I managed to write a post comprised entirely of electronic music and didn’t mention a Japanese artist once! I’m surprised too.
Depeche Mode
Wrong (Magdas Scallop Funk Remix)
Wrong (Frankie’s Bromantic Club Mix)
Wrong (DIM vs Boys Noize Remix)
I’m not going to say much about this song, I feel as if I’ve probably written about this song before. I like this song. Good song. These are good remixes to a good song. Okay, now let’s move on.
Have you heard the new Depeche Mode song, “Where’s The Revolution?” It’s fucking great. The vocals by Gahan are on point and the production finds a nice middle-ground between vintage Mode and a more modern take on synthpop.
But the best thing about it? The lyrics. It’s like someone drilled a hole in my head and extracted my exacts thoughts on the current state of the world. There’s so little good political music these days, who’d of thought we’d get an incendiary political track from motherfucking Depeche Mode?
I think the only other political Depeche Mode track I can think of is “John The Revelator.” That was the first Depeche Mode single I heard as an adult that really go me into the group. So maybe I’m just biased towards the group being political. Regardless, I hope “Where’s The Revolution” gets some dope remixes. We need more politics on the dancefloor.
Mito
Droid
Mito is a pseudonym for Stefano Secchi, an Italian musician and producer who has over two hundred releases under his belt. Don’t know anything about him other than what Discogs tell me. What I do know is that this song is some dope shit. Classic Italian electro disco at its finest. Listening to this track puts me in a real headspace. I imagine a 1980s vision of what a 2020s nightclulb would look like, with everyone decked out in neon fringe and Mylar clothes. Robot bartenders serve glowing drinks and everyone has a jetpack for no reason.
I’m gonna run for President and that mental image is going to be my campaign. Vote For Lost Turntable – Neon and Jet Packs for Everyone!
If this song installs similar optimistic feels of a retro-future and you want more, then you’re in luck, you can grab several other mixes of this track on iTunes!
Telex
Moskow Diskow (1985 Version)
Moskow Diskow (French Version)
Moskow Diskow (English Version)
I posted a version of “Moskow Diskow” six years ago. In my continuing adventures of reading old posts of my own blog, let’s see what I was talking about on June 6th, 2012.
Hm. Nothing really all that special I guess. Just a call out for questions about recording vinyl. I must’ve been in a good mood that week. In fact, browsing that whole month I seemed to be rather content and chill. I guess that was the start of my run-up to my Japan visit, so I was probably focused on that. Good times.
But yeah, “Moskow Diskow.” None of these versions are the same as the version I shared all those years ago, they’re taken from a different 12″ single entirely. Telex is dope.
DM may not have been overtly political however their earlier material certainly had textures of Cold War Europe in the early 1980’s (before David Gahan’s drug fueled passive aggressiveness dominated their output circa “Songs of Faith and Devotion”). DM was huge with folks in Eastern European countries and there’s a reason that the music spoke to them, primarily albums like “A Broken Frame” and “Construction Time Again.” There’s even been a book written about their Eastern Bloc fan base.
Sorry, I intended to include linkage to the book that I mentioned in my first post. Fascinating stuff in my opinion which touches on a few of my favorite subjects, including the Cold War and music.
http://thequietus.com/articles/14746-depeche-mode-monument-book-east-germany
Check out Secchi’s “I Say Yeah” a GREAT early 90’s Italo-House floorfiller!
Everything Counts was a little left leaning all those years ago..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everything_Counts
CONSTRUCTION TIME AGAIN was very much a political album…