<p><em><strong>Back in 2001, Paris had a very different rhythm.</strong> Most white-collar workers, myself included, stayed in the office until 10 or even 11 p.m. After work, we’d head out to restaurants, then bars or clubs. Weekends were for sleeping off the excesses. It wasn’t exactly the environment for family men, but we were lucky to witness one of the most dramatic shifts in the city’s nightlife and dining culture: the rise of the “Lounge.”</em></p>
<p><em>Half the restaurants, bars, and clubs suddenly turned “Lounge.” That meant restaurants with dim lighting, open kitchens (a novelty at the time), a hostess in high heels selling cigarettes inside the restaurant, where smoking was still allowed, and of course, the signature “Lounge” furniture. Upstairs, a “Lounge” bar played chilled electro, served overpriced wine and cocktails, and offered low couches and tables where people half-danced, half-posed. For the truly committed, the real party kicked off downstairs in the club, after 2 a.m.</em></p>
<p><em>This shift came at the expense of traditional bars and brasseries—the kind that served hearty food and real atmosphere. It’s ironic that what tourists now crave as “authentic Paris” was still very much alive then. It was normal in those days to see white-collar and blue-collar workers finishing lunch at the same counter, chatting over coffee, even discussing politics. The blue collars were literally in paint- or cement-stained uniforms. That shared space might be part of why political extremes didn’t feel so present—everyone still inhabited the same world, and we understood each other a little better.</em></p>
<p><em>“Lounge” culture changed that. Politically, not for the better. But food-wise, things got more refined. The presentation improved, even if the portions shrank and the prices soared. Musically, there was also a silver lining: “Lounge” gave a platform to French electro—the famed French Touch—with acts like Daft Punk, Cassius, Justice, and Air gaining global recognition.</em></p>
<div class="wordads-ad-wrapper wordads-ad-wrapper--inline"><div class="wordads-ad"><div class="wordads-ad-title">Advertisement</div><div class="wordads-ad-content" id="wordads-ad-957058" data-ad-height="250" data-ad-width="300"></div><div class="wordads-ad-controls"></div></div></div><p><em>But as punk rock goths at heart, The Cure for me and Joy Division for my wife, our personal revelation came from Miss Kittin &amp; The Hacker. They brought something else entirely: the aesthetic, the attitude, the darkness, and the sound. They were more than music—they were a statement.</em></p>
<p><em>Tracks like “Life on MTV” or “Frank Sinatra” hit like a sonic bulldozer at the Mezzanine—the bar on the first floor of Alcazar, one of our regular “afterwork” haunts. For us, that duo’s work was far more mind-blowing than the official French Touch. They weren’t slick or polished. They were raw, ironic, and dark. And that’s exactly what we needed.</em></p>
<p><em>Could Miss Kittin &amp; The Hacker make it today? I’m not so sure. That infamous photo of The Hacker pointing a gun at Miss Kittin dressed as a nurse would probably get banned from social media. Lyrics like “suck my ****, kiss my ass” would raise all the wrong flags. Their tracks satirized a lifestyle of excess: strip clubs (“my girlfriend is a stripper, in a Swiss peep show, dancing on a carousel”), alcohol excess, drugs, corporate numbness, masculine bravado. To say it ended in the ’60s or ’80s would be dishonest. That world was still very much alive in the 2000s. Maybe it lingered until 2010, then faded. Perhaps it’s a generational thing—our Generation X, now in leadership, started shifting away from the macho posturing that once fuelled their coldwave, dark electro aesthetic.</em></p>
<p><em>But what an era it was. Their First Album brought the edge, the spice, the danger. Without it, those “Lounge” nights would’ve bored us to death. And maybe, just maybe, they were the peak of French goth-electro—though today’s scene is far from over. We now hear haunting echoes of that spirit in newer acts like Essaie Pas, Peine Perdue, or Automelodi.</em></p>
<p><strong><em>Goth is not dead. Not even close.</em></strong></p>
<p><img data-attachment-id="4701" data-permalink="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/2025/06/27/did-miss-kittin-and-the-hacker-have-it-all-right/img_0862-1/" data-orig-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0862-1.png" data-orig-size="884,1298" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}" data-image-title="img_0862-1" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0862-1.png?w=204" data-large-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0862-1.png?w=697" src="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0862-1.png" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4701" alt="" width="884" height="1298" srcset="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0862-1.png 884w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0862-1.png?w=102&amp;h=150 102w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0862-1.png?w=204&amp;h=300 204w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0862-1.png?w=768&amp;h=1128 768w" sizes="(max-width: 884px) 100vw, 884px"></p>
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Did Miss Kittin And The Hacker Have It All Right?

<p><em>So how was the Nine Inch Nails concert at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome this June? Well, well, for a band that has been active since… 1988 (!) it was absolutely amazing. I will have a hard time deciding which concert gave me the most chills this year; Have a Nice Life in London a few weeks back has been a strong competitor. But I can admit the superiority of Trent Reznor, and Trent Reznor above his band, starting by playing “Right Where It Belongs” solo, a cappella/piano, at the very beginning of the concert in the middle of the standing area: what a trip, what guts, what power, what talent, what voice, what songwriting too, as the songs have been stripped down and worked on by themselves. Pretty rare in music in general, including in the world of current pop divas.</em></p>
<p><em>One of my daughters, who is used to small and large venues, pop divas, even hip hop and electro, told me this was the first time she heard a singer sound exactly like on the records (if not better, I would add). This start gave me the most chills I’ve had this year so far, and maybe in a long time.</em></p>
<p><em>The rest of the concert was a blessing, even though it was missing some of my most cherished songs. But there was enough for everyone: from the most obscure songs in their catalog to the most popular ones, in a rock version like “The Perfect Drug” (my wife’s favorite moment), or pure electro played again in the middle of the standing area (my two daughters’ favorite moment, one of them being addicted to the Challengers movie soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross).</em></p>
<p><em>Overall, Nine Inch Nails have progressively become the kings of rock, for so many reasons, starting with immense talent. Having seen them live three times over the last 25 years, I can acknowledge this.</em></p>
<p><img data-attachment-id="4774" data-permalink="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/2025/07/04/nine-inch-nails-ziggo-dome-june25/nin-concert-2/" data-orig-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/nin-concert-2.jpeg" data-orig-size="4032,3024" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}" data-image-title="NIN Concert 2" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/nin-concert-2.jpeg?w=300" data-large-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/nin-concert-2.jpeg?w=1024" src="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/nin-concert-2.jpeg" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4774" alt="" width="1140" height="855" srcset="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/nin-concert-2.jpeg?w=1140&amp;h=855 1140w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/nin-concert-2.jpeg?w=2280&amp;h=1710 2280w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/nin-concert-2.jpeg?w=150&amp;h=113 150w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/nin-concert-2.jpeg?w=300&amp;h=225 300w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/nin-concert-2.jpeg?w=768&amp;h=576 768w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/nin-concert-2.jpeg?w=1024&amp;h=768 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1140px) 100vw, 1140px"></p>
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Nine Inch Nails, Ziggo Dome, June25

<p><em><strong>Back in 2001, Paris had a very different rhythm.</strong> Most white-collar workers, myself included, stayed in the office until 10 or even 11 p.m. After work, we’d head out to restaurants, then bars or clubs. Weekends were for sleeping off the excesses. It wasn’t exactly the environment for family men, but we were lucky to witness one of the most dramatic shifts in the city’s nightlife and dining culture: the rise of the “Lounge.”</em></p>
<p><em>Half the restaurants, bars, and clubs suddenly turned “Lounge.” That meant restaurants with dim lighting, open kitchens (a novelty at the time), a hostess in high heels selling cigarettes inside the restaurant, where smoking was still allowed, and of course, the signature “Lounge” furniture. Upstairs, a “Lounge” bar played chilled electro, served overpriced wine and cocktails, and offered low couches and tables where people half-danced, half-posed. For the truly committed, the real party kicked off downstairs in the club, after 2 a.m.</em></p>
<p><em>This shift came at the expense of traditional bars and brasseries—the kind that served hearty food and real atmosphere. It’s ironic that what tourists now crave as “authentic Paris” was still very much alive then. It was normal in those days to see white-collar and blue-collar workers finishing lunch at the same counter, chatting over coffee, even discussing politics. The blue collars were literally in paint- or cement-stained uniforms. That shared space might be part of why political extremes didn’t feel so present—everyone still inhabited the same world, and we understood each other a little better.</em></p>
<p><em>“Lounge” culture changed that. Politically, not for the better. But food-wise, things got more refined. The presentation improved, even if the portions shrank and the prices soared. Musically, there was also a silver lining: “Lounge” gave a platform to French electro—the famed French Touch—with acts like Daft Punk, Cassius, Justice, and Air gaining global recognition.</em></p>
<p><em>But as punk rock goths at heart, The Cure for me and Joy Division for my wife, our personal revelation came from Miss Kittin &amp; The Hacker. They brought something else entirely: the aesthetic, the attitude, the darkness, and the sound. They were more than music—they were a statement.</em></p>
<div class="wordads-ad-wrapper wordads-ad-wrapper--inline"><div class="wordads-ad"><div class="wordads-ad-title">Advertisement</div><div class="wordads-ad-content" id="wordads-ad-507999" data-ad-height="250" data-ad-width="300"></div><div class="wordads-ad-controls"></div></div></div><p><em>Tracks like “Life on MTV” or “Frank Sinatra” hit like a sonic bulldozer at the Mezzanine—the bar on the first floor of Alcazar, one of our regular “afterwork” haunts. For us, that duo’s work was far more mind-blowing than the official French Touch. They weren’t slick or polished. They were raw, ironic, and dark. And that’s exactly what we needed.</em></p>
<p><em>Could Miss Kittin &amp; The Hacker make it today? I’m not so sure. That infamous photo of The Hacker pointing a gun at Miss Kittin dressed as a nurse would probably get banned from social media. Lyrics like “suck my ****, kiss my ass” would raise all the wrong flags. Their tracks satirized a lifestyle of excess: strip clubs (“my girlfriend is a stripper, in a Swiss peep show, dancing on a carousel”), alcohol excess, drugs, corporate numbness, masculine bravado. To say it ended in the ’60s or ’80s would be dishonest. That world was still very much alive in the 2000s. Maybe it lingered until 2010, then faded. Perhaps it’s a generational thing—our Generation X, now in leadership, started shifting away from the macho posturing that once fuelled their coldwave, dark electro aesthetic.</em></p>
<p><em>But what an era it was. Their First Album brought the edge, the spice, the danger. Without it, those “Lounge” nights would’ve bored us to death. And maybe, just maybe, they were the peak of French goth-electro—though today’s scene is far from over. We now hear haunting echoes of that spirit in newer acts like Essaie Pas, Peine Perdue, or Automelodi.</em></p>
<p><strong><em>Goth is not dead. Not even close.</em></strong></p>
<p><img data-attachment-id="4701" data-permalink="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/2025/06/27/did-miss-kitting-and-the-hacker-have-it-all-right/img_0862-1/" data-orig-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0862-1.png" data-orig-size="884,1298" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}" data-image-title="img_0862-1" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0862-1.png?w=204" data-large-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0862-1.png?w=697" src="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0862-1.png" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4701" alt="" width="884" height="1298" srcset="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0862-1.png 884w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0862-1.png?w=102&amp;h=150 102w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0862-1.png?w=204&amp;h=300 204w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0862-1.png?w=768&amp;h=1128 768w" sizes="(max-width: 884px) 100vw, 884px"></p>
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Did Miss Kitting And The Hacker have it all right?

<em>June 1991, Les Inrockuptibles made the unexpected choice of putting Bill Pritchard on the cover. Fair enough. But inside, there was plenty to feed the curiosity of Shoegaze and Postpunk devotees—like me, then and now. And what heroes we had…</em>

<em><strong>Vaughan Oliver</strong> – The visionary graphic artist behind nearly all the iconic 4AD record sleeves: Lush, Throwing Muses, Pale Saints, Clan of Xymox, Cocteau Twins, Pixies, This Mortal Coil… you name it. Vaughan passed away in 2019, but his visual language still lives on each time we pull one of these records from the shelf.</em>

<em><strong>Martin Hannett</strong> – The sonic alchemist who shaped the haunting atmosphere of Joy Division, and also left his mark on New Order and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. He died young in 1991, only 42, but his influence echoes through generations. Some geniuses speak once—and for good.</em>

<em><strong>Ned’s Atomic Dustbin</strong> – Featured in a long and heartfelt interview around the release of their explosive debut “God Fodder”. They talked about how they got there (hard work), how success changed their lives and relationships—with friends, fans, even their parents. Jonn Penney, their singer, foresaw a bright future for the band. Success faded, but he found balance: music became a passion again, not a paycheck. Sometimes, heroes settle down—for the best.</em>

<em>And then came the reviews. <strong>Chapterhouse’s “Whirlpool”</strong>—critically dismissed at the time, but an instant classic for many of us. <strong>Les Thugs’ “I.A.B.F.”</strong>—an absolute stormer (have you heard this fierce French band? You should). And a wave of unforgettable EPs:</em>
<ul>
 	<li><em><strong>The Boo Radleys</strong>, “Every Heaven”</em></li>
 	<li><em><strong>Moose</strong>, with the legendary “Jack” EP</em></li>
 	<li><em><strong>Pixies</strong>, firing back with “Planet of Sound”</em></li>
 	<li><em><strong>Th’ Faith Healers</strong>, preparing their “In Love” EP and the monumental first album Lido (still awaiting a proper vinyl reissue!)</em></li>
 	<li><em><strong>Curve</strong>, unleashing “Frozen” and getting serious buzz in NME again</em></li>
 	<li><em><strong>The Popguns</strong>, quietly brilliant with “Still a World Away”, anyone else remember? I do.</em></li>
</ul>
<em>It truly was a mind-blowing era for Shoegaze and Postpunk. A storm of sound and vision, with passion bleeding from every page.</em>

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<img data-attachment-id="4724" data-permalink="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/2025/06/22/june-1991-shoegaze-postpunk-heroes/img_0873-1/" data-orig-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0873-1.jpg" data-orig-size="1500,2000" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone 15&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1750612483&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;5.96&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;32&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.008&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}" data-image-title="img_0873-1" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0873-1.jpg?w=225" data-large-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0873-1.jpg?w=768" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4724" src="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0873-1.jpg" alt="" width="1140" height="1520" srcset="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0873-1.jpg?w=1140&amp;h=1520 1140w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0873-1.jpg?w=113&amp;h=150 113w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0873-1.jpg?w=225&amp;h=300 225w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0873-1.jpg?w=768&amp;h=1024 768w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0873-1.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1140px) 100vw, 1140px">

<img data-attachment-id="4723" data-permalink="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/2025/06/22/june-1991-shoegaze-postpunk-heroes/img_0874-1/" data-orig-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0874-1.jpg" data-orig-size="1670,2000" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone 15&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1750612616&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;5.96&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;40&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0041322314049587&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}" data-image-title="img_0874-1" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0874-1.jpg?w=251" data-large-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0874-1.jpg?w=855" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4723" src="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0874-1.jpg" alt="" width="1140" height="1365" srcset="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0874-1.jpg?w=1140&amp;h=1365 1140w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0874-1.jpg?w=125&amp;h=150 125w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0874-1.jpg?w=251&amp;h=300 251w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0874-1.jpg?w=768&amp;h=920 768w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0874-1.jpg?w=855&amp;h=1024 855w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0874-1.jpg 1670w" sizes="(max-width: 1140px) 100vw, 1140px">

<img data-attachment-id="4726" data-permalink="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/2025/06/22/june-1991-shoegaze-postpunk-heroes/img_0876/" data-orig-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0876.jpg" data-orig-size="1500,2000" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone 15&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1750616283&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;5.96&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;50&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0026315789473684&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}" data-image-title="img_0876" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0876.jpg?w=225" data-large-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0876.jpg?w=768" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4726" src="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0876.jpg" alt="" width="1140" height="1520" srcset="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0876.jpg?w=1140&amp;h=1520 1140w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0876.jpg?w=113&amp;h=150 113w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0876.jpg?w=225&amp;h=300 225w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0876.jpg?w=768&amp;h=1024 768w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0876.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1140px) 100vw, 1140px">





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June 1991 – Shoegaze & Postpunk Heroes

<p><em><strong>When I was a teenager in the ’80s, there were three main “music clubs” at school:</strong> one for The Cure fans, another for U2, and the last one for Depeche Mode.</em></p>
<p><em>Back then, we didn’t really have access to many records, only the mainstream ones. So we completely missed out on The Cure’s early trilogy “Seventeen Seconds, Faith, and Pornography”, as well as most of Depeche Mode’s early albums. U2 seemed more accessible in that regard, especially with “War” and later “The Joshua Tree”, which even resonated with us from a “punk goth” perspective. But everything changed in 1989 with “Disintegration”. That album hit us hard. We instantly became hardcore fans of The Cure, while U2 took a different path, leaning increasingly into pop sounds.</em></p>
<p><em>Depeche Mode made a strong return in 1990 with “Violator”, but it didn’t quite click with us at the time. It wasn’t punk, nor fully goth—it leaned too heavily on synths. And we were rock fans, a bit goth, into guitars. Sure, “Music for the Masses” in 1987 had already impressed us, especially with darker tracks like “Never Let Me Down Again” and maybe “Strangelove.” But Violator? It felt too smooth, too electronic.</em></p>
<p><em>Funny thing though—like a fine wine, “Violator” aged incredibly well. It grew in stature over the years, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed synth-pop albums ever, and arguably Depeche Mode’s best. It didn’t hurt that artists like Marilyn Manson and Johnny Cash gave new life to “Personal Jesus” with their iconic covers. But even without that, Violator slowly but surely won over even the indie rock crowd.</em></p>
<p><em>As the decade progressed, our tastes shifted even more decisively back toward guitar-driven music—first with shoegaze (My Bloody Valentine), then grunge (Nirvana), and eventually Britpop (Blur). I still remember seeing Blur play to just 200 people during their “Leisure” days. They were pure punk energy back then! So, there wasn’t much room for synth-pop in our lives at that time, aside from the Madchester scene (like Happy Mondays), which had a whole different vibe.</em></p>
<p><em>Looking back, “Violator” may have featured artwork by Anton Corbijn, the same visual genius behind U2’s Joshua Tree, but that wasn’t enough to win us over back then. It was a hit, sure, but mostly with people more into electronic music. We stayed loyal to rock.</em></p>
<div class="wordads-ad-wrapper wordads-ad-wrapper--inline"><div class="wordads-ad"><div class="wordads-ad-title">Advertisement</div><div class="wordads-ad-content" id="wordads-ad-151581" data-ad-height="250" data-ad-width="300"></div><div class="wordads-ad-controls"></div></div></div><p><em>But here’s the twist, recently, I revisited what many consider the holy trinity of Depeche Mode: “Black Celebration”, “Music for the Masses”, and “Violator”. And now? “Black Celebration” speaks to me the most. It’s raw, dark, almost gothic in tone, closer to rock than many remember. Even deep cuts like “Dressed in Black” feel like forgotten masterpieces.</em></p>
<p><em>Truth is, maybe we were just too young in 1986 when “Black Celebration” came out, along with its surrounding singles: “A Question of Time,” “Shake the Disease,” and the title track. We danced to those at teen clubs and parties, alongside tracks like “Close to Me” by The Cure, “Life’s What You Make It” by Talk Talk, Bowie’s “Let’s Dance,” and even, yes, Michael Jackson or Madonna. And of course, U2.</em></p>
<p><em>Today, listening to those three albums back-to-back, I find “Black Celebration” to be the real jewel. If “Violator” is a synth-pop summit, “Black Celebration” is a dark rock cathedral.</em></p>
<p><em><strong>Argh, another vinyl to buy.</strong></em></p>
<p><img data-attachment-id="4745" data-permalink="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/2025/06/23/from-goth-to-synth-with-depeche-mode-its-a-question-of-time/img_0893/" data-orig-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0893.jpg" data-orig-size="1500,2000" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone 15&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1750704167&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;5.96&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;125&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.010309278350515&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}" data-image-title="img_0893" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0893.jpg?w=225" data-large-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0893.jpg?w=768" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4745" src="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0893.jpg" alt="" width="1140" height="1520" srcset="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0893.jpg?w=1140&amp;h=1520 1140w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0893.jpg?w=113&amp;h=150 113w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0893.jpg?w=225&amp;h=300 225w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0893.jpg?w=768&amp;h=1024 768w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0893.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1140px) 100vw, 1140px"></p>
<p><img data-attachment-id="4750" data-permalink="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/2025/06/23/from-goth-to-synth-with-depeche-mode-its-a-question-of-time/img_0894/" data-orig-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0894.jpg" data-orig-size="1500,2000" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone 15&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1750706058&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;5.96&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;40&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0064102564102564&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}" data-image-title="img_0894" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0894.jpg?w=225" data-large-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0894.jpg?w=768" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4750" src="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0894.jpg" alt="" width="1140" height="1520" srcset="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0894.jpg?w=1140&amp;h=1520 1140w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0894.jpg?w=113&amp;h=150 113w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0894.jpg?w=225&amp;h=300 225w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0894.jpg?w=768&amp;h=1024 768w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0894.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1140px) 100vw, 1140px"></p>
<p><img data-attachment-id="4743" data-permalink="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/2025/06/23/from-goth-to-synth-with-depeche-mode-its-a-question-of-time/img_0892/" data-orig-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0892.jpg" data-orig-size="1500,2000" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone 15&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1750704141&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;5.96&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;200&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.016666666666667&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}" data-image-title="img_0892" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0892.jpg?w=225" data-large-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0892.jpg?w=768" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4743" src="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0892.jpg" alt="" width="1140" height="1520" srcset="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0892.jpg?w=1140&amp;h=1520 1140w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0892.jpg?w=113&amp;h=150 113w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0892.jpg?w=225&amp;h=300 225w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0892.jpg?w=768&amp;h=1024 768w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_0892.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1140px) 100vw, 1140px"></p>
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From Goth to Synth: With Depeche Mode, It’s a Question of Time

<p><em>I still remember the first time I heard Have a Nice Life. It wasn’t through a playlist or a recommendation, it was at Supersonic in Paris. The DJ played the song “Guggenheim Wax Museum” before the headliner took the stage, and within seconds, I was fascinated. It felt like being punched in the stomach by something ancient, gothic, and weirdly sacred. That track didn’t just sound dark, it sounded haunted.</em></p>
<p><em>How had I missed this band? Turns out, I wasn’t alone. Have a Nice Life has spent most of its existence under the radar: no marketing push, almost no interviews, just a myth slowly taking shape through word of mouth and a handful of intense live shows.</em></p>
<p><em>And somehow, “The Unnatural World”, their 2014 album, completely passed me by. Which feels like a failure. It’s the record I now play obsessively, though diehard fans will tell you “Deathconsciousness” (2008) is the real masterpiece. They’re probably right. But that doesn’t stop “The Unnatural World” from being mine.</em></p>
<p><em>Eventually, bits of their lives started to surface. Dan and Tim, two normal guys, family men. One’s even a high school teacher. Imagine being a teenager and realizing your teacher is behind one of the most emotionally crushing records of the 21st century. Do they know? Do they feel it?</em></p>
<p><em>For years, the band operated like a ghost, limited shows, just raw, overwhelming music that you either stumbled across or didn’t. It created a strange intimacy, almost like being in a secret club with no membership card.</em></p>
<p><em>That changed recently. Their current tour has pulled them into the light, and the reception has been massive. As The Guardian put it in their review of this year’s Outbreak Festival, the band’s set has been the best performance of the festival, especially when fans sang “Bloodhail” back at them with the passion of football supporters at Wembley. That image is perfect: sacred melancholy turned communal catharsis.</em></p>
<p><em>And here’s the thing: they’re not just good on record. Live, they’re transcendent. Guggenheim Wax Museum hits just as hard in a crowd as it did in that first night in Paris during the DJ set.</em></p>
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<p><img data-attachment-id="4700" data-permalink="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/2025/06/20/have-a-nice-life-a-band-revealed/f02bc9e3-97f5-4d2a-8245-7b8213472bd9-1/" data-orig-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/f02bc9e3-97f5-4d2a-8245-7b8213472bd9-1.jpg" data-orig-size="735,1163" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1750332861&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}" data-image-title="f02bc9e3-97f5-4d2a-8245-7b8213472bd9-1" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/f02bc9e3-97f5-4d2a-8245-7b8213472bd9-1.jpg?w=190" data-large-file="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/f02bc9e3-97f5-4d2a-8245-7b8213472bd9-1.jpg?w=647" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4700" src="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/f02bc9e3-97f5-4d2a-8245-7b8213472bd9-1.jpg" alt="" width="735" height="1163" srcset="https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/f02bc9e3-97f5-4d2a-8245-7b8213472bd9-1.jpg 735w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/f02bc9e3-97f5-4d2a-8245-7b8213472bd9-1.jpg?w=95&amp;h=150 95w, https://concertandvinyl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/f02bc9e3-97f5-4d2a-8245-7b8213472bd9-1.jpg?w=190&amp;h=300 190w" sizes="(max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px"></p>
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Have a Nice Life – A Band Revealed

<p><em>The Jesus &amp; Mary Chain’s cult/post-punk/dark goth album “Automatic” and The Cure’s “Faith” are now available as T-shirts at H&amp;M stores!</em></p>
<p><em>My god, are the most beloved albums of our youth becoming the new cool?</em></p>
<p><em>The picture shows some of my old concert T-shirts—survivors of years of wear, or carefully preserved in my closet like treasures. Just as I was thinking about re-buying my Ride “Nowhere” T-shirt (completely worn out after years of use), I’m now wondering: should I just wait for the next H&amp;M drop? Ahah.</em></p>
<p><em>That said, it actually makes perfect sense. My daughters, now in their 20s, and their generation seem to have rediscovered the best of ‘80s and ‘90s rock. I remember one of them saying to a friend, “Wow, you’re playing Slowdive,” and the friend replying, “Of course, everyone knows Slowdive.”</em></p>
<p><em>I even see my daughters and some of their friends coming with me to rock festivals—and being more “rock” than I am. While I tolerate Turnstile, one of my daughter’s friends is there for… Knocked Loose!</em></p>
<p><em>So maybe rock isn’t dead after all. And if H&amp;M T-shirts are helping bring our beloved bands back into the mainstream and maybe even knocking a few pop divas off the throne, then hey—we might just have to get used to it. But then again… not so sure. <img draggable="false" role="img" class="emoji" alt="?" src="https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/wpcom-smileys/twemoji/2/svg/1f609.svg"></em></p>
<hr>
<h3>Reviews for further reading:</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11882-psychocandy-darklands-automatic-honeys-dead-stoned-dethroned/">https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11882-psychocandy-darklands-automatic-honeys-dead-stoned-dethroned/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11706-seventeen-seconds-faith-pornography/">https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11706-seventeen-seconds-faith-pornography/</a></li>
</ul>
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The Jesus & Mary Chain T-shirt… Now at H&M??

<p></p>


<p><em>34 years ago, I was 18 years old. But more importantly, I held in my hands for the first time the most beautiful rock magazine ever. I’ve never seen anything better since then, never experienced anything quite like it before (despite the efforts of New Musical Express, Melody Maker, or the French “Best”).</em></p>
<p><em>So yes, only The New Musical Express, with its A3 format and loads of records we couldn’t find in France at the time, not to mention indie rock concerts that often didn’t make it to France either, gave me the thrills. I remember a school trip to Paris, to the Louvre Museum, and me sneaking off to a nearby newsstand to get a copy of NME. It was a “wow” moment, access to another world.</em></p>
<p><em>I also remember the old K7 copy of My Bloody Valentine’s Isn’t Anything that a friend gave me in high school, telling me it would “change my life.” And it did, except, as we speak, I can’t remember who that friend was. It’s like a mystery now.</em></p>
<p><em>But what truly changed my life, and the lives of two of my best friends (whom I later met at a concert and at the public library during university), was Les Inrockuptibles magazine, along with the Bernard Lenoir radio show of the same name, broadcast every evening from Monday to Friday.</em></p>
<p><em>Even if we didn’t yet have access to many records (I had to fly to my parents friends house in Dundee, Scotland, to buy them), we could at least listen to the radio show, record songs on K7, and read about them in Les Inrockuptibles.</em></p>
<p><em>Les Inrockuptibles magazine from that 1991 era should be listed as Rock “UNESCO Heritage”, it simply doesn’t exist anymore (the magazine is still published weekly today, but… hum):</em></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><em>164 pages (!) in black and white, with beautiful photos mostly by Renaud Monfourny</em></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><em>Published every two months—the wait only made it more magical</em></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><em>10-page (and longer) interviews, like the one with Francis Ford Coppola in this edition</em></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><em>Introducing the first singles of the most important rock bands—now praised with 10/10 ratings on Pitchfork and other webzines—like Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, or Ned’s Atomic Dustbin</em></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><em>Clear, focused journalism—not political at the time, just exploring what music, cinema, and literature could bring at their best, from true underground to mainstream when it made sense</em></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Sadly, ask ChatGPT, nothing like it exists today. Maybe The Wire comes close, but I no longer fully belong to the tribe of music discoverers, so I might just be disappointed.</em></p>
<div class="wordads-ad-wrapper wordads-ad-wrapper--inline wordads-ad-hidden"><div class="wordads-ad"><div class="wordads-ad-title">Advertisement</div><div class="wordads-ad-content" id="wordads-ad-266799" data-ad-height="250" data-ad-width="300"></div><div class="wordads-ad-controls"></div></div></div><p><em>Still, I’ll dig in, explore my Les Inrockuptibles collection. That golden era lasted until 1993/1994—less than three years of pure joy, before the magazine began to disappoint (though it eventually made money), changing its format and content, and becoming something else entirely…</em></p>
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Did Miss Kitting And The Hacker have it all right?

June 1991 – Shoegaze & Postpunk Heroes

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Have a Nice Life – A Band Revealed

The Jesus & Mary Chain T-shirt… Now at H&M??

Les Inrockuptibles Magazine – A Rock “Unesco Heritage”?

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