From DJ Hell to Royksöpp, it seems like every artist, at some point or another in their career, has made a nod to seminal synthpop group Depeche Mode. But what happens when, instead of sampling "Tainted Love," you replace the remaining original lineup, consisting of steely vocalist Dave Gahan and keyboardists Vince Clarke and Martin Gore, with LEGOs? Covering "Everything Counts," by Depeche Mode, Italian sound artist Giuseppe Acito has revived the anthemic 1983 single from LP Construction Time Again, and rearranged the original tune for his fully LEGO-based Toa Mata band.
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Explains Acito, "The robots are playing some unconventional drum percussions made by some food packaging are captured by a contact microphone (piezo) and processed in real time in the DAW Ableton Live." Accompanied by an Arduino Uno, a "brand new device appears for the first time, it's a moving platform on x-axis, made of LEGO bricks, gears and servo motors," which allows his controller the ability to move about his small synth. Says Acito, "The song […] is a personal tribute to the band who made my days in the 80's." While it's definitely not the first Depeche Mode reinterpretation, and surely far from the last (we hope), it's an incredible testament to what today's technologies allow individuals to create.
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