Genesis. Often unjustly maligned in the British press over the years. They've sold eleventy billion albums, and yet remain the most uncool of bands. But I like them, no I love them.

Their evolution from the Peter Gabriel led progressive rock band of the late 60s to the Phil Collins hit singles era is well documented. With Collins taking over vocal duties in 1976, they underwent a transformation, embracing a more streamlined and accessible sound. The 1980s saw Genesis reach new heights of commercial success with albums like "Abacab" and "Invisible Touch." Collins' distinct voice and the band's knack for catchy melodies resulted in chart-topping singles and sold-out stadium tours.

Their self-titled album from 1983 is often overlooked, which is a shame, because it contains quite possibly the best song they ever wrote. Home By The Sea is, quite frankly, a masterpiece. I love the atmosphere, the delivery, the production, and even the subject matter. A burglar breaks into a house, only to find it haunted, he's captured by the spirits who force him to sit and listen to their stories for the rest of his life.

I can't think of a better vocal performance by Collins in his career. I could listen to this song every day for the rest of my life and it would never fail to make the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

'Cause you won't get away
No, with us you will stay
For the rest of your days

SIT DOWN

As we relive our lives in what we tell you
Let us relive our lives in what we tell you

Can you believe that Depeche's Construction Time Again turned 40 this week?

The first Depeche album I ever owned was "The Singles 81->85" on vinyl. It's not an exaggeration to say that it changed my life forever. Every single song on that album is fantastic. But one song stood out head and shoulders from the others: Everything Counts. A song, to this day, that never fails to make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. So, naturally, I wanted more of that and went looking for whatever album had that song.

You can make a solid case that Depeche Mode are one of the most influential bands electronic music has ever seen. They've left an indelible mark on the music industry with their innovative sound and thought-provoking lyrics. They've left a mark on me personally; they wrote the soundtrack to my youth. Among their impressive discography Construction stands out as a pivotal album that marked a real shift in their musical direction.

When you listen to their studio albums in order, you can hear this album is where everything changed. Construction marked a significant departure from Depeche Mode's earlier synth-pop sound, introducing a more industrial and experimental edge. The album's distinctive sound was partly influenced by the band's collaboration with producer Gareth Jones, who brought a fresh perspective to their creative process. Incorporating unconventional sounds like clanging metal and sampled industrial noises.

The great Synth Britannia documentary has a behind the scenes look at their use of samplers. I love that scene of Martin rolling the pebble along the track of a patio door. A sound that would be sampled and included on the song Pipeline.

The album paved the way for Depeche Mode's evolution into a band that was unafraid to tackle complex subject matter. The album's fusion of synth-pop sensibilities with industrial undertones influenced numerous artists and helped shape the trajectory of electronic music. When you listen to Ministry's Twitch, or even Pretty Hate Machine by Nine Inch Nails you can't help but think they listened to Construction Time Again. A lot.

So Happy Birthday Construction Time Again, you hold a near and dear place in my heart. I'm going to listen to you again now. Loud.

A thunderstorm rolled through last night. A few flashes of lighting to begin with, followed by thunder and wind. The heavens absolutely opened shortly thereafter and we got ALL the rain as far as I could tell.

It was just delightful. We're having some extreme heat this summer. A couple of our trees are having a hard time even with deep root watering. Thankful the lemon tree got a nice extra long drink. The desert just smells so great after a thunderstorm. Savored every minute standing outside taking in deep breaths.

Of course our back yard is a neighborhood debris magnet. So it was a different story this morning once I could see how much I was going to have to clear up. But we'll take it.

Craig Mod pens quite wonderful walking stories. You should check them out. His most recent tale of the Lake District was a delight. I do miss sandwiches from the old country.

I ate a cheese sandwich. I ate a cheese sandwich with Branston Pickle. I got crisps. I put the crisps in the sandwich. I ate a cheddar cheese sandwich with Branston Pickle and salt and vinegar crisps on brown bread while looking out over Lakeland. I got more daring with my sandwich orders. To the consternation and confusion of various surly-yet-kind proprietresses, I ordered Madness: brown bread tuna no mayo, French mustard, cheddar cheese, Branston Pickle. That knocked 'em back on their heels. Alright, love, they said. Within that "love" lived a universe of judgement. But I am not British, and so that judgement rolls off me like water on a duck.

Cheese sandwiches with Branston Pickle are just a joy.

Last December I wrote a thing about Twitter. And then in January another thing because it seemed like Elon was determined to make Twitter a slow death by a thousand cuts.

Today they rebranded it as 'X'. blink

A choice quote from CEO Linda Yaccarino

X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities. Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we're just beginning to imagine.

The pinnacle of corporate word salad. No one fucking wants this. You're taking the one remaining thing Twitter had going for it, the brand, and flushing it down the toilet.

M.G. Siegler's take

Twitter, as we knew it, is dead.
…
All of this sucks. I loved Twitter. But the bird is dead. In its place is some weird, spiraling viral network where the content pushed to you has no unifying principle beyond maybe just having the opposite ideological bent of the content that proliferated before it. This is basically Bizzaro Twitter. It's so fucking weird. It's like a literal version of the scene in The Dark Knight where The Joker lights the massive pile of money on fire and walks away. Except that amount of money clearly wasn't $45 billion. This is.

You know what, this does suck. Twitter the service was so very good. Until it wasn't. Elon fucking Musk everyone.

The trusty iPhone 11 workhorse gave up the ghost this morning. For the last four years, the best phone I ever had. May she rest in peace.

So then this happened 😳

Things that should have been Tweets, yet weren't, but stayed in my head nonetheless.

• Man those early Simple Minds albums are so good. Sons And Fascination and Sister Feelings Call just sublime.

• Apple TV+ has some pretty great shows you should watch. Severance, The Shrink Next Door, Ted Lasso, Silo, Foundation, The Essex Serpent, Slow Horses, Shrinking.

• A round up of other TV shows worth your time. The Peripheral, Wednesday, 1899, The Last Of Us, Black Sails, Beef, Hunters, Outer Range, From, Night Sky.

• I'm suffering from Marvel fatigue. It's the only thing I can think of why all of a sudden the thought of watching the TV shows or movies makes me go meh. I might be missing out on some gems by not watching anything since Loki. But I just can't bring myself to watch them.

• I found my old Dr Martens boots the other day. Nostalgia of the olden goth years. I mean, I still have a thousand black t-shirts, that's never changing but they're the grown up ones.

• After trying both Mastodon and Bluesky, I keep getting drawn back to Twitter. A cesspool of a service undoubtedly made worse by Musk certainly, but everyone I like following is still there. And lo, you go (or stay) where the people are.

In January I mentioned I have a complicated relationship with Depeche. A new album had been announced, and once again we long time fans brace ourselves and hope for something moderately decent. The lead single Ghosts Again was released a month later, and good heavens it was magnificent! Could the new album actually be any good?

Memento Mori has arrived.

The first listen was nerve wracking. I only really liked two songs so decided to give it a few days of repeated listens for everything to sink in. After each listen I found there were more things I liked that time around. One night while loading the dishwasher I found myself humming one of the new tracks. A good sign.

So, five days in, is it any good? Yes it is. It's much better than Spirit and Delta Machine. And to be honest that's all I could have really hoped for. There's less bluesy guitar work this time around and the synths & strings used to great effect.

Tracks I like:

My Cosmos Is Mine
Wagging Tongue
My Favorite Stranger
People Are Good
Always You
Never Let Me Go

Tracks I love:

Before We Drown
Ghosts Again
Speak To Me

Tracks that make me go hmmm:

Don't Say You Love Me
Soul With Me
Caroline's Monkey

Before We Drown is majestic, and Speak To Me is the best album closer since Clean from Violator.

Depeche albums do take a while to fully sink in. I have to remind myself that some of their albums I consider classics I've listened to with the benefit of years of reinforcement. Of course the Alan Wilder years are long gone, they're never going to be that band again. But I could grow to like this new version of the band based on this album.

If this proves to be their swansong, so be it, a fitting book end to an amazing career.

Star Trek Picard and The Mandalorian have entered their third season. How's that going for them so far?

Up to this point, the previous seasons of Star Trek Picard have been…fine. The show as a whole meandered a bit, and I'm not sure quite figured out what it was trying to be. But I still enjoyed it because, well, Patrick Stewart and Jeri Ryan, come on. Season three though is a different beast entirely. They've gone full on TNG nostalgia and I'm here for it! Every single episode has been great and I'm really really glad they finally figured this show out. It was The Next Generation all along.

The Mandalorian, however, has been quite the surprise. When they nailed the landing at the end of the second season I thought Favreau and Filoni could do no wrong. Then came the hot mess that was The Book Of Boba Fett. Made even more bonkers when it turned into The Mandalorian season 2.5 because reasons. Made even more bonkers because you had to have watched this lessor show for The Mandalorian season three to make sense. And we're now half way through said season and I still don't really have any idea what the goal is. The episodes haven't been great, the writing poor, and in places just outright silly. It feels very rushed like Disney just said "I don't care it isn't very good, just get it out there, we have more toys to sell".

Glendale is a suburb of Phoenix, and was host of this year's Superbowl . Turns out Taylor Swift is a bit popular and has a couple sold out shows at the stadium. And there's a bit of city rebranding going on.

Glendale, Arizona, is changing its name to Swift City in honor of Taylor Swift launching the Eras Tour at State Farm Stadium with two sold-out performances on Friday and Saturday, March 17-18.

The temporary and symbolic rebrand takes effect Friday, the opening day of the tour, and lasts through Saturday.

The name Swift City was unveiled at a news conference on Monday where Glendale Mayor Jerry P. Weiers read a proclamation laying out the case for Swift and Glendale in a series of sentences beginning with "Whereas" and referencing lyrics to several hits on his way to a closing involving the words "I do hereby declare."