SPD

"The Blinding Dark" is definitely not Covenant's most easily accessible album. It does not contain as many hits as classics like "Northern Light" or "United States Of Mind", and it is surely less pleasant than Covenant's most striking earworms "Dead Stars" and "Happy Man". Still, "The Blinding Dark" is exciting not only because of its telling title, but also since it shows a remarkable development in style, something that Covenant decidedly wanted with this record - and not least thanks to the subject matter they address. Of course, dancefloors will still shake during "Sound Mirrors", "Immortal" or "I Close My Eyes", yet the albums focuses rather suppressed tracks of subtle darkness such as the Kraftwerk- and Jarré-inspired "Dies Irae" and the Lee Hazelwood(!) cover "Rider On A Wild Horse", a 1977 country anthem that has been turned into a sombre, sluggish electro requiem with heavy acoustic drums.<br/> <br/>Eventually "The Blinding Dark" offers a lot to discover, not least probably because long-standing Covenant member Joakim Montelius has once again taken more responsibility in the studio than on their previous works and due to the fact that Daniel Myer (haujobb, Architect) has returned as a permanent fixture in the group's live line-up.<br/> <br/>Thus, "The Blinding Dark" may hark back to one of Covenant's less "hit-heavy" records that turned out to have more depth and longevity just because of its raw character. It is their second full-length "Sequencer" that could have been the blueprint for the mood on "The Blinding Dark" with slower numbers such as "Tabula Rasa" or "Flux". And there could be worse references, right?

Kraftwerk: At The Cirkus (Broadcast 2004) [2 CD]

Digipack.<br/><br/>För att fira 35-årsjubileum, belgiska elektroniska musik pionjärerna FRONT 242 åter-släpper flera av deras album i remastrade versioner. No Comment Politics Of Pressure släpptes 1984 och 1985, vid en tidpunkt då FRONT 242 nått sin fulla kraft och de hade blivit ledarna inom "Electronic Body Music" med deras högteknologiska och hårt kantade elektroniska punk-dansmusik.

It's 35 years since Depeche Mode first formed in Basildon, Essex - one of London's home counties - and, unlike virtually any other band in living memory they have retained their fan base throughout and picked up plenty of new subscribers to the Mode cause along the way.<br/><br/>And with their latest material sounding like it will be up there with their very best, this 2 DVD set celebrates the longevity and quality of the group's music and lives to date.<br/><br/>Disc 1 contains a ninety minute film charting the full career of Depeche Mode featuring exclusive interviews, rare footage and contributions from those who have known and worked with them closely. <br/>Disc 2 contains rarely seen filmed interviews with all the guys (past and present) recorded at various phases during their time as a group, which all together makes for the finest all round document on this extraordinary collective yet to emerge.

Front 242: Geography [CD]

Trippel DVD med oceaner av sällsynt arkivmaterial, nya och klassiska intervjuer, förmodligen det närmaste de flesta av oss någonsin kommer denna pionjär.

Depeche Mode: Almost acoustic Christmas (Broadc) [CD]