It seems that no-one was more surprised by the musical reunion of Depeche Mode founders Vince Clarke (the VC of VCMG) and Martin Gore (the MG!) than Vince Clarke and Martin Gore themselves who collaborated on this instrumental techno album entirely through email and file-sharing after Clarke suggested (by email, naturally) that Gore might like to get involved in a techno project he was working on.
As exciting as the reunion is, this isn’t a record that picks up from where the duo left off, on Depeche Mode’s debut album ‘Speak & Spell’, nor does it owe much to either’s career since Clarke left the band in 1981. Instead it’s a darkly sparkling instrumental album of minimal electronica, and that ticks all the boxes for me!
It’s all good, but standout tracks for me would be ‘Aftermaths’, ‘Single Blip’ and the brilliantly titled ‘Windup Robot. Kudos to the duo also for calling one of the tracks ‘Skip This Track’… and they say there’s no humour in techno!
Lowly / Zaat / Spock / Windup Robot / Bendy Bass / Single Blip / Skip This Track / Aftermaths / Recycle / Flux
‘Ssss’ was released on March 12th 2012 on CD, vinyl and via download.
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[five-star-rating]