Depeche Mode C or D/S& D

My friend's doing an all DM video TwitchStream this evening starting at 6:00 CST.

https://m.twitch.tv/VJBigSuit

Such terrible news. I've been pretty lukewarm to what the band's been doing this past decade but I hope they can still continue now, they've made it clear that he was an important part of the band. RIP Fletch

I mean I hate to be blunt but there's a part of me that feels that the band is over. The 'lukewarm water' joke from Spinal Tap has a real place in small group dynamics and he was, as a friend said, the 'peacemaker' between Gahan and Gore over time. If they do continue, well, stranger has happened -- I mean I still can't believe the Who barely skipped a beat after Entwistle died -- but personally I don't think we're seeing Depeche again, and I'm glad I have seen them so many times already.

This is a big one, RIP

RIP Fletch, a true inspiration for all of us normie goths <3

RIP Andy. I don't know much about his creative input in DM but speaking as a fan, his goofy joy up there dancing and playing keys was always an important and welcome counterweight to the earnest brooding of the rest of the band.

Also, his name was the password to my first email account

Fletchboy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYg8OcT_vhc

I grew up near Basildon. It is an absolute shithole. Full of petty, mindless violence. Tories everywhere. Some of the scariest nights of my life were in my younger days when I would (stupidly) meet friends there for drinks. The fact that anything of note came out of there is truly miraculous.

I used to run the websites for the band Client and Fletch's Toast Hawaii label and do lots of other web/graphics odds and ends about 20 years ago (that terrible pineapple logo was mine). He was a such a nice man, and I was absolutely awed how, despite being a massive star, he was so enthusiastic to get a bit DIY with it all, flying economy with the band to do gigs, DJing in little basement clubs (which I occasionally helped with) and indeed having a kid in his late teens run his web operation with a cracked copy of Dreamweaver. He even DJed a student gig I put on at my uni, which blows my mind in retrospect. Absolutely top bloke and, as others have observed, 100% the secret weapon for DM's longevity. I'd hoped to run into him again some day. So sad he's gone.

it would be weird for DM to continue as a duo, but maybe Wilder will come back? That said I don't know what their apptetite aand interest is for even continuing.

if clark came back too that would be kinda interesting as the 3 could battle it out and dave as usual just sings along!

Man, I really don't think any of that will happen.

Nope. I’m pretty sure that’s it for DM. At most one could imagine a Gahan/Gore project à la Songs for Drella but not sure either for them would see any sense in that.

I had some thoughts.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/66972756

I don't know, bands don't break up anymore. Heck, New Order kept going without Peter Hook, and he was absolutely key to their sound. I could see DM doing a farewell tour, though.

alan is magical and they were the best with him and he has the best solo material too as i was not impressed with martins solo material and i never have been a fan of anything of vinces so alan and dave could have something very special together!

the last martin gore solo album is really good

Great piece, Ned. Thank you

You're welcome.

I had to do some further thoughts and processing, and I wrote this:

https://theshfl.com/guide/depeche-mode

Great piece. I am at best a surface level fan (the sonic textures are frequently fantastic, the lyrics and vocals ...less to my taste) but am listening to Ultra this afternoon.

Yeah, thanks for that Ned! It's been years since I listened to a Recoil album and am enjoying digging back in now. Also, somehow VCMG had slipped my radar so I'm very excited to check it out.

It’s a bit of a monster, that VCMG album, definitely not what anyone was expecting. Ultra was the first album I relistened to after last week’s news, when it was late and I had space to think. It’s always been an excellent late night album. Thanks to you both.

VCMG bangs, it's fantastic

Greatly enjoyed that writeup and was surprised to see at least one solo Gore release I don't remember ever hearing about before

A terrific piece, Ned.

never have been a fan of anything of vinces

whaaaat -- not even Yazoo? If you say, "Alison Moyet makes them worthwhile," then sure.

Thanks again. It is a little weird realizing Ultra is 25 years old now.

This VCMG album is great.

Considering how much I like Depeche Mode (I'm pretty sure they were my first "favorite band"), it's weird that I never checked out any of the side projects, I guess this is what I'm doing in the next couple of weeks.

What's interesting about the side projects is that while on the one hand you can tell they're all from Depeche one way or another, even Wilder, on the other even if you added up all the parts it still wouldn't be Depeche -- there's enough individuality down all the paths over time, and there's a different kind of synthesis when they all work together (admittedly long gone in the case of Wilder).

whaaaat -- not even Yazoo?

Just to note, you won't be able to debate that question, as the person you're responding to has been perma-banned.

All I know is that I find the encore performance of "Everything Counts" in "101" oddly moving. There's the bittersweet song itself, there's the exultant celebration of conquering America, there's their youth, the singalong, Dave just listening, all that together I just find so weirdly touching.

Dave and Martin have released a statement. Fletch’s passing was due to an aortic dissection, and was completely sudden and (hopefully) painless.

https://www.stereogum.com/2191550/depeche-mode-andy-fletcher-death-statement/news/

"I used to run the websites for the band Client and Fletch's Toast Hawaii label and do lots of other web/graphics odds and ends about 20 years ago (that terrible pineapple logo was mine)."

This prompted me to look up Toast Hawaii's website from twenty years ago and it's, er, very nostalgic:
https://web.archive.org/web/20030621222322/https://www.toasthawaii.com/

Actually I was expecting a Flash-laden monstrosity, but it's subtler than that (optimised for 1024 pixels wide, centred, seemingly made with vanilla HTML). It would have been technically old-fashioned at the time but it works and I can still click on some of the links.

Judging by the DJ schedule page Andrew Fletcher spent March-July 2004 DJing in Milan, Florence, Istanbul, London, Athens, Tenerife, Olten, Vincenza, Buenos Aires, Barcelona, and Nuremberg. You can't say he wasted his life.

What did I do in 2004? Looking through my emails I see I bought a Daytek P818 Multi-region DVD, with Dolby Digital and the possibility of 5.1 surround output with the appropriate speakers. I think it's fair to say that Andrew Fletcher had the better lifestyle.

Actually I was expecting a Flash-laden monstrosity, but it's subtler than that (optimised for 1024 pixels wide, centred, seemingly made with vanilla HTML). It would have been technically old-fashioned at the time but it works and I can still click on some of the links.

Oh yeah, I was coding everything by hand. Don't think I was even using CSS or anything, just doing everything the long way. Super old-fashioned (their needs were modest!) but it did the job.

The album/tour rumors are bubbling up and then this got posted just now

pic.twitter.com/x78oPTvXBN

— Depeche Mode (@depechemode) September 27, 2022

Misread that as April next year (American). Glad to see them carrying on, but if it's a new album I guess it's been in the works for some time

This is the longest they've ever gone between albums, isn't it?

They broke their album every four years chain last year yes :(

Album and tour in March.

https://www.depechemode.com/

Memento Mori sure says it all.

Could have called it "Inevitabilis."

jesus christ these tickets are expensive, but I bit the bullet anyway.

Yep, same here, but $120 is not that bad versus what I paid last time, if admittedly closer.

mine were $255 but I perhaps went for better seats than yours. TM did say they'd be doing demand pricing, which I hate. Anyway, I've only seen DM once before (on that last tour) and it was so good and I regret missing all their other ones so much, had to do it.

Hey, can't blame ya!

While we wait, new EP featuring Mr. Gahan.

https://kurtuenala.bandcamp.com/album/manuscript

Said EP I posted about above released today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f094kd6Y4aA