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DEPECHE MODE

Name: DEPECHE MODE
Author: Dave Thompson
ISBN: 0-312-11262-9

SOME GREAT REWARD

by Dave Thompson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 1994

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The biography of a synth-band the cognoscenti love to hate, but which has managed to thrive in the hothouse world of British pop and more recently in the US. Depeche Mode was among the first wave of early 1980s British bands who abandoned the previous generation's guitars and drum kits for the cool delights of new musical technologies. Identified with the ``Neo-Romantics''—a fashion-driven outgrowth of punk and new wave—the band's short, melodic songs and good looks made them teen idols but drew equal portions of acclaim and vitriol from critics and older listeners. The group's early albums were produced by Daniel Miller, whose independent Mute label midwived many important, more experimental synth-bands into existence. Together, Miller and Depeche Mode influenced the dance music of the late '80s and helped spawn the harsher ``industrial'' sound now popular in America and the UK. Thompson's book follows the group's founding by Vince Martin (who soon left to form Yaz with Alison Moyet), their early struggles to master their sound, and their ongoing search for critical legitimacy—even as they continued courting British teeny- boppers on TV and in fanzines. Though Thompson's (Red Hot Chili Peppers, not reviewed) reverence for his subjects gets wearisome, longtime fans will no doubt savor details of band members' personal lives. More interesting are the author's comments about synthesizers, sampling, and other music-making technologies (a brief disquisition on the way remixes can reconstruct songs, for example, making them palatable to almost any market, is fascinating). For American readers the book also sheds light on a rather obscure but important period of recent British pop history. Depeche Mode's Songs of Faith and Devotion was America's number-one album in early 1993; Depeche Mode: Some Great Reward—though not so terribly rewarding—will likely capitalize on that success. This book's treasures remain decidedly modest; it fails all too often to rise above puffery and reach a convincing level of critical integrity.

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1994

ISBN: 0-312-11262-9

Page Count: 288

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1994

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
LONDON’S BURNING
by Dave Thompson

- BOOK REVIEW
BETTER TO BURN OUT
by Dave Thompson

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.