Random Shuffle - The Grateful Dead, Depeche Mode and Andrew Bird - Page 2

So, here I am back in the United States, still not driving long distances, but having the leisure to sit in my upper room and give them a good shake. Holy crap! The things that I had forgotten about this band. Their ability to put half a dozen instruments on stage, creating a panoply of music without anyone player getting lost in the mix is quite simply, amazing. Some of my favorite moments occur between songs like "China Cat Sunflower" and "I Know You Rider." The Dead often smooshed two or three (or half a dozen) songs together creating something of a very long medley.

What they (and very few other musical acts) were able to do is to go from one song to another without anyone hardly noticing. Between these two songs there is not a noticeable pause, or transition, as they go from one to the other. Instead there is but a jam where they slowly stretch out "China Cat" and at the same time slowly stretch into "Rider." When they do this well it is nearly impossible to tell where one song ends and the other begins. Those transitions are sublime.

It has taken me a long time, but I can finally remember why I became a Deadhead in the first place. Hallelujah.

"Enjoy the Silence" - Depeche Mode
From Violator

It was eight grade, or at least I think it was, and we were having a Christmas party. The class was chorus, and it was the class to be in at that age. I don't know why the class in which you wear funny robes, sing goofy songs and often dance like a nutter was the class of the popular kids, but it was. Maybe it had something to do with the new, very blond, very hot teacher. At any rate the hottie decided to throw a Christmas party and have us exchange gifts. The pressure was very much on.

I was in no way what you would call a popular kid and I wanted very much to have a very cool gift. The night before the party my brother took me to Wal-Mart and we looked all over for something suitable. The problem was it was Wal-Mart and it was running out of stock. It must have been the night before a lot of Christmas parties because they had very little in terms of cool items for teenagers trying to get an 'in' into the popular crowd.

While I was very much the shy, awkward, unpopular kid, my brother was just the opposite. He wore the right clothes, had the right hair, and was in every way, much cooler than me. I decided to give him the keys to my kingdom and let him pick out my gift. He went right to the music. As there was a price limit to this gift giving, full albums wouldn't do and thus we scoured the singles selection. As noted, there wasn't a lot, and my brother quickly became disappointed that there was no Depeche Mode singles. The band was very hot at this time, and their seminal album, Violater was very much on the tongues of my more popular classmates. Alas all there was were wimpier, less cool singles. Time has wiped away what I did purchase, but I do remember it was a third stringer single.

Article Author: Mat Brewster

Mat Brewster is a periodic ex-pat wondering if he'll ever find a home. You can find him musing on pop culture, and obsessing over concert bootlegs at The Midnight Cafe.

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