happy birthday david gahan!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE GAHAN!

hey dearies,

guess what day it is. dave gahan's birthday! is it bad i kind of celebrate this like a holiday? i ate cake & everything. xD

but yes, today my blog is going to get dave gahan picture happy, & i'll go ahead & do my music!monday today as well. you'll never guess who this week's will be devoted to. xD

these are some of the pictures i took at the depeche mode concert back in september. <3>

SOFAD (songs of faith and devotion) era. he was so fragile. i'm so happy he's gotten healthier.


ultra-dave! rachel loves ultra-dave, mmmhmm indeed.


i adore this picture!

and... songs for music!monday:

i decided to try this out instead of not being able to find all the songs i wanted on youtube. how do you like it in comparison?

also, it's mother's day as well! i am so thankful for my mom, my stepmom, my grandma ruth, and my grandma mary. i am so blessed to have these amazing women in my life. <3

so happy birthday dave gahan! if you ever see this, i hope year 48 treats you kindly.

with love,
rachel. <3

martin gore: "WTF."

i have no reason for this post. i just enjoy this picture. :)

with love,
rachel. <3

strangelove: that's how my love goes. (thrift finds + depeche mode inspired outfit.)

hey loves!

so i went consignment-shopping with my quite fashionable friend, tabitha, about a week ago. i thought i'd share the fruits of our labor with you. (or at least, what i got. i know, so narcissistic.) she also got some amazing stuff from the consignment shop & one of her relatives -- true vintage stuff! but anyway, onto the pics~

denim shirt! i've already worn this once & it's so comfy. also, navy houndstooth-esque print dress. it fits a lot like a tennis dress, at least to me. $1! :)




cream & black brocade skirt! i'm so in love with this thing. the black print is velvet, too! the brown "hippie" skirt is actually a steal from tabitha, who didn't want it. score!

next: outfit! my inspiration for this outfit came from two of (my favorite band) depeche mode's members, circa middle-late 80's. (the title is a lyric from one of their 80's singles, actually.) how was i inspired? let me show you.

this is martin gore. in the mid-80's, he went through a semi-cross-dressing phase... a phase i love to draw inspiration from! while he no longer dresses in girl-clothes(xD), he still wears unique clothes & makeup for dm tours. i didn't find a picture with him in a skirt (though i have a few of him in a dress), but i found this one with his layered necklaces! also, check out that dangly earring.


oh, dave, i am sorry these pictures obscure your face! i'll make up for it. but anyway, dave makes denim look amazing -- he also didn't just wear denim jackets in the 80's, but also in the early 90's and even some in the 00's. his sunglasses in the late 80's & early 90's were also spectacular.

and, my outfit:


denim/sunglasses (dave) + necklaces/black skirt (martin)! i know, it pales in comparison to the real thing.
denim jacket &sunglasses are from kohl's, green shirt underneath & black ruffle skirt is from target. purple heels are from... goody's, maybe?



chain&rhinestone earrings are from belk's, cross pendant was a gift, chain&pearl necklace is vintage. also, flower ring (slightly evident in full-outfit pics) is from mark.

maybe i'm a bit too obsessed with dm... nah, not yet.
but anyway! what do you think?

with love,
rachel. <3

music!monday -- a backstage look at depeche mode's "surrender".

good night lovers,

what a monday! went on two college tours: one at birmingham-southern & one at UAB. i absolutely loved birmingham-southern! it's the type of college i could see myself at... however, i didn't like the vibes at UAB much at all. i don't like the idea of such a spread-out college which doesn't really distinguish itself from the downtown of the city. of course, i'm not very fond of the actual city of birmingham, alabama, either. UAB just feels different from auburn (whose campus makes up a good portion of the downtown). nothing against the establishment; it's just not for me.

however, birmingham-southern was amazing! it was compact and enclosed, with nice facilities and beautiful grounds -- not to mention they had recycling bins all over the place. they're striving to become more eco-friendly, which is something i highly appreciate. so they're on my list to take another, more extensive, tour with.

but onto the title of this blog post: music!monday! i bought "surrender" by depeche mode (one of their b-sides) a few days ago, and this song has completely stolen my soul. it's so beautiful and sensual and just amazing.



while it's actually sung by dave gahan on the single, i found this amazing backstage video of martin singing, with peter gordeno on piano/keyboard. i believe it's from the exciter tour. martin can sing while putting on mascara, and sound good! it's just unfair... :P

with love,
rachel. <3

obsession: depeche mode!

hey there!

ah, so today was a particularly dreary day in terms of weather; i woke up to the sky crashing & it didn't stop until 2 or so. mom checked me out from school. so we could go to the dermatologist. we picked up the mail & we were off to columbus, and in our mail there was this mysterious package. i was just going to ignore it, but mom was all, "ohmygoodness what is it? open it open it!" so i did.

DEPECHE MODE: LIVE HERE NOW CD. atlanta, georgia. september 1, 2009.

AH! i squealed like a little kid. i've been waiting for this cd since christmas, and neither of us expected it! for the past four hours it's all i've listened to. it's so great; i'm transported back to that wonderous night...

so, i thought what else could i blog about today besides depeche mode?! haha.

dave, martin, vince, andy.

depeche mode is a british band that was formed in 1980. it's first members were dave gahan, martin gore, andrew fletcher, and vince clarke. vince left after the first cd was released, and for a short time in the 80's it was just dave, martin, and andy. then alan wilder came along. alan stayed with the band from 1982 until 1995, when he left the band. from then on it's just been dave, martin, and andy.

dave, martin, elvis andy.

their music is synth-rock-pop. martin writes the majority of the songs, and his lyrics are absolutely beautiful. his voice is also lush and gorgeous; in concert he sounds just as amazing as his studio voice. dave is excellent as well; a bit of a bad-ass, a baritone voice to melt you to your knees. andrew looks like my high school principal, but is rather funny & was kinda an adorable!nerd back in the day. vince... eh, i don't have much of an opinion on vince, to be honest. alan is gorgeous. he is the reason i am obsessed with cheekbones. xD he's also the only "certified musician" to be a member of dm -- he's a damn good one, too. his synth/piano skills are AMAZING, and he harmonizes vocally quite well.

i'm absolutely obsessed with them. they're amazing! they're also quite an inspiration to me... i think their style is quite amazing, for every period they went through. & c'mon, they were in the 80's and 90's and 00's! they span decades!

dave, martin, andy, alan.


vince, martin, andy, dave.


martin, dave, andy.

instead of posting a video, i'm just going to direct you to some old depeche mode blog posts:
music!monday -- march 1, 2010
music!monday -- february 1, 2010

& because the best videos come straight from the source: depeche mode dot com.
i definitely urge you to check out the website -- it has music videos, television appearances, promo clips, concert footage. it's so much awesome in one place!

comments?

with love,
rachel. <3

music!monday -- happy six month anniversary, 9/1/09 depeche mode concert!

hey darlings~

(i've been abusing the '~' lately, haven't i? i don't even know what it's called; i just like it. xDD)
happy march! maybe spring will be here soon, that would make me so happy!

today is my SIX MONTH anniversary of going to see depeche mode in atlanta. ah, september 1, 2009, you will be one of my most favorite days ever.

in celebration of such a monumental occasion (okay, i'm being slightly sarcastic), this music!monday is devoted to the one&only, DEPECHE MODE! :)


OH MY GOODNESS, ALAN PERFORMED WITH DM AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL BENEFIT?! IN 2010?!
how did i not know this? ohmygoodness! (i just found this, btw.) this is SO GREAT!
super!fan freaking out aside, i adore this song; it's such a beautiful love song. whenever i get really really sappy, i imagine martin, i mean alan, i mean my husband singing this to me whenever we get married or some shit like that. xD
... i can't believe i just admitted that. anyways.


walking in my shoes. this is one of the best dm songs ever made, and has some of the strongest lyrics martin's ever written. it's so sensual and "i don't give a fuck what you say because you don't have a clue."
definitely one of my favorite songs. definitely.

"now I'm not looking for absolution:
forgiveness for the things i do.
but before you come to any conclusions,
try walking in my shoes.

you'll stumble in my footsteps,
keep the same appointments i kept,
if you try walking in my shoes.
try walking in my shoes."


personal jesus. studio version. CHECK THIS OUT NOW.

hello, this song is pure sex. pure, uncensored, sensual, amazingness.
this is probably the most famous dm song -- at least, in the US. this vid is actually pretty current; it's from 2006. saying as this song is from 1990... haha.

so, my dears, i hope you enjoy these videos! my obsession with depeche mode & it's beautiful members (past & present) is pretty obvious, as it should be! tell me what you think~

with love!
rachel. <3

music!monday -- all-state choir music + 1980's depeche mode...?

hello!

it's music!monday time again!

so, for the past, oh, five months i've been working on music for all-state choir tryouts which are this wednesday. if you don't know what all-state choir is, it's pretty much where choral singers from all over the state audition to make one of either two state choirs for middle school or one of three state choirs for high school. i'm trying out for SATB high school. i made SATB last year, but personally i find this year's music to be quite harder! but excuse me, i'm rambling.

anywho! today i'm giving you my favorite piece out of what i'm singing for all-state: "african sanctus", arranged by david fanshawe.

today is also the five-month anniversary of me seeing my first depeche mode concert. (i'm obsessed, i swear.) so i'm going to enlighten you with some great live footage of them. :D



african sanctus. this isn't my favorite recording of this piece, but it's still very powerful. i'm a sucker for tribal music + latin choral music. xD



this is probably the first song i ever heard by dm. it's very... dirty. it's great to dance to, though. this video also has many close ups of alan (the dark haired man with the amazing cheekbones playing synth), whom is absolutely gorgeous. and don't you love their circa-1984 style? it's too great.



i think it may be a little obvious i love their old concerts/tv appearances. (don't get me wrong, i love their more recent appearances equally so! it's just harder to find those.) told you so is one of those "OMGI'MSOANGRY" songs. and i actually really do love their style here. maybe not their haircuts, but nonetheless. :D

and i'll leave you with those three.
so, tell me! are you into the choral music scene? ever sang african sanctus? do you even like african sanctus?
as for depeche mode... have you heard of them? you have no idea how few people know of them here -- of course, i'm starting to change that. ;) do you like their stuff, and if so, do you have a preference over old or new?

with love!
rachel.