People often say to me, “Stu, what’s your favourite brass band cover of a Depeche Mode song?“

“Brass band cover?” I ask, just to clarify.

“Yes, Stu.  I know you enjoy the brass ensemble--”

“Well, that’s a given,” I interrupt, “who doesn’t enjoy the low mellifluous sound of the brass band?“

“Of course, Stu, of course; but what’s your favourite Depeche Mode cover?“

And that, my friends, is easy to answer: it’s this one –

Not least because they appear to be conducted by Brian Blessed!

Ah, playing naughty, ain’t you? Well, it’s not too nice to draw a plasgun in presence of a lady. But you know what? Plasgun, projectile, H-bomb, sword, draw all! I’ll still take on you for the sake of your own soul. Well, maybe for the sake of mine as well. But still…

I’ll make you confess!

I Depeche Mode

Il gruppo, che ha venduto più di 75 milioni di album nel mondo e che si è spesso ritrovato in testa delle classifiche musicali mondiali si esibirà a Bercy il 19 e il 20 Gennaio 2010 per presentare il loro ultimo album: Sounds of Universe.

Precursori della musica elettronica, i Depeche Mode nascono alla fine degli anni 70, durante il periodo new wave, e restano tuttora uno dei gruppi di riferimento della musica britannica.
Sempre presente sulla scena internazionale, il gruppo di Dave Gahan ha saputo attraversare il corso del tempo con grande creatività e talento.

E’ nel 1977, nella piccola cittadina di Basildon, vicino Londra, che si forma l’origine dei Depeche Mode attorno alla figura di Vincent Clarke e Andrew Fletcher. La prima formazione del gruppo si chiama No Romance in China. Ben presto anche Martin Gore, compagno di liceo, entra a far parte del gruppo.
I tre componenti del neo-gruppo, legati da una forte amicizia, sviluppano la loro passione per la musica grazie all’utilizzo di un nuovo strumento: il sintetizzatore.
Siamo in piena epoca punk e la musica elettronica inizia ad avere successo graziea gruppi come gli OMD, i Kraftwerk e gli Human League.

I tre amici alla ricerca di un cantante per il loro gruppo restano affascinati dalla voce di Dave Gahan, personaggio carismatico ed eccentrico. E’ il quarto componente della band che prende il nome di Depeche Mode in riferimento a una rivista francese e al fenomeno, tipico degli anni 70-80, dei cambiamenti repentini di mode.
I Depeche Mode, che avevano iniziato a esibirsi nei bar e nelle discoteche di Londra, vengono notati da Daniel Miller, manager dei Soft Cell, che gli fa firmare un contratto con la casa discografica Mute Records.

Il gruppo conosce il primo successo negli USA, nel1984, con People are People.
Il successo della loro musica resta costante fino al 1990, quando i Depeche Mode pubblicano l’album Violator, da molti considerato il più riuscito; pezzi come Personal Jesus, Enjoy The Silence,World In My Eyes, Policy Of Truth e Clean diventano rapidamente dei successi mondiali e i quattro ragazzi inglesi, in tour, riempiono gli stadi americani ed europei.
Giunti all’apice del loro successo, i Depeche mode, si prendono un periodo di pausa che non sarà positivo.
Dave Gahan, il leader del gruppo, reagisce male al successo e si lascia trasportare in una spirale perversa di droga e alcool che lo porterà al divorzio dalla moglie e a tentare il suicidio per ben due volte. Gahan accetta di entrare in un centro di disintossicazione e finita la sua cura il gruppo riprende a fare buona musica e registrano Ultra, album che sarà pubblicato nel 1997 e che grazie a pezzi come Barrel Of A Gun, It’s No Good e Home ottiene un buon successo. Il successo del gruppo  continua.

Quasi tutte le canzoni del gruppo sono composte da Martin L. Gore, tranne quelle del primo album Speak and Spell che erano opera di Vincent Clark.
Dal 2005 anche il cantante Dave Gahan ha partecipato alla scrittura di vari brani.

Palais Omnisport de Bercy
8 boulevard de Bercy
75012 – Paris

19 & 20 Gennaio 2010

From October 30, 2009 at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota comes this great live concert footage of Lisa Hannigan’s exhilaratingly arranged and performed cover that’s making the biggest splash during her current shows opening for David Gray:

I so want this live performance to show up in a .WAV file and then for it to get proper studio treatment.

Your Thoughts?

TIM SKOLD

More info HERE. In the meantime, check out three new songs HERE.

——-
——-

The story starts somewhere in mid October last year when me and my actual roomie went shopping downtown Bremen. She told me that Depeche Mode are coming to Hamburg, we both then automatically agreed to go to the concert. Monsters, legends of music coming so close to us, it would be a pity to miss such an opportunity. After midterms we ordered the tickets and in a sort of present for finishing the finals and all the terrible stressful first semester, we got the tickets just before going home in December. I told all my friends that I’m going to see Depeche Mode in June. Half a year later Gahan gets sick and the concert is postponed for a date none of us were not even close to Hamburg. At the same time the news comes out that DM will also have a concert in Bremen. Send the tickets back, ask for refund, get refund, order new tickets, get new tickets. It seemed like we will never get to hear these guys live. Playing the music of the generations past, somehow we were too young for these legends. But finally, 1st of November did come and we did get to see them. We yelled, we screamed, we cried, it was insane. Starting with a gigantic concert hall, the crowds, people cheering, the stage and the sound. DM sounds a gazillion times better than whatever we listen on our computers. They performed songs from the new album, but also their most known hits such as Walking in my Shoes and finishing with Personal Jesus, which was the climax. Everyone waited for this song, everyone feared they won’t play it, but they did sing it. Afterward there was only silence. And we enjoyed it.

Here’s a list of random clips I took during the concert. Their quality is very low and if you hear screaming voices, they DO NOT belong to the persons mentioned in this post .

Depeche Mode in Bremen 1

Depeche Mode in Bremen 2

Depeche Mode in Bremen 3

Depeche Mode in Bremen 4

Depeche Mode in Bremen 5

It was like a dream, we waited for it too much and it went by too fast, but I guess all really really cool things are like this. It’s all about a fraction of second that puts a huge smile upon your face and gives you the energy, the strength to move forward. But these words are very unnecessary.

]]> http://oconfessionario.wordpress.com/2009/10/31/especial-dia-das-bruxas-parte-iv-%e2%80%93-divas-macabras/ Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:19:00 +0000 Leonardo Portela http://oconfessionario.wordpress.com/2009/10/31/especial-dia-das-bruxas-parte-iv-%e2%80%93-divas-macabras/

E para finalizar nosso especial Halloween, nada melhor que a versão macabra da Rainha do Pop em sua versão Jogos Mortais e do próprio anticristo Marilyn Manson.

Vejam o clipe mais horripilante que escolhemos:

Feliz Halloween e divirtam-se, mas cuidado: A bruxa está solta.

Leonardo Portela

Your Own Personal Jesus

I saw this sign today while visiting Wells-next-the-sea (on the North Norfolk coast). It was on the board inside the churchyard for the Evangelical Congregational Church Centre. I can’t figure out if they are advertising a programme, giving a ‘thought for the day’, or trying to say that the church is the ‘personal Jesus’.

With no referent, I assume they are trying to reach out to those who need someone to hear their prayers and need someone to care for them. Not necessarily bad in itself, I suppose. But is this the reason for the church’s existence?

I guess this is why I have been thinking about hell and universalism this week. Without hell, it seems the church has lost a primary motivation to do to mission. It also seems that we struggle to find our reason for existing. So, we are now here to let people know we are ‘there for them’ (which reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry and Elaine try to ‘be there for’ the couple who are fighting and they are trying to break them up under the pretense of caring for them).

Leading two churches worried about their future, I am struggling to article a vision for mission in a new era. I don’t think hell is useful anymore, but certainly our mission must be broader than ‘being there’ for others (again, not bad in and of itself, but not enough on its own). Any thoughts?

Era sábado 3 de Octubre del 2009 aproximadamente a las 19:30 hrs cuando recibí la llamada de Lee ya se encontraba esperandome en el estacionamiento 8/9 del Foro Sol presentación estelar: Depeche Mode.

La cita con Lee era a las 8 pm sin embargo esos factores ridículos provocaron que llegará mucho antes al lugar de la función, por mi parte llegué a tiempo pero sin éxito por encontrar el estacionamiento y por haber sido cambiado el lugar de reunión en el último momento, terminé encontrandola despues de 40 min de intensiva búsqueda por todos los alrededores del Foro Sol debido a que ella no sabía precisamente donde se encontraba y para colmo traía los boletos jaja.

Al veerla lo primero que paso fue una mirada de enputamiento por su parte que calaba los huesos, y yo con fallas en mi telfono incapaz de encontrarla, ella fue a mi y con un gesto de coraje solo se limitó a darme mi boleto. Caminamos sin cruzar palabras unos cuantos minutos antes de empezar una acalorada discusión sobre mi incapacidad para encontrarla sin saber su ubicación en un lugar repleto de personas vestidas en una uniformidad bastante ridícula. Llegamos al acceso 5 del Foro Sol con los ánimos un poco mas calmados y las chicas estas raras que abrían el concierto ya se habían retirado por unos pasones de coca o que se yo.

Sounds of the Universe

El coraje terminó, llegarón las merecidas chelas y unas orejas de mickey mouse azules para la linda Lee alrededor de las 10 pm comenzó el concierto con un espectáculo visual pobre a exepción de la increible calidad de la pantalla que estaba en el escenario. La actuacion de Depeche Mode se vio bastante opacada por una cuestion de taquitos de 3 pesos que fueron la posible causa de la diarrea que atormentaba a Dave Gahan razón por la cual el concierto fue parado una y otra vez.

Además el ambiente entre Lee y yo no era digamos el mas cordial, la falta de entrega del público así como los inumerables huecos vacios dentro del inmueble creaaban una atmósfera en mi cabeza de no se por que chingados pagué por ver a estos cabrones ya me quiero ir a mi casa. Lee salió al rescate con uno de sus comentarios que me aterran y me hacen sentir bien al mismo tiempo lo cual no evitó mis sonoros chiflidos en pos de la señora Gahan cuando comenzo el show de Personal Jesus de por si molesto y corto, la gente  no se la sabía aunque todos tarareaban el coro pues la mayoria solo iban por esa canción en fin cuando terminé me senti aliviado y me dejaron un buen sabor de boca tras tocar Waiting for the night como ultima pieza.

En fin no fue un concierto malo pero nunca lo calificaría de bueno o memorable, por el momento Lee y yo ya hemos resuelto el pequeño problema que nos molestaba, espero que el buen Gahan haya por fin salido del escusado y roto la maldicion del cagasagua, y pues aclaro que ésta es mi opinión Depeche no deja de ser uno de mis grupos favoritos pero neta que jamas vuelvo a un concierto de ellos, fue a Question of Shit y asi pues esto no es un critica a Depeche mas bien un sentimiento que no comparto con Lee a la cual le encantó y pues solo fue un lío mas de los cotidianos que solemos tener.

Considero a Depeche Mode como una de mis bandas favoritas, junto con Queen y Garbage. Justo por esa razón es que, con decepción, escribo este post:

Fui al concierto que esta consolidada banda dio en el Foro Sol este 3 de octubre de 2009. Mi boleto lo compré con varios meses de anticipación, de hecho jamás había tenido un boleto para un evento, guardado tanto tiempo, mi miedo era que se me fuera a perder. El caso es que, desde un inicio, el panorama no se veía muy prometedor:

• Los estacionamientos del Foro Sol son un relajo. Debería haber estacionamientos especiales de acuerdo al tipo de boleto que compre uno, por ejemplo, si es de costo mayor a 600 pesos, debería haber una sección VIP para quedar más cerca de la puerta. Es insultante que uno deba de esperar casi 2 horas para poder estacionar su auto y luego, de todos modos, tener que caminar como 4 o 5 kilómetros para llegar a su asiento. Y por si fuera poco, la señorita que cobraba la entrada al estacionamiento, me intentó cobrar 2 veces porque, según ella, no se acordaba que yo ya le hubiera pagado. No estoy seguro si fue ella la que me cobró, pero alguien lo hizo, si fue alguien que no tenía autorización y me voló $50 pesos, pues lo lamento, pero no es mi problema, sino de ellos por no poner seguridad suficiente.

• Yo odio ir al Foro Sol a un concierto en “entrada general”, siempre he considerado que es mejor ir a una zona donde se pueda uno sentar libremente y tener más espacio vital, por eso es que no entiendo a la gente que va al mosh pit y se la pasa bien, tan sencillo como que no es lo mío. Pero es deslenable ver que mi boleto costaba casi $1,000 pesos y mi asiento estaba en verdad muy arriba de las gradas del Foro, no valía para nada su costo y, según yo, era de los mejorcitos. Ni siquiera tenían respaldo los asientos porque… ¡no había asientos! Uno se tenía que sentar en las escaleras duras y frías y medio apretarse con los de al lado porque la fila completa no cabía, así que adiós a mi idea de “espacio vital”. Si a eso le sumamos que la sujeta que estaba al lado mío y que iba con su novio o esposo, se la pasó golpeándome todo el concierto sin que se diera cuenta, mientras bailaba, pues imagínense…

Ahora vayamos a la carnita del concierto:

El boleto citaba a las 9 de la noche al lugar, los de Depeche Mode salieron al escenario a las 9.40, ¡40 minutos de retraso! Habiendo ido yo hace apenas unos días al concierto de Pet Shop Boys, donde comenzaron con escasos 10 minutos de retraso, esto me pareció vomitivo.

Abrieron con una canción lenta y cerraron con una canción lenta. Hicieron un encore de un minuto más o menos, que no entendí para qué si nadie de la banda hizo un solo cambio de vestuario, por cierto que Dave Gahan sacó su complejo de rockero frustrado porque vistió un chaleco negro sin nada abajo, mostrando sus tatuajes. ¿Acaso Depeche Mode toca rock? Creo que he vivido engañado entonces jajaja.

El set list fue regular. Uno se esperaría que una banda que tiene casi 30 años existiendo, interpretara sus éxitos que los hicieron famosos, repertorio tienen, aún a sabiendas de que iban promocionando su disco “Sounds of the Universe”, pero ahora sí se lo tomaron muy enserio y les salió lo “artistas”: ¡tocaron sólo 4 clásicos! Los nombraré en el orden de interpretación: Policy of truth, enjoy the silence, never let me down again y personal Jesus. ¿Dónde quedaron People are people y Just can’t get enough? Y me refiero con “clásicos” a las canciones de antes de 1990, porque si hablamos de las que le siguieron, también faltaron: I feel loved, Dream on, Only when I loose myself, Barrel of a gun y hasta el single que están tocando en radio actualmente: Peace.

Un Dave Gahan muy movido en el escenario, dando vueltas y vueltas, evitando cantar la mitad de la letra de cada canción y cediéndole el honor al público (cosa que me parece chafísima, para eso me voy a un karaoke), reitero, como rockero sin serlo, que además, se puso una bandera de México que le pasó algún fan y cuyo acto prendió mucho a la gente. Un concierto con muy poca producción, casi nada, incluso las animaciones de las pantallas eran bastante mediocres fuera de una donde vestían a los integrantes del grupo como astronautas (¿Moby?). En los pocos momentos donde la cámara mostraba a los de la banda, tocando alguna rola, le metían efectos como de stock, que estorbaban, no se si no les ha caído el 20 a los de su producción que las pantallas laterales al escenario tienen la finalidad de hacer que aquellos que estamos en lugares más lejanos al mismo podamos ver al artista fácilmente.

El sonido, que ya es bien sabido que en el Foro Sol es pésimo porque se lo lleva el viento, aquí fue aún más notorio, hizo quedar mal al grupo pues había arreglos que nunca supe si estaban mal hechos, o sólo se escuchaban mal.

En fin, aunque ya se que habrá muchos que me la quieran mentar diciéndome que estoy loco por decir lo que acabo de decir, insisto que es triste que un concierto que había esperado por varios años (en 2006 no pude ir y me arrepentí), haya sido simplemente un fantasma que, quizá, sólo quizá, algún día se vuelva realidad.

Les dejo unos videos que tomé de las canciones que valieron la pena:

Personal Jesus

We all have our ‘Personal Jesuses’ as the Depeche Mode used to sing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNd4eocq2K0), beautiful minds who change the way we think and behave, secular saints we look up to for inspiration.

One of my personal jesuses is William S. Burroughs, “American novelist, essayist, social critic, painter and spoken word performer,” as Wikipedia describes him. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Burroughs).

re·blog pays tribute to his motto “Look, listen, and transcribe, and forget about being original.”

Listen to Burrough discussing various sources for writing, including dreams, voices (external and internal), and cut-up, and giving examples from his own work. A lecture/performance that will take you through apocalyptic scenarios, sardonic comments, and anarchic visions, a journey in which his smooth, long drawn out words typical of his Southern American accent will put you in a state of trance…

http://www.archive.org/details/Burroughs_class_on_writing_sources_July_1976_76P020

Long life to Dr. Benway!

William S. Burroughs (soon in the streets). Source: flickr by New Sputnik 23.

“PERSONAL JESUS” INSPIRES SPIRAL STATES
-Unique metaphysical film inspired by the music of Depeche Mode-

West Hollywood, CA. September 8, 2009 – from Halo 8 Entertainment

Depeche Mode has been making popular music for over 20 years, and it has had an effect on millions of fans worldwide, but award-winning filmmaker, Ramzi Abed, believes he is the first fan to make a movie inspired by the band’s lyrics, music, and personal lives.

“IN A SPIRAL STATE”, which stars young upcoming starlets, Juliana Fine (“Goa”, “Anything For You”), Lizzy Strain (“The Devil’s Muse”), Elissa Dowling (“Dread’), Bianca Barnett (“Albino Farm”), and Mae Moreno (“The Boys And Girls Guide To Getting Down”), focuses on the path of two Earthbound angels, played by Israeli actors, Ofri Fuchs (“The Ungodly”) and Adam Meir (“Waltz With Bashir”) who watch over the lives of numerous Los Angeles residents, who are battling issues of addiction and heartbreak. Their main mission is to guard and guide the path of a particularly troubled young woman, Maya (Juliana Fine). The film centers around universal themes of love, loss, addiction, and salvation, all of which are central themes in the music of synth-pop sensation, Depeche Mode.

When asked about the topic and its meaning, the Director, Ramzi Abed, had this to say, “Depeche Mode has been a huge inspiration to me since I was a teen growing up in the late 80s. Martin Gore’s powerful and sometimes religious lyrics, as well as the trials and tribulations of David Gahan’s own personal life, have found their way into my head in a big way. When I came up with “In A Spiral State”, certain lyrics and music videos became subconscious cues for me emotionally, especially with songs like “Personal Jesus”, “Walking In My Shoes”, and “In Your Room”. These songs, and the feeling behind them took me to a world of angels, drug addicts, and meditation.”

The film, which will be released widely by arthouse genre distributor, Halo 8 Entertainment, on September 29, 2009, is already making news for its groundbreaking visual style, electronic musical score (by first-time composer, Ken Cravens), and the overall meaning behind its complex storyline. Like Depeche Mode, “In A Spiral State”, brings forth imagery that is religious and at times controversial. In one scene in particular, a drug dealer, high on hard drugs, makes the shape of a cross in a doorway. In the opening scene of the film, the two angels converse in Hebrew, as they float in outer space. Abed continues to explain, “Faith is a big part of our lives. Much like Martin Gore’s incredibly personal song-writing, I want to bring something near and dear to me to viewers, and make them feel the most important emotion of all, empathy for others.”

Halo-8 Entertainment (www.halo8.tv) is a Hollywood-2.0 movie studio using bleeding-edge strategies to create and distribute daring new films and lifestyle videos. Recent releases include the award-winning drug-infused horror POP SKULL (which Variety called “distinctive, visually powerful, and uncompromising”), the new arthouse cult classic, THE DEVIL’S MUSE (which Rue Morgue magazine called “intoxicating and sensual”), the legendary NY hardcore documentary N.Y.H.C. (which Cinematical called “smashing… a terrific, well-told, engaging story”), the award-winning hardcore-punk thriller THREAT (which Urb Magazine said “makes KIDS look like an after-school special”), and the campy, interactive horror-DVD-game SLUMBER PARTY SLAUGHTERHOUSE: THE GAME (starring Tiffany Shepis, Joanna Angel, Melissa Bacelar, Masuimi Max). Upcoming releases include Ramzi Abed’s erotic-art documentary THE NEW EROTIC (featuring XXX-auteurs Eon McKai, Kimberly Kane, Dave Naz, Jack The Zipper, Alejandra Guerrero), and the iconoclastic hero’s journey GODKILLER (which Fangoria called “a genre-star-studded opus”, and stars Danielle Harris (Halloween) Davey Havok (AFI), and horror movie legend, Bill Moseley).

www.halo8.tv

“IN A SPIRAL STATE” (OFFICIAL MOVIE TRAILER) below:

http://vimeo.com/6409382

It’s the classic Personal Jesus live in Fuerth on 11 July. Don’t ask about the hat. It was a wardrobe malfunction but one that the rest of the lads were keen for me to wear. Anyway, this was alot of fun and definitely worth a watch if you’ve made that transisition from Simple Minds, through to U2 but then got a bit deluded with life and listened to Violator and Songs Of Faith And Devotion.

> See Personal Jesus LIVE!

Yeah, 2009, a year full of music releases… some of them good and some of them not so good.

You know, music, has lost it’s touch since the 80’s when the massive corporative blocks started looking at small groups of people around a musical phenomenon with dollar signs on their eyes. Well it’s normal for a growing economy and for businessman to discover potential gold mines they can invest in… BUT let’s face it people, economic growth or not, it has been way too much!

We live in a world where someone can call himself “artist” by taking something someone else did, sampling it, talking over it, recording it and releasing it as a “new song”, I’m not proud of it but I did it too. Thanks to the open flow (internet mostly) of the means necesary to do this, music has come to a dead end in it’s normal evolution.

This leads me to the conclussion… we need change.

It’s corny, it’s an Obama phrase, but despite it all, it’s true.

Come on people!, we are the buyers of this product called “music”, we buy tickets to concerts of this people, we bought (at least when p2p networking wasn’t that popular) their albums… the least we can do it’s demand a good product…It’s our right to demand it!

So that reduces it to me, today July 13th 2009 here in my bedroom writing this with hope someone gets it.

Not trying to bitch about everything I listen on the radio, on MTV or over the internet…just trying to understand WHY IN THE NAME OF ZEUS ARSE… Hillary Duff sampled Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode and paid a rapper to “sing” over the sample…

Jag har letat runt på dutuben efter Depeche Modes b-sidor som de kört live vid något tillfälle utan någon större framgång. Jag hittade två stycken varav den ena “Higher Love” var borttagen pga brott mot användarvillkoren och den andra “Shout” nästan blir en repris från gårdagens b-sida då “Shout” också är från 1981 från singeln “New Life”, men jag kör den ändå och den är inspelad live 1984 i Hamburg, Tyskland. Men en av Depeche Modes bästa b-sidor enligt mig finns med på “Personal Jesus” singeln och den har DM aldrig spelat live tyvärr, men jag kör den här som avslutning på denna veckan. En underbar Depeche Mode låt som jag kan sitta och lyssna på många gånger utan att någonsin tröttna på den.

Depeche Mode
Dangerous
1989

Depeche Mode
Shout (live 1984)
1981

Ok so it is refreshing that the finicky US market is finally seriously considering dating the genre of Electropop music. Being of the nintendo generation, I consider Electropop quite refreshing to listen to as it reminds me of my childhood i.e. background music to Mega Man and sort of mindfucks me usually while I’m out at some club. There’s nothing like dancing and flirting cocktail in hand and all of a sudden having a vague auditory 6th grade flashback. Jolly Good Fun!

However, we must remember and give massive credit to European artists and audiences for the nurturing of this genre. Since the 80’s artists like Britain’s Pet Shop Boys pushed on and paved they way for us Sega kids to boogie like 1980-whatev. The genre had a decent start in the US but soon phased out. While abandoned by all but black culture especially in Detroit, electropop under went a long incubation period abroad. This was good considering and thank god for it’s return.

I’m sorry but it should be at least a misdemeanor to be out at a club and have only Trance and Reggaeton as dance options, especially when you aren’t in the mood for either. I’m not hating on those genres, but seriously we’re sufferin out in NYC! Fortunately, now we even have a chart topping artist here from NYC who speaks electropop. To date Lady Gaga has been just the right American counterpart to hand the electropop baton to. Yet, before we break out the ticker tape and grant her some major primogeniture, here are some acts from across the pond that have been holding there own listed by country:

France:

Miss Kittin - A blip on the radar since 02′, the eclectic and controversial Miss Kittin rose out of the electroclash scene after moving from her native Grenoble to Geneva in 96′. After 8 years she had already become of Europe’s Electropop go-to gals.

Rippin Kittin- Golden Boy featuring Miss Kittin

Miss Kittin is often remembered for this little ditty about Frank Sinatra entitlled “Frank Sinatra”

Yelle- this 26 yr old released her first single on Myspace back in 06′. Today she is being featured in Rolling Stone.

Je veux te voir- Yelle

Britain:

Depeche Mode- was amongst the first groups to ever be labeled as Electropop.

Personal Jesus- Depeche Mode

Pet Shop Boys were able maintain not only the development of their own electropop sound but a cult status amongst fans.

West End Girls- Pet Shop Boys

La Roux is currently the reigning British electropop mademoiselle de jure. With tight tunes and an androgynous look she keeps people guessing and tuning in.

Bulletproof- La Roux

Sweden

The Knife is a brother/sister electropop duo that has been breaking boundaries since 99′

Heartbeats- The Knife

The Similou dropped this song which may  or rather should creep in to your next affair

All This Love- The Similou

Germany

Electrocute which started in Berlin 02′ is a personal favorite. A hybrid of US and German artistry/sound, Electrocute blends synth sound with rock influence. I think they are just peachy.