VIDEOKILLER - I Depeche Mode omaggiano Bowie con la loro versione di "Heroes"

VIDEOKILLER - Meglio tardi che mai: "Where's the Revolution" by Depeche Mode (directed by Anton Corbijn)

OFF THE RECORDS - It's "Delta Machine" time!

(ANSA) - ROMA, 25 MAR - Esce in tutto il mondo il 26 marzo Delta Machine (Columbia Records), tredicesimo album dei Depeche Mode. Oltre che in versione standard, e' disponibile anche in edizione deluxe, un doppio cd con 4 brani aggiuntivi e un libro con scatti firmati dall'artista Anton Corbijn. Il gruppo partira' poi per un tour europeo, anticipato da una data all'Hayarkon Park di Tel Aviv il 7 maggio: si esibira' allo Stadio San Siro di Milano il 18 luglio e allo Stadio Olimpico di Roma il 20 luglio, allo Stade De France di Parigi e al Locomotive Stadium di Mosca, prima di concludere la tournee a Minsk, in Bielorussia, il 29 luglio. Dice Martin Gore: ''Scrivere quest'album e' stata una bella sfida, perche' volevo che i brani avessero un sound molto moderno. Voglio che la gente si senta bene quando lo ascolta, che provi un senso di pace. Questo disco ha qualcosa di magico''.  Aggiunge Dave Gahan: ''Con questo album abbiamo cambiato il nostro approccio alla scrittura. Non amiamo il suono troppo 'normale', ci piace 'sporcare' un po' i brani, vogliamo che abbiano la nostra impronta, il Depeche Mode Sound. Delta Machine non fa eccezione e non vedo l'ora di farlo sentire ai nostri fan''.

TALK TALK - Gli Hurts: "C'ispiriamo a Roby Baggio...!"

MILANO - Guardi una foto degli Hurts e quel bianco e nero e l'aria distaccata ti fanno venire in mente i film esistenzialisti francesi. Oppure una pubblicità per la moda: linee pulite, tagli perfetti. L'immagine è importante per il duo di Manchester. Theo Hutchcraft e Adam Anderson sfatano la regola che nella musica vuole gli artisti disinteressati alla moda o troppo interessati. «La moda rappresenta gran parte della nostra identità come band - dice Adam, tastierista e chitarrista -. Ci serve per esprimere noi stessi individualmente e come duo creativo. Va di pari passo con la musica. Non c'è l'una senza l'altra». Rilancia il cantante: «Lo stile rafforza ancora di più la nostra musica perché mostra un altro lato della nostra personalità. Tutti hanno uno stile, a prescindere che lo sappiano o meno. Disinteressarsi del proprio aspetto è importante tanto quanto interessarsene. Chi dice "voglio focalizzarmi solo sulla musica e non su quello che indosso" in modo indiretto sta pensando a ciò che indossa».
FELLINI - Allora, modelli o attori? «Preferirei che qualcuno pensasse che sembriamo usciti da un film di Fellini: anche se lui era molto colorato, 8½ è in bianco e nero», spiega Hutchcraft. I due hanno pubblicato questa settimana il loro secondo album, «Exile», che porteranno in concerto il 25 marzo a Milano. «Essere sempre in giro ti fa sentire in esilio e poi noi ci sentiamo di vivere in un mondo che non è reale - sottolinea il cantante -. E la cosa bella di questo titolo è anche che la parola esilio racchiude in sé molte sentimenti come libertà, paura, isolamento... sensazioni molto vivide, sulle quali vale la pena scrivere delle canzoni. Siamo stati in giro molto e ci siamo lasciati la nostra vita alle spalle». La vita di prima, prima ancora del disco di debutto «Happiness» che ha venduto due milioni di copie, era quella di due ragazzi di Manchester che le provano tutte pur di sfondare con la musica. Sussidio di disoccupazione e vestiti ricercati per non sentirsi tagliati fuori. All'ennesimo progetto fallito, Theo e Adam si guardano in faccia, prendono un volo per Verona, si fermano per qualche giorno in Italia e al ritorno decidono di provarci in due. «Quella è stata un'esperienza catalizzatrice, è stato l'inizio degli Hurts come li conosciamo oggi», ricorda Hutchcraft.
BAGGIO - L'Italia non è stata solo quella vacanza. «Da voi c'è un vastissimo panoram di musica elettronica. A metà anni 90 i produttori e i musicisti italiani di musica elettronica dominavano le classifiche in Inghilterra. Mi ricordo i Savage, i Livin' Joy, Corona... ho una lista lunghissima». E se, prendendo spunto dal titolo di una delle nove canzoni («Somebody to Die For»), chiedi a loro per chi sarebbero disposti a dare la vita, divertiti rispondono: «Roberto Baggio - scherza Adam -. Era il mio eroe quand'ero piccolo. Soprattutto per la pettinatura. E poi perché ha sbagliato il rigore per la nazionale italiana ai Mondiali del '94». A proposito di capelli, il loro taglio è uno degli argomenti più discussi quando si parla degli Hurts. Il riferimento è agli anni 80, anzi alle citazioni degli anni 40 che si facevano allora. «A me sembra di avere la pettinatura più normale della storia, molto semplice, si mette e si toglie, tipo casco», scherza Theo. Fra i dischi della loro vita citano Sinead O' Connor e Nine Inch Nails, ma i sintetizzatori e l'elettronica degli Eighties tornano prepotentemente nella loro musica. «Amiamo molto band come Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode e Japan, ma la loro influenza si sente soprattutto nel primo disco. Quella è stata un'epoca di grande integrità e originalità nel mondo della musica, perché ci sono stati enormi sviluppi tecnologici. Si sente che c'era il desiderio di fare musica pop, purché fosse musica pop unica».

("Corriere della Sera", Andrea Laffranchi)

http://video.corriere.it/arriva-exile-nuovo-album-hurts/e622fea2-8811-11e2-ab53-591d55218f48

OFF THE RECORDS/VIDEOKILLER - Let's get in "Heaven" with Depeche Mode

OFF THE RECORDS - New Depeche single is out!

Article by "The Quietus"

Depeche Mode have announced a new album and a new tour, both happening next year.
We've been given a preview of the as-yet-untitled album, with the band playing a new cut at a press conference in Paris today. Have a listen to the track, also untitled (though Slicing Up Eyeballs suggest it may be called 'Angel Of Love'), below:
The site also reports that the band's Martin Gore told the conference: “It’s got a bit of a feel of Violator on some of the songs and a feel of Songs of Faith and Devotion on other songs. It’s a bit of a hybrid of those two for me.”
He added: “I am very happy with the new album and I think there are at least three or four songs that are up there with the very best that we’ve done."
While the tour will be a massive, 34-date affair, they are only playing one date in the UK, at the O2 Arena in London on May 28. Head here for tickets.

NEWS WAVE/LET'S TOUR - Depeche again! Gahan&Co. in tour nel 2013 e nuovo album

(ANSA) - MILANO, 23 OTT - A piu' di un anno dagli ultimi concerti insieme e a quattro anni dall'ultima tournee che li porto' a esibirsi in Italia, i Depeche Mode intraprenderanno un tour mondiale: e' stato annunciato oggi durante una conferenza stampa a Parigi, trasmessa in streaming dal sito della band britannica. Il tour avra' inizio il 7 maggio a Tel Aviv e attraversera' l'Europa per arrivare a Milano (stadio San Siro) il 18 luglio e a Roma (stadio Olimpico) il 20. Intanto i Depeche Mode stanno lavorando al tredicesimo album in studio (ancora senza titolo), che sara' pubblicato nei primi mesi del 2013.

NEWS WAVE - Against all odds, Duran Duran is the perfect band for the Olympics

Article by Paul Morley for "The Observer"

All through the 80s, I hated Duran Duran, when for some they were the kings of pop. I hated them because they acted as though they were minor members of the royal family, but those that loved them did so because they made grand, escapist music reflected in escapist videos celebrating their own playboy riches.

When I interviewed them for the NME in 1982, they were already lording it over the charts and playing ornate pop rooted in the otherness of Bowie and the cool of Roxy Music but somehow also in the scarves of the Bay City Rollers and the barnets of Slik. I was so angry at their self-importance that I could never bring myself to call them by the name they had lifted from Roger Vadim's Barbarella – they seemed more soap than space opera.

I used different names for them, my favourite being Diana Diana. (Writing such a piece now, I would call them, among other things, Seb Seb or Lordy Lordy.) Even then, they resembled the freshly minted Princess of Wales; you could see where her look as a fan derived from, certainly her hair, eyeliner and posing genius. You could see Diana as the female member of Duran Duran as Cilla was the female Beatle.

That's one reason why it's apt that they have been selected to be the English pop act marking the opening of the Olympic Games, a decision that provoked so much hand-wringing last week. Duran Duran created a soundtrack to the Diana years and carry with them the glory and burden of those years in much the same way Vera Lynn does for the war years. And, of course, they are mates of James Bond, if merely the plastic Roger Moore model, sealing the "international-symbol-of-Britain-whether-we-like-it-or-not" deal when two Beatles are dead and Adele and Coldplay are too extreme, and when most of the world has no knowledge of PJ Harvey and Arctic Monkeys, let alone Siouxsie and the Fall.

But I hated them, in the 80s. I hated them from the point of view of a rock critic taking pop seriously, even when it was just for fun. They fancied themselves as not so much the made-up boy band they clearly were – the pretty one, the chubby one, the moody one, possibly the talented one, etc – but as Peel-listening pop conceptualists mixing the Sex Pistols with Chic. (Wanton English energy and brazen processed disco, an interesting formula I may have stolen when working with Frankie Goes to Hollywood, my personal chart retort to Dreary Dreary.) Duran Duran, though, sounded forced, lacking the subversive swagger of the Pistols and the transcendent swing of Chic and leaving behind an embellished melodic sludge. They were perhaps more Sweet crossed with Abba – a classically cheering formula for the flashy, revivalist entertainment required by an Olympic Games opening ceremony.

To understand them you need to understand the times. Duran Duran arrived only a few years after punk transformed the idea of what rock could be, in a Britain dragging itself out of the bruising, disorientating 70s. Things were intellectually and spiritually tightening up inside the iron grip of Thatcherism, and at the same time loosening up economically and socially.

Music magazines turned glossy, gossipy and colourful, requiring new sorts of decorated fairytale cover stars, a backlash against the hifalutin' weekly inkies containing thousands of intense words about Cabaret Voltaire.

All new pop then made by those interested in being the latest thing had to be influenced by punk, if just the look, the clothes and the expression. One consequence was an experimental sonic elaboration of punk's ideological spirit and aesthetic vision but a rejection of the safety-pinned visual cliche; this became known as post-punk. Another consequence was more theatrical, with dandy tabloid-labelled New Romantics looking back longingly over the spiky heads of the harsher, angrier punk to the showy costumes and window-dressing camp of glam, where pop stars looked like pop stars.

Some groups could float, sometimes self-consciously, sometimes serenely, between those two camps – Human League, Japan, Depeche Mode, ABC – and others occupied a more purist, thoughtful zone, advocating mental glamour – Gang of Four, New Order, Associates, Magazine, the Smiths. The hardcore New Romantics were definitely all about the clothes, cosmetics, travel and showing off; as a response to grievous, turbulent times, Steve Strange, Spandau Ballet, Wham! and Duran Duran preferred the dolled-up posing in pampered cliques inside VIP sections of exclusive nightclubs. They weren't privileged, but pretended they were, which could be annoying if you didn't get the joke, and especially annoying and complacent when it isn't a joke.

New Romance wasn't all about the fancy dress, shaky pretension and cocktails. There were those displaying convincing signs of resistance to the mediocre, to the restrictive and ordinary – the presence on Top of the Pops of daring Boy George blurring the sexes and positively confusing the mainstream mind, Soft Cell's northern sauce, and something deviant dripping from Adam Ant's painted brow was a sign of intact subversive punk spirit filtered through a kinky dream of Bowie.

Those moaning about Duran Duran singing for the Olympics are being as nostalgic for something as the thing they criticise is – nostalgic for a time when it was clearer what the meaning and purpose of pop was and why it was worth fighting for. They are inheriting 30-year-old critical standards that do not apply now. It's the same with Eurovision. Something perhaps representing a deeper, richer and more inspiring sense of the restless, radically creative British spirit would be crushed by the essentially fraudulent and kitsch nature of the event. I worry about the Specials, Blur and New Order show closing the Olympics and any remaining transformative energy being squashed by routine, committee-organised ceremony.

Engelbert is finger-on-the-pulse correct for Eurovision, where the English pop 60s might as well never have happened, let alone glam, punk and rave, in the way Duran Duran are finger-on-the-pulse correct for an Olympics event, which has nothing to do with music, art, innovation and fashion, but is to do with publicity, marketing, fabricated history and the celebration of success.

In a mainstream pop world so thoroughly emptied, mostly by constant, degrading replication, of pop art, punk militancy, artistic surprise and disruptive, maverick gaiety, Duran Duran as representatives of English talent are an incredible, inspired choice. Theirs is not necessarily musical talent, but just a brilliant ability to take themselves seriously in the middle of general superficial commercial mayhem, to manifest a sense of occasion, however preposterous, and parade their own self-appointed greatness – self-promotional skills that make the group as contemporary as anything. Equally of the moment is their unashamed conclusion first broadcast while Thatcher cruelly reigned that tough times call for nothing more and nothing less than a party; 30 years later, tough times, unsympathetic, cutting Tory government, and the wrinkled New Romantic superheroes are still available to those that need saving through sheer hammy, self-loving spectacle.

So, yes, I've hated Duran Duran since the 80s, but now, in a world where they are attacked for being too old and dated, for obviously accepting a prominent showbusiness invitation, I find myself drifting toward a sympathetic position. I don't love them or anything – that's impossible, especially after their version of Elvis Costello's Watching the Detectives, which is Rolf Harris meets David Sylvian. I may, though, have developed a grudging respect for the way as enduring light entertainers they're perfectly poised in a very modern fashion between being prized national treasures and grotesque figures of fun. The marginalised, even mocked, New Romantic movement they stolidly represent has, for better or worse, turned out to be a big influence on the current ostentatious, synthetic pop landscape filled with bragging, stunts and fancy dress.

Perhaps stubborn Duran Duran were right all along; being a pop star is all about being sure of yourself, whatever anyone else says.

The Old Romantics

FLOCK OF SEAGULLS

Known for singer Mike Score's hairstyle as much as singles like I Ran (So Far Away), they had a series of international hits in the early 80s.

DEPECHE MODE

Now one of the biggest goth-pop acts in the world, but started life as New Romantics - 1981's Just Can't Get Enough was the first of many top ten singles.

VISAGE

Formed by Steve Strange, right, and Rusty Egan, released three albums in the early 80s and had their biggest success with Fade To Grey, a worldwide hit.

SPANDAU BALLET

With hits like True and Gold, Spandau Ballet were one of the biggest acts of the 80s. They split in 1990, but reformed for a world tour in 2009.

JAPAN

Unsurprisingly big in the Far East, the avant-garde five-piece had their biggest UK hit with Ghosts, which reached number five in the singles chart in 1982.

NEWS WAVE - It's Eleven:Eleven, time to get out!

Defined by alternate beams of light and dark, Eleven:Eleven balances the celestial voice of Sicca with J.Childs’ grounded production. Together, the illustrious pair tinkers with genres such as ElectroDisco, Synth pop and indie dance, ultimately rising above the distinctions to create a magnetism of its own.

Eleven:Eleven’s soundscape reveals deep, arpeggiated beats skillfully charmed by Sicca’s provocative lyrics. The message and the rhythm work uniformly to generate synth-driven builds that inevitably explode into a riotous electrofrenzy. The end result is retro and avante-garde, classic and futuristic.

Influences
Adult. | Kap Bambino | Depeche Mode | Siouxsie and the banshees | Miss Kitten And the Hacker | The Faint | Dead Kennedys | Black Flag (Pre rollins) | Larry Tee | Joy Division | Bauhaus

NEW GOLD DREAMS - Bienvenue Super Pop Corn! La nouveax band fantasme les 80's (et Telex aussi)

Super Pop Corn fantasme les 80's pour les rendre élégantes et faire danser les filles avec des synthés, boites à rythmes, et autres batteries électroniques vintage. Mais Super Pop Corn n’est pas le rejeton de Début de Soirée ou d'Image: C'est dans les 80’s version Electro de Human League, Jacno ou Dépêche mode et la Pop New Wave de Telex ou the Buggles que l'electro duo composé de Julien Mayerus (Chant, Basses, Guitare et Claviers) et de Nicolas Boquet (Batteries et Drums machines) va puiser son inspiration.Grace à sa collaboration avec Jacques Le Honsec (ex-chanteur de Goût de Luxe, groupe Gothico New-Wave des années 80...) qui, séduit par le projet, dépoussière ses synthés et impose une production où aucun instrument ayant été créé après 1989 n’est admis, Super Pop Corn prend la forme d’un Ovni Electro-Pop intemporel, furieusement dansant et qui ne choisit jamais entre la dérision et le sérieux.

NEWS WAVE - Depeche Gore Vince! The ex duo of DM come 2gether as VCMG project

30 years working on their respective ongoing music projects, Vince Clarke (Erasure / Yazoo / Depeche Mode) and Martin L. Gore (Depeche Mode) come together for the first time since 1981 as VCMG to release a brand new album preceded by a series of EPs.

VCMG is the fruit of initially tentative discussion and subsequent enthused collaboration where Vince and Martin, both influential as pioneers in electronic music, get to exercise their lifelong love of the genre as the techno inspired VCMG.

As Vince explains: “I’ve been getting into and listening to a lot of minimal dance music and I got really intrigued by all the sounds… I realised I needed a collaborator… so it occurred to me to talk to Martin.”

Says Gore: “Out of the blue I got an e-mail from Vince just saying, ‘I’m interested in making a techno album. Are you interested in collaborating?’ This was maybe a year ago. He said, ‘No pressure, no deadlines,’ so I said, ‘OK’.”

The writing and recording of the album was done in a typically unique way with the pair working alone in their respective studios, communicating only via email, exchanging files until the album was ready. It was in May 2011 that the pair met for the first time to discuss the project when they both performed at Short Circuit presents Mute festival in London.

The album (title to be announced soon) was produced by Vince Clarke and Martin L. Gore and mixed by the influential Californian electronic artist Überzone / Q and will be released in the spring of 2012.

The first release is an EP entitled Spock. EP1 / SPOCK features remixes from Edit-Select, aka Tony Scott, the UK DJ / producer and founder of EditSelect Records whose previous remix credits include Speedy J, Death In Vegas and Gary Beck; Regis, British techno musician Karl O’Connor (member of the Sandwell District collective and co-founder of Downwards Records); DVS1, Brooklyn based producer Zak Khutoretsky; plus XOQ, the alter ego of Überzone / Q, who mixed the VCMG album.

EP1/SPOCK has been available initially as a global exclusive on Beatport on 30 November, and then on all DSPs from 12 December with the 12” release following on 19 December 2011.
EP1 / SPOCK TRACKLIST
Spock – Album versionSpock – Edit Select RemixSpock – Regis RemixSpock – DVS1 Voyage Home RemixSpock – XOQ Remix

https://www.facebook.com/VCMGofficial



VCMG - Spock by Mute UK

NEWS WAVE/OFF THE RECORDS - New Numan! The Pleasure Prince(ple) is out with a new record

Gary Numan interviewed by "Crack"

Gary Numan is a unique breed of electronic animal. Relentless in output and evolution of sound in a career now going into its 33rd year, to describe Numan as a tour de force of electronic music is not hyperbole. One of the most reassuring things about Crack’s conversation with Numan is that despite his position as an elder statesman of the electronic music community, he maintains a humble and honest approach to crafting music. With the ticking clock of age against him and his time as a musician, he has adopted an attitude which is stripped-down and unmuddied. Previous variables such as fashion, attitude and the self-consciousness of youth which can clutter the creative process inevitably wither with age, leaving Numan a carefree open book, able to express himself with a degree of nonchalance. The style and image conjured by Numan throughout his rise to prominence influenced countless 80s fashionistas, emanating a coldness and detachment that perfectly complimented the methodical nature of the synth arrangements employed on first two solo records, The Pleasure Principle (1979) and Telekon (1980). Numan became a pin-up for the era. However, it’s the man’s ability to remain varied and contemporary that has seen him leave many of his 80s electronic peers in the shade with a career has maneuvered with the decades. Dalliances in straight-up pop music, experimental electronica and hard rock spread across 18 albums have made Numan more than qualified to contextualise music in its broadest sense, but it’s the vigour and enthusiasm with which he does this that makes him such an endearing character. You get the impression that if Numan is ever to extinguish his creative fire, he will do so kicking and screaming, and based on latest offering, Dead Son Rising, it will be a significant loss. On this new album, smouldering industrial rock suggests a pairing off of influences with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, who open cites Numan as a significant influence on his work. Dark machinery clatters and is married with brooding undertones that sees Numan return to his austere best. As opposed to his aloof creative persona, Numan in person is warm, welcoming and congenial, a fact kept under wraps by the degree of mysticism that has always run alongside his music.Ladies and gentleman: Mr Gary Numan.

So how did the new record come about?

"It actually started out as a load of out-takes that I’d put to bed for a while. I listened back to them and thought ‘blimey, these are quite good.’ So what started out as a load of filler material ended up being a brand new album. Because of that it’s much more varied. I’m actually writing a book, a science-fiction book which I’ve been working on for the last 10 years. Every day I write out little notes for it and try to develop the story. It’s become a never ending thing. I hope it’ll finally see the light of day at some point. But some of the ideas from that have bled into this record. There are also more conventional themes that have gone into it, such as the fact I had a massive falling out with a close friend of mine a while back, which unfortunately has got worse as time has gone on. Normally when I do an album I have a pretty clear idea where I want it to go, and all the songs musically and lyrically fit in that direction. But I think because of the way it came about and ambled along, being fitted together from these bit parts, it’s a little more varied than my normal record".

So has anyone else been involved?

"While I would say this record is still very much Gary Numan, it’s much more of collaboration. It’s the first properly collaborative album I’ve ever done. In my opinion, it should have gone out as a Gary Numan and Ade Fenton album, but he didn’t think that was a good idea, so it’s gone out as a Gary Numan album".

Was he quite happy to sit in the background and not take credit for anything?

"I’m certainly at pains to make it clear when I’m talking to people that it’s very much a collaboration, though it is true they are all my melodies, all my chord structures. The fact they have gone on from there with Ade showcases the fact they should be labeled as co-written; he’s done more than a producer should do".

So have the songs morphed and changed significantly from what you intended?

"Well, this was meant to be a bit of filler between my last album, Jagged, and the new album I was due to release next year, Splinter. There is a big gap, so the idea was to pop something out that wouldn’t take up too much of my time or interfere too much with what I was doing with Splinter. It’s strange, because when I came back to this music a year and a half later, it was exactly the same, Ade had done nothing to it. So I think it was a confidence thing. You get a bit down on something and your confidence plummets and everything you listen to sounds like shit. Then you hear it again a year and a half later in a different frame of mind and suddenly it sounds alright".

Is that to do with your personal situation at that particular time distorting the quality of music that had been produced?

"I don’t know really, because for quite a while now career-wise, things have been great. I have a much better relationship with the media than I had before. I have lots of people doing cover versions and sampling my stuff and talking about me. From a confidence point of view I should’ve been riding high. I can’t imagine what else it was though. It just doesn’t make any sense for me at all".

Over the years the regularity of your releases has remained ever consistent. You seem to be a workhorse. What keeps you going at such a pace?

"For me it was always a hobby that became something else. I was chatting to someone else the other day and they were saying that if they didn’t think they had an audience to play to they wouldn’t do it. I just couldn’t understand that. Surely you loving doing it, and having an audience should be the icing on the cake. From my point of view if I didn’t have an audience to play this stuff to, I’d still do it, because first and foremost I like it. The fact that I’m able to take the music out on tour and play it in front of people is the most amazing piece of luck. From an incentive point of view, or a desire point of view, getting motivated doesn’t seem to be a problem at all. I’ve really, really wanted to make records and record songs since I was 18 or 19. Your goals and ambitions just change".

So is making a new album a relatively pain-free process for you then?

"I actually find touring more enjoyable at the moment. I find the thought of being stuck in a room on my own for a month recording an album a little bit daunting".

You just finished a tour where you were performing your debut album The Pleasure Principle in its entirety, so are you looking forward to be touring the new album?

"I got into touring the retro album very begrudgingly. It wasn’t really top of my list of things I wanted to do. When I tour normally, I do very little older stuff, which causes a bit of friction between myself and the older fans who want to hear as much of the older stuff as possible. I don’t want to be tied down to doing a Greatest Hits set. It became a real issue for some fans, so I said how about if I do all the songs from one album so I can avoid diluting my conventional tour. It seemed that if I did that then some of the fans would get off my back. So I did one for my 50th birthday and my 30th anniversary of being in the music business. Then the 30th anniversary of The Pleasure Principle came along so I did that one. So I just try to pop these things in once in a while".

Do these tours afford you a bit of breathing space then?

"It’s a great compromise to keep the older fans happy. The Pleasure Principle thing got a bit out of hand and ended up going all round the world when it was only meant to be a handful of shows in the UK. I won’t be doing any of that for quite some time. It is very nice to be coming back and have something new out. We’re doing the September and December mini-tours to promote this and then in the new year Splinter is coming out which I’m really excited about. Then for the bulk of next year we are going to be primarily touring the world doing Splinter and Dead Son Rising. We’ll be doing that for the next couple of years I reckon".

So are those old album gigs made up of older people then?

"Not at all, the demographic is really split. One thing I didn’t realise is that a lot of the younger audience haven’t heard of this material before. It was 60-70% kids under-25 who know the album because it’s a big part of my history, but they haven’t ever heard any of the songs live. It’s also because people like Trent Reznor talk about it being a particularly large influence on them. So you’ve got people coming along who weren’t even born when the record was released. I thought it would be all about 55-year-old people reminiscing about their youth but it wasn’t like that at all, so I had to stand corrected there".

As you’ve got older do you still find yourself drawn to keeping abreast of modern music and modern fashions, or has this got less important to you as you’ve got older?

"It’s easier than it’s ever been, especially with the internet. If you follow fashion then it’s easy enough. You can just pick up a magazine and find out what the latest trends are. But to be honest, I actually don’t give a shit about fashion. Although I did fashion shoot for All Saints yesterday! (laughs) But in all seriousness, I really don’t care about that I look how I look. Keeping up with it all isn’t difficult, finding something you like really is. It’s always been like that. Take 1979 when I first started having success: look at the Top 40 then, and I only liked about two of the records in there. It’s exactly the same today. The chart in 1979 was full of utter shite. Very few things in the chart last for a long time and that’s what makes it such a scary business".

What is it about you that has meant you’ve been able to have such a good run, and sustained such success over an extended period of time? You’re quite a rare breed. How have you survived in such a credible way?

"I’ve always believed you’re only as good as your next album, and you can never have a career based on past glories. It’s obvious, but you always have to continue doing something new and something interesting. I’m not saying I’ve always done that, cause I’ve put out some pretty dodgy albums in my time. It is always my intention, however, to go into the studio and do something I’ve never done before, and come up with some sounds that no one has ever heard before. The reason I got into electronic music in the first place was because it seemed to have an unlimited potential for creating new sounds. I love guitar-based things, but they are inherently limiting to some degree. In electronic music we are lucky as there is always new technology so the potential is neverending. The thought of going in and repeating the same sounds used before seems pointless to me. I juts don’t get it. It’s like entering a Formula 1 race on your bicycle, it’s fucking pointless. I also just don’t get some people who have long careers that mellow and start doing ballads, and it gets bland and middle-of-the-road. You end up saying ‘what on earth happened to you?’ My music for the last 10 years has got heavier and heavier each album that I’ve made. I’m quite proud of that, and I think I still do enough interesting things to keep them coming back. There are probably people who sell more than I do, but that’s probably because they’ve done more ballads".

So who in the main is Gary Numan enjoying at the moment and musically, who has had the biggest influence on you over the years?

"I love Battles, with whom I recently did a single. I love them because I can’t place them. I love everything about what they do and it was great to work with them. Nine Inch Nails will always be a massive influence for me, as will Ultravox when I first started. Depeche Mode too are a huge part of my world and changed my way of looking at music".

http://www.numan.co.uk/

OFF THE RECORDS - Erasure Up! Esce questa settimana "Tomorrow's World", il nuovo Cd del duo Vince Clarke-Andy Bell

Articolo tratto da Vogue.it
In un periodo dove la retromania per gli anni 80 ha invaso la scena musicale, dalla mainstream a quella indie, Andy Bell e Vince Clarke, gli Erasure, non potevano non tornare a farsi sentire con il nuovo album: Tomorrow’s World (Mute), proprio loro che del synthpop britannico sono i pionieri. Il rientro del duo è avvenuto un mese fa sul palco del Short Circuit presents Mute, alla Roundhouse di Londra. Coincide con il venticinquesimo compleanno della loro carriera, il cui esordio risale al 1986 con l’album Wonderland come nuova reincarnazione di Vince Clarke, che aveva alle spalle progetti come Yazoo, di recente riesumato in coppia con Alison Moyet, e Depeche Mode su tutti.
«Se si vanno a contare le band di musica elettronica in classifica fra gli anni 80 e l'inizio dei 90, non ce n'erano molte in realtà. Oggi sono il 90%. Trovo la nuova scena elettronica emozionante, ma non parlerei di nostalgia solo perché si suonano dei sintetizzatori come allora» afferma Vince Clarke, che in 25 anni con gli Erasure ha centrato 40 hit single e venduto 25 milioni di dischi.

Registrato tra Londra, New York, Los Angeles e il Maine, dove oggi vive Clarke, e anticipato dal singolo When I start to (Break it all down), Tomorrow’s World arriva a quattro anni dal precedente album di studio The light at the end of the world ed è stato prodotto da Frankmusic, nuovo pupillo della scena dance, già al servizio di Ellie Goulding, Lady Gaga e Pet Shop Boys. «Abbiamo scelto lui perché ha un approccio diverso alla musica, lavora ai synth con una sensibilità unica. Produce un suono molto più intenso e pieno del nostro, un vero e proprio wall of sound. Nei passati album tendevamo invece ad avere un atteggiamento più minimal. Credo che Tomorrow’s World sia un buon compromesso fra suoni analogici e synth, si avvicina molto a lavori come Erasure, del 1995, e Loveboat mescolati insieme a Chorus».

Alla tournée attualmente in Usa con Frankmusic, segue il tour che fino a fine novembre porta gli Erasure nei teatri e club europei.

OFF THE RECORDS - Buy or die! Da oggi in vendita il nuovo Cd di remix dei Depeche Mode!

This week sees the release of the career-spanning "Remixes 2: 81-11" compilation. With format choices including a 1-CD, 3-CD, 6-LP vinyl box and digital editions, you have many ways to enjoy the new release from Depeche Mode.
For the US market, select US independent music retailers will be selling the 3-CD edition of "Remixes 2: 81-11" with a very special, very limited 12" single. The 12" (sticker from the front cover on the left) contains two remixes of "Personal Jesus" (Alex Metric Remix and the M.A.N. Remix), as well as not-on-CD remixes of "The Sun And The Rainfall" (Black Light Odyssey's Further Excerpts) and "The Sinner In Me" (SixToes Remix). A full list of independent retailers is available on the Record Store Day web site, but not all of the retailers will be participating. As such, we advise you to call ahead, to make sure that your favorite indie retailer is participating in the event.

For now, we can tell you the following shops are participating: J & R, Manhattan, NYNewbury Comics - various locations in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode IslandAmoeba Records, Hollywood, CA (and possibly other Amoeba locations)Fingerprints Records, Long Beach, CALou's Records, Encinitas, CAPlease check the Record Store Day web site for more details. As we hear more details, we will post them here as well.

Also, there are a number of exclusives for you to choose from when buying your deluxe digital version of the album. Here is a complete breakdown of the retailers and remixes available when buying the deluxe digital edition of "Remixes 2: 81-11":

iTunes
Master And Servant (RSS Remix)
In Chains (Myer vs Wilder Deconstruction)
Amazon - exclusive bonus tracks
Sister Of Night (Ida Engberg's Giving Voice To The Flame Remix)
Sweetest Perfection (Phil Kieran Remix)
HMV - exclusive bonus tracks
The Sun And The Rainfall (Black Light Odyssey's Further Excerpts)
The Sinner In Me (SixToes Remix)
Spotify Premium - exclusive bonus tracks
Sister Of Night (Ida Engberg's Walking Through The Light Dub)
Sweetest Perfection (Phil Kieran Remix Dub)
Personal Jesus (Alex Metric Dub)

FRANCE FNAC - fnacmusic.com - exclusive bonus tracks
The Sun And The Rainfall (Black Light Odyssey's Further Excerpts)
The Sinner In Me (SixToes Remix)
FRANCE Virginmega.com - exclusive bonus tracks
The Sun And The Rainfall (Black Light Odyssey's Further Excerpts)
I Want It All (Roland M. Dill Lunar Dub Remix)
GERMANY Napster - exclusive bonus track
The Sun And The Rainfall (Black Light Odyssey's Further Excerpts)
SWITZERLAND 20 min / Basepoint Media - exclusive bonus track
The Sinner In Me (SixToes Remix)
SWEDEN CDON - exclusive bonus track
The Sinner In Me (SixToes Remix)
NORWAY / SWEDEN / DENMARK WiMP / Aspiro - exclusive bonus track
The Sun And The Rainfall (Black Light Odyssey's Further Excerpts)
AUSTRALIA Big Pond - exclusive bonus track
The Sun And The Rainfall (Black Light Odyssey's Further Excerpts)
FINLAND Nokia - exclusive bonus track
The Sun And The Rainfall (Black Light Odyssey's Further Excerpts)
ITALY Net Music - exclusive bonus track
The Sun And The Rainfall (Black Light Odyssey's Further Excerpts)

Beatport exclusive tracks
Dream On (Bushwacka Tough Guy Dub)
Suffer Well (M83 Instrumental)
John The Revelator (UNKLE Dub)
In Chains (Tigerskin's No Sleep Alternative Remix)
Wrong (Trentemøller Club Remix Dub)
A Pain That I'm Used To (Jacques Lu Cont Dub)
Leave In Silence (Claro Intelecto Walk Away Remix)
I Want It All (Roland M. Dill Instrumental)
A Question Of Time (Joebot Presents 'Radio Face' Instrumental)
Personal Jesus (Sie Medway-Smith Remix Instrumental).

LIVE AND KICKING - Al Mute Festival arriva anche Dave Gahan e il "grissino" Alison Moyet dice addio agli Yazoo

Grande successo ieri sera per il Mute Festival a Londra. Tra i momenti imperdibili, l'addio degli Yazoo alle scene (con "Don't go" quale ultima canzone in scaletta del concerto...!), la sorprendente silhouette dimagrita all'inverosimile di Alison Moyet, il vestito rosso-shock di Vince Clarke, gli insulti ai Residents rei di una scaletta troppo lunga prima dei più attesi Erasure, i dj set di Martin Gore e Andrew Fletcher dei Depeche Mode raggiunti a sorpresa da Dave Gahan a bordo di una mega-limousine nera...A breve il resoconto di due giorni già indimenticabili...

LIVE AND KICKING - Anche Martin Gore e Andrew Fletcher dei Depeche al Mute Festival di Londra di sabato...

Mute announce brand new additions to the line up for Short Circuit presents Mute festival - 13 + 14 May 2011 - at London’s historic Roundhouse: Martin L. Gore (DJ set), Andy ‘Fletch’ Fletcher (DJ set) and Josh T. Pearson performing an exclusive set of covers of some of his favourite songs by Mute artists join recent additions to the 2 day festival: Richie Hawtin, Moby (DJ set), Maps and Polly Scattergood collaboration, Beth Jeans Houghton and a Dirty Electronics Workshop.
Tickets are available from www.roundhouse.org.uk/short-circuit / 0844 482 8008 and are priced as follows: Fri 13 May – £30 (6 pm – 1 am)Sat 14 May – £45 (12 pm – 12 am)Fri & Sat – £65 – limited tickets availableLimited Premium Ticket – SOLD OUT
All events are 14+, 16 and under should be accompanied by an adultMute's Short Circuit festival which runs from May 12th to 15th - and you will be too, after you read our preview with the ever-brilliant Liars - so we're pleased to discover that Anton Corbijn and Flood have been added to the line-up of talks and films, which will be looked after by this very website. The film maker will present 'Mute + Vision', a talk about his work with some of the label's artists including Depeche Mode, Fad Gadget and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, while producer Flood will host a panel game all based round the art of recording. For more information, click here.

—SHORT CIRCUIT PRESENTS MUTE RUNNING ORDER—

FRIDAY 13TH MAY

MAIN SPACE
18.00 - 19.30 DJ RICHARD WARREN
19.30 - 20.30 LIVE RECOIL
20.30 – 20.50 DJ RICHARD WARREN
20.50 – 21.40 LIVE NITZER EBB
21.40 – 22.40 DJ MOBY
22.40 – 00.00 DJ RICHIE HAWTIN
STUDIO THEATRE
19.00 – 19.30 LIVE KOMPUTER
20.35 – 21.20 LIVE BALANESCU QUARTET
21.50 – 22.30 LIVE CARTER TUTTI WITH NIK VOID
23.00 – 23.45 LIVE NON
00.00 – 01.00 LIVE RICHARD H. KIRK
01.00 – 02.00 LIVE POLE
02.00 – 03.00 LIVE T.RAUMSCHMIERE
MADE IN CAMDEN
00.00 – 01.00 DJ DANIEL MILLER
01.00 – 02.00 DJ GUDRUN GUT
02.00 – 03.00 DJ BARBARA PREISINGER
TORQUILS BAR
22.00 – 23.00 LIVE THOMAS FEHLMANN
23.00 – 00.00 LIVE THOMAS BRINKMANN
CIRCLE BAR
INSTALLATIONS THROUGHOUT THE DAY:
‘FLIES, GUYS AND CHOIRS’
FELIX’S MACHINES
MUTE SHOP
GROUND FLOOR FOYER –
SCHNEIDERS BEURO

SATURDAY 14TH MAY
MAIN SPACE
18.00 – 18.15 DJ DANNY BRIOTTET
18.15 - 19.00 LIVE LIARS
19.00 – 19.30 DJ DANNY BRIOTTET
19.30 - 20.30 LIVE THE RESIDENTS
20.30 – 20.50 DJ ANDY ‘FLETCH’ FLETCHER
20.50 – 21.50 LIVE ERASURE + SPECIAL GUESTS
21.50 – 22.20 DJ ANDY ‘FLETCH’ FLETCHER
22.20 - 23.00 LIVE LAIBACH
23.00 – 00.00 DJ MARTIN L. GORE
STUDIO THEATRE
19.10 – 19.40 LIVE MAPS + POLLY SCATTERGOOD
20.00 – 20.40 LIVE BIG DEAL
21.00 – 21.40 LIVE POPPY AND THE JEZEBELS
22.00 – 22.40 LIVE S.C.U.M.
23.00 – 23.40 LIVE JOSH T. PEARSON PLAYS MUTE SONGS
THE HUB
12.00 – 14.00 SOUND HALO
14.00 - 14.40 DJ IRMIN SCHMIDT AND KUMO PLAY THE SOUND OF CAN
14.40 – 15.00 LIVE LAND OBSERVATIONS (JAMES BROOKS)
15.00 – 15.30 DJ IRMIN SCHMIDT AND KUMO PLAY THE SOUND OF CAN
15.30 – 16.15 LIVE SIMON FISHER TURNER + MIRA CALIX
16.15 – 16.45 DJ IRMIN SCHMIDT AND KUMO PLAY THE SOUND OF CAN
16.45 – 17.30 LIVE PETER GREGSON
TORQUILS BAR – HOSTED BY ANDREW KING
14.00- 14.30 LIVE BETH JEANS HOUGHTON
15.00 – 15.30 LIVE SPECIAL GUESTS (TBC)
16.15 – 17.30 FLOOD DEMONSTRATES THE ARTS AND CRAFTS OF RECORDING
(17:45 – 18:15 DIRTY ELECTRONICS PERFORMANCE IN CIRCLE BAR)
THE BOARDROOM
12.45– 13.45 ‘FAST FORWARD/PAUSE/REWIND’ – GARETH JONES TALK + Q&A
14.30 – 15.30 ‘AN INTRODUCTION IN TO THE SCIENCE OF MASTERING’ – STEFAN BETKE (AKA POLE) TALK
16.00 – 17.15 – ‘DO YOU LOVE ME LIKE I LOVE YOU: THE BOATMAN’S CALL’- FILM DIRECTED BY IAIN AND JANE + Q&A HOSTED BY KRIS NEEDS
17.45 - 19.10 ‘ON/OFF;MARK STEWART FROM POP GROUP TO MAFFIA’– FILM DIRECTED BY TONI SCHIFER
CIRCLE BAR
INSTALLATIONS THROUGHOUT THE DAY:
‘FLIES, GUYS AND CHOIRS’
DIRTY ELECTRONICS WORKSHOP
FELIX’S MACHINES
MUTE SHOP
(17:45 – 18:15 DIRTY ELECTRONICS PERFORMANCE IN CIRCLE BAR)
GROUND FLOOR FOYER
SCHNEIDERS BEURO

VIDEOKILLER - Ecco il nuovo video del remix dei Depeche Mode "Personal Jesus"

Guarda il nuovo video in anteprima mondiale del remix di "Personal Jesus (Stargate Remix)", tratto dall'album dei Depeche Mode "Remixes 2: 81-11", in uscita il 7 giugno 2011.

Click here and select your country:

UK: VEVO

USA: Yahoo

France: Yahoo

Italy: DeeJay

Belgium: Classic 21

Sweden: MSN

Russia: A1TV

Germany: MUZU TV

TALK TALK - The last hurrah! Alyson Moyet a tutto campo, svela perchè quello di sabato 14 maggio sarà l'ultimo concerto degli Yazoo...al 99%!

Intervista tratta dal sito musicale "The Quietus" (http://thequietus.com/)

In an extensive interview about the history of life before, during and after Yazoo, Alison Moyet explains why her forthcoming Roundhouse performance with Vince Clarke could be the duo's last hurrah. England's post-punk mythos tells that certain towns became spawning grounds for the pioneering new sound, with Manchester, Sheffield, London and Liverpool generally acknowledged as the quadraphonic holy alliance that gave birth to the sound of Britain in the early 80s. However, often missed in the romantic recollections of musicologists is the pure pop nexus of Basildon, where a small group of school mates somehow managed to form some of the most successful and long-lasting electronic pop acts of that time, including Depeche Mode, Erasure, and the singer Alison Moyet.
Like Depeche and Erasure, Moyet's rapid transformation from gruff punk spending her dole cheque on studio hire to international pop star involved the firm calculating hand of Ivor Novello-winning songwriter Vince Clarke, whose mysterious gift for frothy pop hooks appears almost occult. However, his project with Moyet, Yazoo, was over as rapidly as it began, with Clarke afterwards forming Erasure, and Moyet venturing uncertainly into what is now a highly successful 30-year solo career. She's worked with various producers, bands and projects, but has never been absorbed back into a collaborative project again. And yet, despite her multiple number one solo albums and singles since that time, Moyet is both blessed and dogged by her fans' – and British radio's – enshrined memory of those two stratospherically successful years three decades ago.
Moyet will revisit the Yazoo years for potentially the very last time at the upcoming Short Circuit Festival at the London Roundhouse as part of a showcase of Vince Clarke's collaborative endeavours on the label. She shares with the Quietus her memories of the years before, between and beyond Yazoo.

When did you start playing music?

Alison Moyet: For me it really took off with punk, and I think it was less about music then than the culture of it - finding yourself amongst a group of freaks you felt more akin to. It was more about the lyricism and the aggression, and entertaining yourself, really. We lived in a new town where we had no money and there was no culture going on so it was a way of us entertaining one another. We would play in car parks or in fields and everyone was in a band whether you could play an instrument or not. That was the joy of punk, really.

What was your first band?

AM: My first band was called the Vandals that I started when I was about 15 with a couple of close girlfriends from school. We used to walk around the streets singing all the time, telling everyone we were in a band, and then someone actually offered us a gig - which was a problem because we had to pull a set together really quickly. There was a guitar player in my school a year below us, I approached him and said 'Right, we've got a gig next Saturday and you're playing with us.' His name was Rubber, and he was Vince Clarke's best mate. It was us three girls and we'd pick up a different drummer every time - whoever was in the hall and could play drums would have to just come and jam with us. It would be quite brilliant: we'd hijack a pub and everyone would play a set. I think that's where the big singing came from for me, it was more about the fact that we had really shit PAs than anything. I imagined that if I sang really loudly people would be able to hear me.

How did you end up becoming the singer?

AM: Because I was the most Bolshie. Being a punk in Basildon was quite dangerous, it was very much about clans: there were skinheads, rockers, and there were the punks. In those days one of the first things you did when you met someone in the street is check their feet. If they had pointy shoes and straight trousers you knew they had a certain affinity - you could get a smack for having the wrong shoes on. I was the instigator of the band - I came from quite an aggressive French peasant family, and I was big and argumentative and I wrote the words. So, automatically I went up front.

What happened after the Vandals?

AM: Punk had done its thing - started to become acceptable, appearing on Top Of The Pops. Divisions started within the punk scene which split off into the New Romantic scene or into the pub rock scene – the new wave scene I suppose. I mean people like Elvis Costello and Ian Dury, music that was a bit more melodic, and that appealed to me. What I didn't like about New Romantics was that the punks who went that way had dropped all of the principles we had about it not being about your monetary status. Also it just was too 'prettified' for me, whereas the pub rock scene in Canvey Island (like Wilko Johnson and Dr Feelgood) seemed a more natural progression of where I was going musically. So I ended up as a part of the British R&B scene in the South East as opposed to where the Depeche lot went which was New Romantic.

Was the R&B scene where you developed your voice? Did you get any vocal training?

AM: No... It wasn't that kind of blues singing - it was much dirtier than people imagine it now. People have spoken about me as having been this kind of blues-jazz singer, and that gives it a much more 'honed' air than it really had. It was actually really thrashy: thrashy punk-blues-rock. My style of singing was based more on male singers than on a kind of gentle female singing, and that is what Vince had me doing in Yazoo. Actually, if you'd have heard 'Don't Go' when Vince first played it to me it was a very straight melody much in the way of 'Just Can't Get Enough'. Those turns in the melody in the final version were things that I brought to it from my own sense of playing R&B. I use that term loosely because R&B means something completely different now from what it did then. I think my singing skills have developed over the years and the way I have applied it has changed with my age rather than being a conscious thing. I don't think it was until I did The Voice album that I wanted to see if I could control myself better in that way.

Yazoo started from an ad you placed in the paper at that time, didn't it?

AM: Yes it did. After my previous band The Screamin' Ab Dabs split up I was looking for another bunch of blues musicians to work with. At the same time, I'd been playing in bands that predated Depeche, and Vince was looking for a singer who was quite different to Dave Gahan. He was looking for a singer generally but looking for my number at the same time, so it was real serendipity that he just opened the paper and there was my number. It was like it was meant to be.

Vince wasn't what you were after at all, was he?

AM: No, not at all, and I had mixed feelings about it. And yet, what excited me about Vince was his attitude. There was always a lot of 'We're going to do this, we're going to do that' talk going on, the hot air-ing of young people who don't have a great future ahead of them. I left school at 16 completely unqualified, I had no prospects, the idea of university wasn't even a consideration, and you met plenty of people that were just getting stoned and drunk and kept saying the same things about what they were going to do. Vince was someone that actually turned what he wanted to do into fact and I found that really interesting. Also, as I said before, I had no money so I had no way of making a demo, and Vince called me up and said he had a song, would I like to go and demo it for him? I thought that if I did this song with Vince I'd have a demo to illustrate how I sang. He played me 'Only You'. I had a very quick musical memory then and just sang it into his tape recorder. He called me up a week later saying he'd played it to the record company and they thought we should record it. So we recorded it, and when they heard that they said we should make it into a single so tried to find some b-sides. Vince had written 'Don't Go' but that was too good for a b-side so then we wrote 'Situation' together, which actually ended up being released as a single in America. Everything we did at that time just seemed to spark - it just kind of worked. I don't think Vince ever intended to start a band with me, that wasn't what he was looking for. He was still very sore, Depeche were his mates and leaving them was like the break-up of a marriage. I think he was feeling angry and disillusioned and wanted to prove himself as a writer, so we got together without having a future, and it just rollercoastered. Everything that we did appealed, and suddenly we were making an album before we'd even been for a pint together or had a relationship or knew anything about each other's lives. We had this strange studio relationship where he would bring a song to me or I would bring a song to him and he would do what he did without asking me anything and I would do what I did without asking him anything... there was no conversation. I would write a song and, for the most part, he would just arrange it up then I'd sing on it, or he'd sing me a song on the guitar and then I would play with the melody or not, add vocal pieces and sing it the way that I wanted to. There was no talk about whether this was a gentle song or a dance song, I just sang it as I saw fit.

Given your tastes for heavier sounds, did you like Yazoo's sound?

AM: I adored it, even retrospectively. What I really liked about it is that my tastes are very eclectic and when you look at the material the songs come from a million different places and yet are tied together by the sound, the voice and the instrumentation we used. What was great about Yazoo is that there was never feeling that you had to give up on anything. I could still sing blues, I could still sing the darker poetry stuff that appealed to me. There were a couple of light pop moments that appealed less. When it came to 'Happy People' on the second album we had a big fallout because I refused to sing it. He did it none the less because he liked it, and by all accounts it was a big hit in Poland [laughs]. There are just some places you can't go, I tried singing that song a couple of times but I couldn't genuinely bring anything to it so I wouldn't do it. But that's the only time I ever refused a song.

How did you feel about the level of success Yazoo so quickly attained?

AM: It was bizarre, but when I compare having a hit then to having one in the late 80s or the 90s it was so much more exciting. Nowadays when you have a record out you know by day two what the trajectory is, you know mid-week where you're predicted to go to. In the early 80s you had to sit listening to the chart countdown on Radio 1 to find out whether you were in the charts or not, so there was always this excitement. 'Only You', for example, entered the charts at, I think it was 157, but I was thinking '157, that's amazing.' Also, you wouldn't be told about the Radio 1 playlist, DJs were playing what they wanted to so you could be completely surprised by something being played. It was a really amazing time, really exciting. Where it all started going wrong for me was when I started becoming incredibly recognisable. When it was just a song on the charts and the radio, that was brilliant, but, especially with my physicality, I was so recognisable. When you start getting chased down the street... that was just too odd.

How did that affect your personal life?

AM: I found it really difficult because I was one of the only people I knew who wasn't desperate to escape Basildon. I really liked the town and my friends in it. I never had an aspirational character, and I never wanted to socially climb - none of that stuff ever occurred to me. I just really wanted to be with my mates, just like I'd always been - that's the sort of thing that matters to me – and it was difficult because you'd want to go to the same pubs as always, but you were constantly getting other people trying to get your attention, to talk to you. So you stop going to those places, and then you start becoming isolated and feeling excluded, and your mates don't want the hassle of it, either. So instead of fitting in more you actually become more of a freak when you become famous.

That sounds like the opposite of everything you would have wanted as a punk... how did your 'bolshie' side react to this excessive artificiality?

AM: You don't know it until you're in it, you have no idea what that lifestyle means. I think 'Be careful what you wish for,' but at the same time I feel really ungrateful for saying that, because due to moments like that, when I had fallow years I could say 'no' because I had earned money and didn't have to take jobs for the sake of it. I think what was particularly difficult about that time is that Vince had already experienced that moment with Depeche, and he was also in this blessed position where he was the songwriter but stood at the back so he could disappear if he chose to. When you're the front person that's a much more difficult thing to do. Also he was in quite an insular angry place at the time and wasn't able to understand what I was dealing with, and I was a difficult adolescent/young adult, not naturally graceful or gracious...I wouldn't have been particularly likeable.

Were you told how to act publicly, as a star? For TV performances and things like that?

AM: No, I was completely left to my own devices. You think of how well prepared youngsters are now, right down to the things they should say to the press, the way they should dress. I remember when I did Top Of The Pops I had been unemployed, I never went into music for money so I'd never asked anyone for any. The first bit of money I got I blew completely on a motorbike so I still had no money, and I remember my mum lent me 30 quid to go down the Basildon market to buy some fabric and a friend made me a dress with it for TOTP. There were no... millions...when people said 'Have you bought your mum and dad a house yet?' you thought 'Are you fucking mental, they're giving me pocket money!' [laughs]

Is it true that by the time the second album was being made, you and Vince were starting to fall out?

AM: We'd had problems before that. I think the second album happened because of advice from his publisher, because Vince'd done one album with Depeche and had walked, and then he'd done one album with me and he was ready to walk then. I think that his publisher was going 'You're mad - you shouldn't be doing this, you should make at least one more record.' But even as we began the second album we knew that it was over, he had already decided he didn't want to work with me anymore. It was reported that I had left Yazoo to go and be a solo act, but I never ever had the ambition to be a solo singer. The only reason I did is because I'd become so disenfranchised with Yazoo, in the sense that all the contacts that Yazoo had were Vince's: he was the one dealing with the record company, the publishers, he was the one who had the mates and I was completely reliant on whether he was communicative with me or not. I'd lost the company of my old bandmates who were appalled that I'd done the kind of record I'd done, or perhaps jealous that I'd got something away, and were determined that it was all going to go badly for me, so I had no mates at the time. Even in Yazoo I'd become solitary very quickly - I didn't socialise and never networked or anything like that. All I had were a lawyer and an accountant who really did a job on me saying 'You've got to leave Mute' and got me a deal with Sony. So now, all of a sudden, I had a deal with Sony and no band, and that's what made me a solo singer. It was one of my residing regrets, becoming a solo singer. There's something really brilliant about having other people to share your successes with and to share your fears and anger and your bullishness, having someone onside that truly has as much to gain and as much to lose as you.

So how did it actually end with Vince?

AM: It was Vince's decision but I can't remember if it was on the phone or how he told me. I remember asking him to reconsider on one occasion but he was absolutely adamant that he was out, so when we made the second album we were entirely working on our own. He'd go in in the mornings, I'd go in in the evenings, he'd do something then later I'd do something on top of it. It was like a patchwork album where there was no discussion or getting excited about each others' things. We just worked separately.

You signed to Sony and were expected to do a solo album: what happened next?

AM: It was a really miserable time. My lawyer had told me I was free to sign worldwide and I never had a deal with Mute, that's not how they worked. However there was a deal with Warner Brothers where they'd release the albums. My lawyer told me I was free to sign with Sony worldwide and then promptly disappeared, and never took any of my phone calls. By the next week I was injuncted by Warner Brothers and that was a really bad time. I had no contact with anybody other than my lawyer and accountant who weren't talking to me and I was injuncted and there was no way of getting out of it. I said 'I'll pop into Warner Brothers' and did a deal that was stupidly punitive just to get the right to work again: a year of not working. I became agoraphobic and quite ill, and Sony (they were CBS at the time), their attitude had been 'Come back when you've sorted this out' - they weren't going to help me with it. So I didn't see them for a year. In the first meeting with them after that, I was a complete space cadet. I signed a producer and they did that horrible A&R thing that they do, which is pick up a Music Week and see who's got one album that we can put together with a certain producer and I was too mad to really consider what was happening. A year of not really leaving the house and not having spoken to anyone was not really conducive to making a good move.

So what had you done in that year? Did you write any music?

AM: I stayed indoors. I literally stayed indoors for a year. I couldn't even listen to music. Music had been something that I did every day since I was 15 and here I was, 22 or something like that, and I wasn't allowed to work. And I couldn't just go and play in local pubs because the week I signed to Sony I'd just been number one so I was really, really recognisable, and sort of famous. So I couldn't even listen to records, it would make me physically sick.

So how did making Alf go?

AM: It was interesting. I worked with Swain and Jolley on it, they would come around to my house - I had a piano there - and the writing process was really quick and easy. We got the album done in three months and then went to the studio. It was interesting, different from the way that I'd worked with Vince in the way tracks were built up. Also, [I was] working with producers, which Vince and I hadn't done, so the experience of it was interesting. I ended up really disliking that album for the wrong reasons - I'm much more comfortable with it now than I was then.

What didn't you like about it?

AM: I disliked it then because I became famous from it - I got so recognisable - and hits really can be the bane of your life. People don't see that songs are like a diary of where you were at when you were 22, and then you're 23 and think something different and at 24 something different again. It's like you are forever tied to your hits and that's a fucking pain in the arse, because what is appropriate for you musically then isn't appropriate later on. What interested me about Alf was just the process of making it. I didn't really think about where that was going to lead me, or how it would represent me. It was just 'Oh, we're doing that are we? OK.'
In the process of making that album, did you begin to find what you'd consider your own sound?

AM: No, I don't think that started until Hoodoo really. You know, my favourite albums are the later ones. I feel self-conscious in saying that because so often you get artists who are really defensive of their work that's less known, but lyricism is really important to me and I find the words of a 21-year-old don't move me. Interestingly enough, I find Yazoo's work more interesting than the bleatings of an early solo singer.

How do you feel about singing Yazoo songs now?

AM: It's the songs that were milked on the radio that people remember you for, fans and non-fans alike. The hardened fans that come to my shows are as bored of the earlier stuff as I am... Actually that's not a fair thing to say - I am less bored of it now because I'd stopped for a while and refused to do them. I can now revisit that innocence without the embarrassment that you feel when you're close to it, in the same way that with an old lover, as time has gone by, you find it much easier to remember things about them that you did like than the things that you didn't. 'Only You', for example - I have to smile my way through that song because I get so bored singing it. I've sung it for over 30 years but what I get now that I never used to get is that it really brings joy to other people, and transports them to for a moment to a time in their life when hope was still a prospect. That one moment of 'Yes! Thank you!' gives you enough reason to want to do it again.

How about the Yazoo reunion? Was it full of those 'grin and bear it' moments?

AM: I did the Yazoo reunion tour in 2008, and what was really fantastic about doing those shows is that we'd never performed the whole second album live and for the first album we'd done no more than 30 dates. So of all my material, the Yazoo songs have been in some ways the least covered live-wise. Because of that it was not like some nasty karaoke, it was genuinely like doing it for the first time with the complete joy that every single song was thoroughly known by the audience... a set of hits that you've never sung live before and at the same time were not hits. It was just brilliant, I had a really great time and it was really good that Vince and I had come through the whole circle of being really angry with each other, forgetting what we'd been angry about, and forgetting that there was ever any displeasure. It was a blessing to have one of those rare times when you're accepted by the public, by the media and by the serious music press – there are not many times in your life when that happens.

So what brought you and Vince back together?

AM: It was something that I'd wanted to do for a long time because playing live always has been my favourite part. I'm much happier live than in a studio somewhere, and I do a couple of Yazoo songs in my own shows, primarily because so much of my own material is so bleak I feel I need a moment where people don't want to go and stab themselves. I look to Yazoo for some of the lighter moments: I've done 'Situation', 'Don't Go' and 'Only You' in my sets. But the majority of Yazoo songs, including half the songs I've written myself, I didn't feel I could do live because they needed not to be done with a generic band. A huge part of what they were was the electronica, and short of getting someone to come and mimic Vince, I couldn't do those songs. So, I would have played with Yazoo for that reason at any time over the last 20-25 years.

Who instigated the reunion?

AM: I emailed Vince and said: 'Would you like to play live?' It's like Vince was married to Depeche and married to Erasure and I was the transition relationship, and as such, for him to play live with me... well if the shoe was on the other foot and I was Andy Bell I wouldn't have liked it much, and I think Vince would have felt that it betrayed Andy, so his first reaction was: 'As much as I'd like to, I can't.' Then I think after Andy told him that he wanted to take a sabbatical and not work for year he said 'Actually, Alison asked me if I'd like to do some Yazoo gigs', to which Andy said 'Well, you should go for it', so he did! I think seeing Vince on stage with Yazoo made Andy miss that very much so he wanted to start working again quite soon afterwards, and that really put paid to us doing any more gigs than we did.

Is that good in a way, not to get caught up too much in the past?

AM: Well, I loved it, I had a great time. We toured England and did some gigs in America and they were great. I would have loved to have done some more worldwide, to hit some of the places we never played in. I would have been happy to have done more, but I'm satisfied with what we did.

And what made you decide that was the time to email Vince?

AM: I always thought that it was a project we hadn't finished, it was kind of half-done and then put on the shelf with all the other things Vince did. For me, it was unfinished because you never really get to the crux of something until you sing it live, until you've toured it... for me it's almost sad that you record an album and then tour it; it's a shame you can't tour an album and then record it, then you'd really find out what's the meat and bones and what are the feathers for plucking.

You and Vince are both going to be appearing at the Mute festival - might that lead to more shows?

AM: We'll be performing together and I'm 99.9% sure it's the last time. I mean, should he change his mind I'm happy to do more Yazoo gigs, but knowing Vince and his fidelity to Erasure I can't see it happening again. So, as far as i know this'll be the last time that we're playing Yazoo stuff together.

Are you still working on a new album?

AM: Yes, it's a good 70% through. I've been working with Guy Sigsworth, and I'm certainly thinking in terms of my next tour being an electronic tour. It ties in with the new album, and means that I can approach some of the early 80s stuff that I've done and also deal with a couple of the albums that I've not been able to do because they're so heavily programmed.

Does that mean that you're writing an electronic album this time?

AM: Yes, it's effectively a programmed album. It's not electronica in the sense of that early 80s analogue sound but it is electronic as opposed to acoustic instruments.

You said that Hoodoo and onwards have been your favourite albums; moving forward from that era, how do you think you have developed as a songwriter?

AM: Well, I think that the lyricism has really come to the fore, and I think that's where my area of strength is. My challenge is that sometimes you write as a songwriter and sing as a singer, which is why I sometimes cover other people's songs - because sometimes my own stuff is not always suited to a singer. The material that I listen to is not always singer-oriented so when I'm writing I'll often give more fidelity to the poetry than I would to how to showboat as a singer.

And does it reflect a less turbulent time, a more confident time now?

AM: Well, I certainly think that it's age-appropriate. You know, I'm coming up to 50 now and what I'm looking for in a lyric is... what I love about writers such as Jacques Brel is that they're not frightened of showing themselves in a less flattering way. I think you are far more intimidated by that when you are younger - when you're younger you have to be seen as sexy or edgy, those kind of things, whereas when I'm writing now I'm really happy to be ugly, to see myself in a not very flattering light. There's a kind of beautiful ugliness in it that you don't approach when you are younger.

Do you think about what your fans want when you write?

AM: It's irrelevant for me. I've collected fans from every different album, so there will be some that only ever want to see me as a gay diva, there's some that only want to see me as a dark poet, some that are happy for me to be a euphoric pop singer, some see me as a jazz singer, everyone's got a different idea and has a different era that they like. I would not write for the marketplace. I did it once: I recorded 'Weak in the Presence of Beauty' because I knew it was a hit and I regretted that totally and will never do that again.

So what is important to you in writing a song?

AM: That I move myself.

And how do you know when you have?

AM: Because I cry...

Really?

AM: Because I cry, or because I feel... that feeling. There's a feeling that you get in your stomach that you can't distinguish between anxiety, euphoria or hunger. You get that kind of feeling when you go: 'Fucking hell, you're beautiful.'

Alison Moyet plays alongside Vince Clarke for the final time at the Mute Short Circuit Festival, which takes place next weekend, May 13th and 14th. For Festival information and tickets, visit the Roundhouse website