how they're leaving people entering the stadium
00:20:11.140 And how heartbreaking it was for them to have to leave the stadium
00:20:15.520 Because Dave was basically about to pass out from his gastroenteritis
00:20:20.660 But yeah, I don't really care for it
00:20:24.560 There's a few gems, I'll say overall
00:20:27.040 Jezebel, Fragile Tension, and My Little Soul
00:20:32.400 Which to me is rather reminiscent of Little 15
00:20:36.120 Because there's that hypnotic kind of chord sequence back and forth
00:20:42.280 Little 15
00:20:55.920 You help her forget
00:21:00.460 The world outside
00:21:05.020 You're not part of it yet
00:21:09.500 And if you could
00:21:13.220 My little soul would leave a footprint
00:21:15.760 I mean, it's
00:21:16.940 And that's about
00:21:18.100 That's sung by Martin
00:21:19.260 And it's written by Martin
00:21:20.340 That's about himself
00:21:21.240 Both grandiose and belittling
00:21:23.840 Literally at the same time
00:21:25.420 I mean, it's
00:21:26.520 It's
00:21:27.880 I think it's kind of perfect Martin Gore
00:21:30.080 Because he's been one of the most successful musicians
00:21:32.600 Of the 20th and 21st century
00:21:35.460 But then you can also always see a certain shyness and boyishness
00:21:41.880 I mean, even in his 60s
00:21:43.540 He seems a little boyish
00:21:45.140 And shy and unsure of himself
00:21:47.780 And, you know, weird and circumspect
00:21:51.760 And, you know, I could
00:21:52.780 So I think it's kind of a perfect song for him
00:21:56.280 But it's kind of a little song as well
00:21:59.220 Yeah, it's not
00:22:01.440 It's definitely not single material
00:22:03.220 What I think would have been better from this album
00:22:06.880 Is if it was just made into an EP
00:22:09.640 Interesting
00:22:11.560 I'm really trying to be fair
00:22:13.680 You know, this is
00:22:14.660 Like I said before
00:22:15.820 One of my top five favorite bands of all time
00:22:18.980 So I'm definitely sympathetic
00:22:20.900 They did set the bar extremely high
00:22:23.240 And, you know, I don't say any of this stuff
00:22:27.300 Like too personally
00:22:28.600 I guess it's all in good faith
00:22:31.320 But a song like Peace
00:22:33.020 Peace
00:22:34.300 Yeah
00:22:37.840 That just sounds like a really bad hymn
00:22:41.880 That I would have sung in Sunday school
00:22:45.700 That just
00:22:46.940 Well, that's kind of what they're going for, though
00:22:49.600 In their defense
00:22:50.540 And I, but it, yeah, but it
00:22:52.400 That's not the Christian inspiration 1.00
00:22:56.080 That we, that I necessarily enjoy
00:22:59.800 That's not, it's too optimistic
00:23:01.040 Yeah
00:23:02.060 Peace
00:23:16.520 I like, you know, songs like
00:23:43.220 That Dave wrote, like, Come Back
00:23:44.980 I do like that
00:23:46.220 But the lyrics are a little
00:23:47.600 Come Back
00:23:48.120 Come Back to me
00:23:48.740 I'll be waiting patiently
00:23:50.180 That
00:23:50.580 I feel like I've heard that line
00:23:53.640 In multiple songs before
00:23:56.140 It's a little too easy
00:23:58.660 Like you've said before
00:24:00.100 There's some telling not showing
00:24:03.240 Yeah
00:24:04.100 In the lyrics, I think
00:24:05.400 Do you know what
00:24:06.940 Would have been interesting?
00:24:08.660 And
00:24:08.860 I don't know
00:24:11.320 I don't know if this was
00:24:13.940 I don't know if they were in a way
00:24:16.280 Copying
00:24:17.300 A
00:24:18.200 Mode
00:24:19.080 Of songwriting
00:24:19.980 Or
00:24:20.600 They
00:24:22.800 Inherently
00:24:25.620 Went to this
00:24:27.060 Mode
00:24:28.880 On their own
00:24:31.080 But
00:24:31.400 One of the
00:24:32.580 Things that you notice
00:24:34.280 With
00:24:35.100 Speak and spell
00:24:37.740 And a broken frame
00:24:38.780 And
00:24:40.520 With construction time again
00:24:42.080 As well
00:24:42.660 But then they're starting to break out of it
00:24:44.220 And then by
00:24:44.980 The next album
00:24:45.760 We review
00:24:46.400 Some great reward
00:24:48.820 They've totally broken out of it
00:24:50.200 But it's this
00:24:50.920 Objectivity
00:24:52.340 And
00:24:52.980 I mean that
00:24:54.280 In a very
00:24:54.980 Literal
00:24:56.220 Sense
00:24:56.800 Light switch
00:24:58.680 Man switch
00:24:59.660 These are the lyrics for
00:25:23.380 Das Modell
00:25:24.660 That's from
00:25:25.780 Kraftwerk
00:25:26.640 So
00:25:26.900 Eins, zwei, drei, vier
00:25:28.340 Sie ist ein Modell 0.84
00:25:29.600 Und sie sieht gut aus
00:25:31.400 Ich nehme sie heute gerne
00:25:33.340 Mit zu mir nach Haus
00:25:35.460 Sie wirkt so cool
00:25:37.740 Und sie kommt niemand ran
00:25:39.660 Doch vor der Kamera
00:25:41.980 Da sagt sie was sie kann
00:25:44.580 So
00:25:45.000 There's an English translation
00:25:47.900 That's pretty rough
00:25:48.880 She's a model 0.99
00:25:49.700 And she's looking good
00:25:51.520 Okay
00:25:51.900 Ba-nau 0.76
00:25:52.840 Ba-nau-nau-nau-nau-nau-nau-nau
00:25:54.840 Es ist ein Modell
00:26:11.620 Sie sieht gut aus 0.94
00:26:13.520 Ich nehme sie heute gerne
00:26:19.200 Mit zu mir nach Haus
00:26:21.240 Sie wirkt so cool
00:26:26.840 It's very simple
00:26:27.920 It's 5-1
00:26:28.700 It's just
00:26:29.980 It's like they've reduced music
00:26:32.640 Because they're taking on
00:26:34.020 A new instrument
00:26:35.240 In a Moog synthesizer
00:26:38.180 And similar things
00:26:39.180 They've reduced music
00:26:41.280 Down to a kind of basic thing
00:26:43.340 And there's something
00:26:44.080 By being that basic
00:26:46.020 And simplistic
00:26:46.660 There's almost a kind of
00:26:48.660 Arty
00:26:49.160 Or ironic quality to it
00:26:52.080 But she's a model 1.00
00:26:52.940 And she's looking good
00:26:53.860 I'd like to take her home
00:26:54.940 That's understood
00:26:55.760 That's not quite the translation
00:26:57.560 But I guess they need
00:26:58.360 To make it rhyme in English
00:26:59.260 She plays hard to get 0.99
00:27:00.700 She smiles from time to time
00:27:02.560 It only takes a camera
00:27:03.760 To change her mind
00:27:05.160 Sie trinkt in night 0.97
00:27:07.180 Nachtclubs 0.83
00:27:08.080 Immer sagt
00:27:08.880 Korrekt
00:27:09.740 Und hat hier alle MƤnner
00:27:12.120 Apgescheckt 1.00
00:27:13.760 She drinks only champagne
00:27:16.500 Correct
00:27:17.160 And it's
00:27:18.700 So
00:27:19.200 What I was saying
00:27:20.260 It's like a description
00:27:21.700 A hard description
00:27:23.360 Of a
00:27:25.620 Of a model
00:27:28.200 And there's a
00:27:29.820 There's a kind of
00:27:30.720 Wry irony
00:27:31.940 Going along with it
00:27:33.520 But you don't quite know
00:27:35.280 What to make of it
00:27:36.360 A white house
00:27:45.740 A white room
00:27:47.240 The programme of today
00:27:49.760 Light on
00:27:52.240 Switch on
00:27:53.760 Your eyes are far away
00:27:56.240 The map represents you
00:28:00.020 And the tape
00:28:01.100 Is your voice
00:28:02.900 Follow
00:28:04.440 Follow
00:28:04.480 All along
00:28:05.940 Till you
00:28:07.260 Recognize
00:28:08.600 The choice
00:28:09.420 The map represents you
00:28:16.280 And the tape
00:28:16.760 Is your voice
00:28:17.520 Follow all along
00:28:18.580 Till you recognize
00:28:19.540 The choice
00:28:19.920 Now I don't quite even know
00:28:20.980 What that means
00:28:21.640 The map represents you
00:28:23.160 And the tape
00:28:23.700 Is your voice
00:28:24.280 I think that's
00:28:24.840 Actually a kind of
00:28:26.040 Interesting sentiment
00:28:27.060 Kind of a
00:28:28.520 You know
00:28:29.300 Simulation
00:28:30.240 Similar
00:28:30.640 Ackram 0.62
00:28:31.000 Sentiment
00:28:31.540 But bright light
00:28:32.960 Bright light
00:28:33.860 Dark room
00:28:34.500 Bright light
00:28:35.100 Dark room
00:28:35.760 And it's
00:28:37.500 Describing photographic
00:28:39.060 And there's this
00:28:39.700 Again this kind of
00:28:40.460 Like distance
00:28:41.580 Objectivity
00:28:42.860 In the sense of
00:28:43.820 A literal description
00:28:44.720 Of an object
00:28:45.280 In a certain
00:28:46.120 Kind of irony
00:28:46.900 Maybe even a little
00:28:47.920 Bit of an obsession
00:28:48.700 Like when you
00:28:49.820 Hear a song
00:28:50.660 Like das 1.00
00:28:51.480 Model
00:28:51.920 Or das 0.55
00:28:53.840 Model
00:28:54.340 I guess they
00:28:55.020 Might say
00:28:55.460 It
00:28:57.160 It
00:28:58.320 It seems
00:28:59.480 Almost like
00:29:00.160 Someone in the
00:29:00.740 Crowd
00:29:01.180 Like looking
00:29:02.180 At this woman 1.00
00:29:03.100 And obsessing
00:29:05.000 About her
00:29:05.380 But not having
00:29:06.080 Her
00:29:06.360 And describing
00:29:07.200 Her
00:29:07.480 And kind of
00:29:07.800 It's scientific
00:29:08.620 Detail
00:29:09.000 Almost kind of
00:29:10.140 Creepy
00:29:10.760 Or stalker
00:29:11.800 Ish
00:29:12.140 But I mean that
00:29:13.400 In a good way
00:29:14.060 That gives it
00:29:15.500 That gives the
00:29:16.620 Lyrics a little
00:29:17.580 Edge to them
00:29:18.640 So they're not
00:29:19.640 Childlike simplicity
00:29:20.860 Like you know
00:29:21.980 It's not like a 0.54
00:29:22.520 Child on a
00:29:23.280 Xylophone
00:29:23.720 Saying like
00:29:24.400 She is a
00:29:25.700 Model and
00:29:26.420 She's looking
00:29:27.320 Good
00:29:27.900 We
00:29:28.200 You know
00:29:28.680 That would be
00:29:29.700 In a way 1.00
00:29:30.220 Stupid 1.00
00:29:30.600 But when they're 1.00
00:29:31.640 Doing it
00:29:32.240 In the way
00:29:33.180 That Crawford
00:29:33.700 Does it
00:29:34.220 It becomes
00:29:35.160 You know
00:29:36.420 Arty and
00:29:37.520 Distanced
00:29:38.200 And poetic
00:29:40.200 Even
00:29:40.800 And I think
00:29:42.560 Depeche Mode
00:29:43.540 Achieved some
00:29:44.700 Of that quality
00:29:45.360 But
00:29:46.020 With this
00:29:47.680 Album
00:29:48.140 They don't
00:29:49.180 Go back
00:29:49.800 To that
00:29:50.320 I mean
00:29:51.000 That would
00:29:51.520 Be interesting
00:29:52.080 I think
00:29:52.600 You almost
00:29:52.940 Have to go
00:29:53.380 All in
00:29:54.000 If you're
00:29:54.220 Going to
00:29:54.360 Do something
00:29:54.820 And if
00:29:55.680 You're
00:29:55.820 Going to
00:29:56.020 Do this
00:29:56.700 Back to
00:29:57.620 The 80s
00:29:58.180 Stuff
00:29:58.440 You have
00:29:59.060 To go
00:29:59.300 Really
00:29:59.760 Far back
00:30:00.820 To the
00:30:01.080 80s
00:30:01.480 And kind
00:30:01.760 Of try
00:30:02.000 To figure
00:30:02.420 Out what
00:30:03.080 Made you
00:30:03.620 As a
00:30:03.900 Band
00:30:04.220 Instead
00:30:05.800 Instead
00:30:05.840 Of
00:30:06.760 Kind of
00:30:09.660 Bringing in 0.95
00:30:10.440 A lot
00:30:10.980 Of stuff
00:30:11.520 About Depeche Mode
00:30:12.320 That's good
00:30:12.960 And cool
00:30:13.640 But that
00:30:14.120 We've
00:30:14.420 Heard before
00:30:14.980 Bringing in 0.95
00:30:15.600 Some
00:30:15.900 You know
00:30:17.640 Bringing in 0.95
00:30:18.140 A little
00:30:18.340 Personal
00:30:18.780 Jesus
00:30:19.220 Guitar
00:30:19.800 Now and
00:30:20.880 Again
00:30:21.460 Singing
00:30:23.000 About
00:30:23.360 Jezebel
00:30:24.120 But
00:30:24.760 Basically
00:30:26.420 Doing it
00:30:26.940 As a
00:30:27.200 Feminist
00:30:27.620 Anthem
00:30:28.040 Of some
00:30:28.540 Kind
00:30:28.980 To the
00:30:29.740 Degree
00:30:29.980 That they
00:30:30.320 Can be
00:30:30.680 Feminist
00:30:31.220 And I
00:30:32.900 Almost wish
00:30:34.060 If they
00:30:34.520 Were going
00:30:34.840 To go
00:30:35.440 Down this
00:30:35.940 Road
00:30:36.280 And they
00:30:36.960 Kept that
00:30:37.820 Opening
00:30:38.360 Line
00:30:38.980 To end
00:30:39.660 Chains
00:30:40.060 Where they're
00:30:40.480 Tuning the
00:30:41.840 Synthesizers 0.97
00:30:42.420 To a
00:30:42.760 Node
00:30:42.940 It's like
00:30:46.880 A440
00:30:47.700 Or whatever
00:30:48.080 It is
00:30:58.980 That they
00:31:07.660 Would have
00:31:07.900 Just gone
00:31:08.380 All the
00:31:08.700 Way
00:31:09.100 And not
00:31:11.360 You know
00:31:12.460 Programmed
00:31:13.080 Some things
00:31:13.620 Gone super
00:31:14.280 Simplistic
00:31:15.040 Wrote lyrics
00:31:16.560 That were
00:31:17.780 Similar to
00:31:18.980 Vince Clark's
00:31:19.580 Lyrics
00:31:19.860 I think that
00:31:21.620 Would have
00:31:21.860 Been more
00:31:22.180 Daring and
00:31:23.120 Interesting
00:31:23.480 And instead
00:31:25.240 We get an
00:31:26.020 Album that's
00:31:27.320 Kind of a
00:31:28.260 Kind of a
00:31:30.220 Solid B
00:31:30.940 Maybe a
00:31:33.540 C plus
00:31:34.060 B
00:31:34.680 B minus
00:31:35.500 You know
00:31:37.360 What I'm
00:31:37.660 Referring to
00:31:38.020 It's just
00:31:38.460 Not great
00:31:39.000 I would
00:31:40.100 I would
00:31:40.480 Give them
00:31:40.860 A C
00:31:41.580 Plus
00:31:42.160 But
00:31:44.300 There's just
00:31:45.960 Too many
00:31:46.500 Clunkers 0.93
00:31:47.320 This might
00:31:48.880 Be actually
00:31:49.600 Their worst
00:31:50.260 Album
00:31:50.520 But before
00:31:51.180 We get to
00:31:51.740 That
00:31:51.940 So with
00:31:52.500 All this
00:31:52.840 Talk of
00:31:53.300 Their
00:31:53.500 Objectivity
00:31:54.480 Why the
00:31:56.660 Name
00:31:57.120 Sounds
00:31:57.820 Of the
00:31:58.240 Universe
00:31:58.640 Then
00:31:58.960 Is that
00:32:00.060 Not one
00:32:00.580 Of the
00:32:00.840 Most objective
00:32:01.660 Titles
00:32:02.100 For an
00:32:02.380 Album
00:32:02.660 And is it
00:32:03.580 A throwaway
00:32:04.340 Is it a
00:32:05.180 Throwaway
00:32:05.600 Title
00:32:05.840 I don't
00:32:06.680 Think it
00:32:07.180 Would be
00:32:07.900 Like he
00:32:08.600 Martin said
00:32:09.220 Before about
00:32:09.740 Violator
00:32:10.260 That Violator
00:32:11.520 Was oh
00:32:12.080 Yeah we just
00:32:12.560 Wanted something
00:32:13.040 That would
00:32:13.360 Sound like
00:32:13.740 Heavy metal
00:32:14.300 Haha
00:32:14.680 Yeah I
00:32:15.220 Actually can
00:32:15.800 Believe that
00:32:16.320 I can buy
00:32:16.900 That
00:32:17.200 But yeah
00:32:17.960 With sounds
00:32:18.980 Of the
00:32:19.220 Universe
00:32:19.520 That I
00:32:21.260 Feel like
00:32:21.840 You have to
00:32:22.320 Sound like
00:32:22.820 Spacey or
00:32:23.880 Or at
00:32:25.280 At the
00:32:25.700 Very
00:32:25.960 Least
00:32:26.620 I think
00:32:27.040 They do
00:32:27.640 And I
00:32:28.000 Think that's
00:32:28.360 At least
00:32:28.600 What they're
00:32:28.900 Going for
00:32:29.560 So there's
00:32:30.860 A hidden
00:32:31.280 Track after
00:32:32.480 Corrupt
00:32:34.640 Where they
00:32:35.360 Do the
00:32:36.640 Kind of
00:32:37.100 Like backing
00:32:38.200 Of wrong
00:32:40.840 And it's
00:32:41.160 Like
00:32:41.320 Something like
00:32:45.240 That
00:32:45.560 And you
00:32:47.400 Know this
00:32:47.840 Is what I
00:32:48.320 Think they're
00:32:48.840 Going for
00:32:49.360 jetzt
00:32:51.340 Or
00:32:51.940 To
00:32:52.960 Have
00:32:53.080 Man
00:33:05.360 To
00:33:07.420 To
00:33:09.000 To
00:33:14.400 To
00:33:16.900 To
00:33:17.420 To
00:33:18.960 To
00:33:19.040 To
00:33:19.340 it's very funny to watch a movie like 2001 because you see what people in 1968 thought
00:33:31.980 that the future would look like and in fact we're 20 25 years past it we don't actually
00:33:39.280 go to space stations on a regular basis um we don't have that uh cold detached but kind
00:33:47.520 of heavy uh civilized demeanor of a lot of those figures a kind of 1950s company man but in space
00:33:55.840 and so it's weird it's like a it's a it's a past future i haven't seen 2001 full disclosure but
00:34:03.720 i think i think what you're getting at is that it's like a jetson e correct yeah sure uh yeah i
00:34:13.280 can under i can definitely understand that yeah i'll get to uh watching 2001 uh eventually
00:34:19.720 okay so with corrupt one of the things i noticed actually is that it's got a an identical almost
00:34:29.000 identical vocal melody to where's the revolution so in corrupt it goes i could corrupt you
00:34:37.280 it would be ugly they could sedate you but what good would drugs be and this
00:34:46.020 and then exploding like higher the second time around it's very similar to and where's the
00:34:56.740 revolution your government your country you patriotic junkie it's like that you know forgive my uh
00:35:06.500 singing there but really i mean i i didn't notice that until re-listening to this and i probably like
00:35:14.660 the third or fourth listen i was like wait a sec i've heard that vocal melody before
00:35:18.740 i could corrupt you
00:35:31.060 it would be easy 0.94
00:35:35.860 watching you suffer
00:35:40.500 listen
00:35:42.740 crazy
00:35:45.940 it
00:35:49.820 me
00:35:55.260 he
00:36:00.560 he
00:36:03.400 he
00:36:05.760 he
00:36:07.680 he
00:36:08.000 We'll be right back.
00:36:38.000 We'll be right back.
00:37:08.000 I think the Ben Hillier trilogy, for me, is their low point just overall. I'm not even saying it has everything to do with Ben Hillier. Like I said, I already gave him praise for trying to steer their sound into a synth rock. It's almost like a new genre.
00:37:25.000 But yeah, the era in general, I think there were some ones that could have been trashed.
00:37:35.000 Yeah.
00:38:04.980 I mean, if you could only imagine what it would be like to hear a Moog synthesizer in the 60s. I mean, it's something else. And, you know, like, what is it? Wendy Carlos, I believe, who did the music for Kubrick's films.
00:38:21.980 She, or I say she, she, he at the time became a woman. So it's now Wendy. And he at the time, she now did these, you know, the first album was hooked on Bach or plugged into Bach or something like that.
00:38:39.980 He was using a massive synthesizer and basically going back to the classical music catalog.
00:38:46.980 With Kubrick movies, there's this kind of eerie, weird look at it, at, at some music that just once you hear it, it evokes a clockwork orange might even evoke Barry Lyndon to some, the 70s Kubrick kind of thing.
00:39:05.260 But there was something just totally alien about it. And they're actually dealing with a sound wave itself and kind of molding it. And you could visualize the sound wave in many cases.
00:39:17.160 I'll patch this up here into one of my output modules and try and show you how, with these primitive sounds, we start to get some very musical sounding things.
00:39:26.340 First of all, here's a sawtooth wave that's coming out of an oscillator, going into a mixer, coming up into what's called a filter, which is going to remove parts of the sound, either the top or the bottom part, much like bass and treble controls do on your, you know, high fidelity system.
00:39:40.660 And by hitting a note on the keyboard now, I'm connected up, so I'll hear that one sound.
00:39:46.260 It's a very low sound. It's very bright. If I manually turn this knob, you'll listen to the sound get considerably duller.
00:39:55.340 Here, it gets very dull down here. It's very bright here.
00:39:58.880 Instead of doing this manually, I can do it automatically with what's called an envelope generator. It generates the envelope, the envelope being this type of motion that I'm...
00:40:07.040 It's actually fascinating stuff, and it's stuff we've now forgotten.
00:40:09.660 I mean, when I grew up in the... When I was a kid in the 80s, when I was like 10, I just had a synthesizer that was... I don't know, you know, my dad might have purchased for 200 bucks or something, and it just kind of did everything.
00:40:23.000 You could play classical music, you could play strings, you could play, you know, poppy rock sounds, like speak and spell sounds, and so on.
00:40:31.400 But I think they're going for that, you know, future past tense.
00:40:37.960 So they're, you know, they're going for like what space sounded like in the 1960s.
00:40:47.120 And I think that's interesting. I'll give them that.
00:40:51.140 Now, for corrupt, I think this is written from the... It's written from the perspective of the devil, wouldn't you say?
00:41:02.200 I could corrupt you in a heartbeat.
00:41:06.640 You think you're so special, think you're so sweet.
00:41:10.260 And then, you'll be calling out my name when you need someone to blame.
00:41:22.960 Kind of messed up the melody there, but you get the point.
00:41:40.260 You think you're so special, think you're so special.
00:42:10.240 You think you're so special, think you're so special, think you're so special.
00:42:40.240 I think that's interesting.
00:43:06.260 But as with Jezebel, it's a nice little biblical reference.
00:43:10.400 This is very Martin Gore. It's very Depeche Mode Christian. 0.91
00:43:14.520 But then it doesn't really go beyond that basic sense of, I'm going to corrupt you.
00:43:21.600 There's nothing you can do to stop me.
00:43:23.080 And also, you'll be calling out my name.
00:43:24.700 That is the devil.
00:43:25.780 And that's all fine and good.
00:43:28.580 But again, it doesn't really bring me somewhere where I haven't been before.
00:43:34.100 It doesn't tell me something I don't already know.
00:43:36.000 Yeah, it is kind of similar to Jezebel in the sense that when I listened to it, I thought 0.92
00:43:46.180 it was about like a pimp turning out a girl into a prostitute or something.
00:43:52.080 That's like the feeling that I got from it. 0.96
00:43:54.000 But yeah, you're probably right with the devil explanation.
00:43:59.940 But yeah, I mean, it doesn't go lyrically or musically to the places that I needed it to go.
00:44:11.440 Yeah, and like hold a feed.
00:44:17.960 I just can't get over that very terrible music video.
00:44:41.440 We are here.
00:45:01.300 We can love.
00:45:02.040 We share something.
00:45:03.660 I'm sure that you mean the world to me.
00:45:06.880 When you get what you need, there's no way of knowing that what you'll have is another
00:45:15.980 hole to feed.
00:45:19.060 It seems to kind of indicate that, you know, we're two human beings. 1.00
00:45:25.380 Let's fuck. 1.00
00:45:27.200 But also, it's a story of pregnancy and having a child. 1.00
00:45:34.760 Another hole to feed. 0.69
00:45:35.880 Okay, that's exactly.
00:45:37.660 Yeah, like mouth to feed.
00:45:38.740 That's exactly what I was thinking as well.
00:45:41.780 He says on the Wikipedia for this, he says that it's about him trying to fill a hole in
00:45:52.640 his soul.
00:45:53.240 That's not what I got from listening to it so much as basically having a kid out of wedlock,
00:45:59.360 thinking at first that it's a curse and then kind of later appreciating it as a blessing
00:46:07.140 or like a burden, maybe not a curse.
00:46:10.080 That's the way that I took it.
00:46:12.200 But with that song, it's just not that good over.
00:46:19.980 It's not single material.
00:46:21.800 No, and they actually released that as a single as well.
00:46:24.620 It was kind of like the second single or something.
00:46:27.760 Yeah.
00:46:28.200 And it's just...
00:46:29.980 And Wrong, I don't...
00:46:31.060 Wrong is not single worthy. 0.94
00:46:33.380 You know what really...
00:46:34.100 I like Wrong.
00:46:34.820 Okay.
00:46:35.320 I went...
00:46:36.280 This was before, I guess, Dave had his health issues.
00:46:39.400 And I saw them in New York City.
00:46:43.040 And Wrong played live was just rocking.
00:46:46.740 And it was better live.
00:46:51.960 Yeah.
00:46:52.860 It very well could be that...
00:46:54.460 I mean, a lot of songs are better live.
00:46:56.480 I don't doubt that.
00:46:57.880 And they're obviously really good live.
00:47:00.020 But with the actual song on the album, you know what vibes I got was, you know, when he...
00:47:07.640 The introduction, he goes, Wrong.
00:47:09.460 That kind of reverse reverb coming in, the...
00:47:13.300 Wrong.
00:47:13.880 Wrong.
00:47:14.660 Shh.
00:47:15.460 I got a Phil Collins, I remember kind of vibes.
00:47:20.640 And I was just like, this has been done before.
00:47:24.400 Wrong.
00:47:28.760 I remember.
00:47:33.680 Don't worry.
00:47:36.720 How could I ever forget this the first time?
00:47:41.540 Maybe I'm the only one, but I can't be, I don't think, because...
00:47:47.960 I kind of like the just variation on a theme of self-deprecation.
00:47:53.000 Basically, you know, I was born with the wrong sign in the wrong house, with the wrong ascendancy.
00:47:59.600 I took the wrong road that led me to the wrong tendencies.
00:48:03.160 I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, for the wrong reason, and the wrong rhyme on the wrong day of the wrong week.
00:48:09.980 Used the wrong method with the wrong technique.
00:48:12.320 Wrong.
00:48:13.140 Yeah.
00:48:13.460 I mean, I kind of like it.
00:48:15.160 I think it's actually kind of catchy.
00:48:17.960 It just...
00:48:18.860 The whole kind of like, wrong, wrong one note.
00:48:24.120 I mean, it's...
00:48:25.580 Yeah.
00:48:26.560 I get that.
00:48:28.200 I totally get that.
00:48:29.660 But, you know, in that song, something that I appreciate about the lyrics is the, there's something wrong with me inherently.
00:48:38.280 Yeah.
00:48:38.720 Or, and then that's also in Fragile Tension, when he's sort of talking about there's something mystical in our genes.
00:48:46.160 I think this was, so this was, as far as I understand, the first album that Martin had made sober.
00:48:52.880 From what I understand, after playing the angel, he had gotten sober.
00:48:57.660 And I kind of think that...
00:48:59.500 Always a mistake.
00:49:01.120 Sure.
00:49:02.180 I think that...
00:49:04.680 Well, I mean, kind of seriously.
00:49:06.560 I've reduced my drinking by at least 50%, if not 70%.
00:49:12.300 I try to have a glass, a little, you know, a couple ounces of whiskey now and again.
00:49:19.540 I definitely don't drink every day, and I feel healthier and better.
00:49:23.820 But, if you're a rock star, do you want to live that healthy lifestyle, I ask you?
00:49:30.020 Don't you owe it to us to go down the wrong path towards self-destruction?
00:49:35.740 Yeah.
00:49:37.080 Right.
00:49:37.340 There, there, I think there was a, I, there was a joke one time of, I remember talking to someone.
00:49:48.200 This is actually, it's funny I thought of this anecdote, because I was, I was living in New York City at the time this album came out, and when I saw them in concert.
00:49:55.640 And it wasn't, I think it, was it at MSG?
00:50:01.680 I forgot.
00:50:02.780 But, someone was saying that they saw Billy Idol live, and he just came on stage, and granted, it was fun, a worthwhile concert, but it just wasn't much of anything.
00:50:16.600 And, he had, he was sober, and like, not cool, and badass, and sneering, and all this kind of stuff.
00:50:24.000 And I was joking, like, that there was this, they would meet backstage, and they would talk to Billy Idol, and they'd be like, you know, Billy, what's going on with you? 0.64
00:50:33.620 It used to be about the drugs, and, and the whores, and, and the heavy drinking, and now, now you're obsessed with this, this music. 0.98
00:50:43.780 And, I, I think that's, like, true, actually. 0.97
00:50:49.400 You know?
00:50:50.760 Like, if you're gonna be a rock star, you gotta be a rock star. 0.77
00:50:53.940 Yeah, and there's something uninspiring about talking about your, obviously, there's something uninspiring talking about how your genes are fucked up, and you're wrong inherently, but it just sounds like, oh, I've been reading about my alcoholism, and I just, maybe I just have the right genes for this kind of thing.
00:51:18.700 I think that played into his writing, I mean, those are two lines on wrong, and, and fragile tension.
00:51:27.340 Uh, he, I'm not saying he's going to full, like, HPD, but he's talking about his genes, and his behavior.
00:51:33.320 Uh, this, I just was like, did he go to, like, a 12-step program, and think that someone told him there at the 12-step program that he, he's got the genes for this, and that's why he does what he does?
00:51:45.200 I don't know, I, I just, uh, didn't really care for it, it was too obvious, too, uh, not inspiring.
00:51:56.580 Uh, I might like this better than you, and I wouldn't go down the road you just went to, went down, but, um, maybe it's just because I can remember hearing it live, and it just rocking.
00:52:07.460 Yeah, I just wish there was a chorus that wasn't just kind of one note, just singing wrong.
00:52:15.200 Mm-hmm.
00:52:16.940 But, but yeah, I mean, maybe that was kind of the point.
00:52:19.840 Let's make something really monotonous, and maybe too simple.
00:52:23.720 Let's make something really monotonous, and maybe too simple.
00:52:53.940 Make something really monotonous, but yeah.
00:52:56.240 Thank you.
00:52:57.340 Bye.
00:53:00.560 Bye.
00:53:02.400 Bye.
00:53:09.560 Bye.
00:53:16.560 Bye.
00:53:18.620 Bye.
00:53:18.920 Bye.
00:53:19.520 Bye.
00:53:21.860 Bye.
00:53:23.700 what are we giving this uh overall you said a c plus so like uh i'll just because i'm so
00:53:35.060 generous i'll give it kind of a b minus um definitely you know i i almost think we need
00:53:42.040 multiple rankings because there there's like what do i really want to listen to and then also what's
00:53:48.960 important in the overall development i think this is a very unimportant album in fact i think it's
00:53:56.080 entirely dispensable that is this album could vanish into thin air due to some you know uh
00:54:04.800 weird physical quality of the universe or something it just vanishes and history would be the same
00:54:11.240 nothing would change
00:54:13.820 uh depeche mode would be the same
00:54:18.280 whereas this album is dispensable in the sense that they didn't need to make it but
00:54:24.640 it might be a slightly better album to some than a broken frame but a broken frame they needed to
00:54:32.200 they had to make that otherwise exactly they would have been done yeah and is it worse than delta machine
00:54:41.200 it's close i i have i have them both near the bottom actually i have and i'll be honest i was
00:54:52.660 listening to playing the angel just because i wanted to compare this album to the previous album and i
00:54:58.860 listened to it once all the way through and it's a front heavy album in other words the first five
00:55:08.160 six songs are good and then the rest i just i could do without so we'll we'll get there of course but
00:55:14.500 uh yeah i i what i heard about martin was that there were very very very few songs that he made
00:55:24.020 that he didn't release and i think that he should have not released uh some of these on delta machine
00:55:34.080 uh and sounds of the universe i don't know if that's true but uh in an interview with the new york
00:55:42.340 times he said oh he's like i think there's only one that we never really released that i wrote
00:55:47.460 wrong
00:55:54.320 wrong
00:55:59.720 wrong
00:56:00.240 wrong
00:56:06.120 wrong
00:56:11.960 I was born with the wrong time in the wrong house
00:56:18.100 with the wrong and stand and cheese
00:56:20.220 i took the wrong road
00:56:22.460 they led to
00:56:23.900 the wrong and stand and cheese
00:56:26.220 i was in the wrong place
00:56:28.360 at the wrong time
00:56:29.820 for the wrong reason
00:56:31.500 and the wrong life
00:56:32.720 on the wrong day
00:56:34.160 of the wrong week
00:56:35.640 used the wrong method
00:56:37.320 with the wrong technique
00:56:38.960 wrong
00:56:39.960 wrong
00:56:40.960 wrong
00:56:42.260 wrong
00:56:45.960 wrong
00:56:46.960 wrong
00:56:47.960 wrong
00:56:48.960 wrong
00:56:49.960 there's something wrong with me
00:56:51.960 chemicals
00:56:52.960 something wrong with me
00:56:54.960 inherently
00:56:55.960 the wrong man's
00:56:56.960 in the wrong genes
00:56:57.960 are rich and wrong heads
00:56:59.960 by the wrong genes
00:57:00.960 it was a wrong plan
00:57:02.960 in the wrong hands
00:57:03.960 the wrong feeling
00:57:05.960 for the wrong man
00:57:06.960 the wrong eyes
00:57:08.960 on the wrong eyes
00:57:10.960 with the wrong nice
00:57:11.960 with the wrong lies
00:57:13.960 wrong
00:57:15.960 wrong
00:57:16.960 wrong
00:57:20.960 wrong
00:57:22.960 We'll be right back.