Listening diary: week 47, 2025

I generally think Depeche Mode peaked as an albums act in the 90s, and listen to their 80s material through best ofs, playlists and live records. Construction Time Again is aimed far more directly at the dancefloor than I recalled, while also being the most overtly concrète they ever sounded. An amazing record with phenomenal low-end.

David Byrne’s stock as an artist has never been higher, even as his new records are received with little more than a shrug. I think Who Is The Sky is delightful; like post-60s Brian Wilson, your response to this will depend on whether you read its disarming literalness as radical and heartfelt or lightweight - childlike vs childish.

When I was a kid I had a tape of Tim Hart and Maddy Prior singing nursery rhymes. Listening to Steeleye Span properly for the first time in middle age connects to something very primal and formative in my brain. Ten years ago I’d have found this naff beyond belief; now I think I need it.

My pal John sent me the Cesar Mariano rec. It has the greasiest keyboard lines I’ve heard all year.

When the temperature drops, I turn to late 70s Tangerine Dream. I’ve been listening to Rubycon regularly for 20 years now, and the experience is different every time. This time, I noticed the relative density of the drifty passages, and then how almost everything else falls away to let the sequencer lines shine, like they’re rightly proud of them.