Depeche Mode

Nearly four years after 2009's surprisingly strong "Sounds of the Universe," Depeche Mode will release a new studio album in March, the pioneering synth-rock band announced Tuesday. The disc, whose title has not been released, is to be Depeche Mode's first for Columbia Records and arrives shortly before the group launches a world tour on May 7 in Tel Aviv. "I am very happy with how the album turned out," said multi-instrumentalist Martin Gore in a statement. "The music has a similar vibe to 'Violator' and 'Songs of Faith and Devotion,' and I think the songs on the album are among some of the very best we've done.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Big bands in small venues -- it's become a ritual at the South by Southwest music festival, where even A-list rock stars recognize the opportunity to launch a new project or heal a wounded reputation. But if Depeche Mode and Green Day found themselves Friday night in venues a fraction of the size of those they normally play, neither group pared down its show to accommodate the cozy environment. Roaming across the stage at Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong -- whose treatment last year for addiction derailed promotion of the band's albums "¡Uno!

You needn't have read about Dave Gahan's recent illness to know that something was up with the Depeche Mode frontman Sunday night at the Hollywood Bowl, where the English electro-pop outfit played the first of two sold-out shows. After all, Gahan kept his shirt (well, actually his black leather vest) on for the entire two-hour concert -- quite possibly an unprecedented event in Depeche Mode's nearly 30-year history. Since launching its current world tour in May, the band has canceled a number of dates as a result of Gahan's health troubles, which have included a severe bout of gastroenteritis, a malignant tumor in the singer's bladder and a torn calf muscle.

AUSTIN, Texas - There's approximately 2,500 artists here for the annual South by Southwest music festival and conference, and in the coming days the media will tell you about a few of them. Well, mainly the ones you already know, be it the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Depeche Mode, the Flaming Lips, Green Day, Paramore and Prince, who's expected to perform here Saturday. Yet wander the clubs that populate Austin's Sixth Street and the blocks around it, and it's quite possible to stumble upon an artist or two who will be occupying the vaunted veteran role at whatever SXSW has morphed into a decade from now. If the likes of Autre Ne Veut and Feathers aren't yet ready to be declared "the next Prince" or "the next Depeche Mode," each artist made the case that could very well someday assume that role.

With two weeks until the release of its new studio album, Depeche Mode announced details Monday of an upcoming North American tour, its first since a 2009 jaunt that brought the long-running British synth-pop group to the Hollywood Bowl. Depeche Mode will launch the tour -- tied to "Delta Machine," due out March 26 -- on Aug. 22 at Detroit's DTE Energy Music Theatre. It reaches Southern California on Sept. 24 for a show in Santa Barbara (where multi-instrumentalist Martin Gore spends much of his time)

AUSTIN, Texas -- Big bands in small venues -- it's become a ritual at the South by Southwest music festival, where even A-list rock stars recognize the opportunity to launch a new project or heal a wounded reputation. But if Depeche Mode and Green Day found themselves Friday night in venues a fraction of the size of those they normally play, neither group pared down its show to accommodate the cozy environment. Roaming across the stage at Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong -- whose treatment last year for addiction derailed promotion of the band's albums "¡Uno!

Two longtime L.A. favorites made strong debuts in area record stores last week. Weezer's first album in five years finished just behind Tool's blockbuster on the Southern California sales chart, two spots higher than its national ranking, while Depeche Mode came in at No. 4 locally against No. 8 nationally. TOP 10 ALBUMS *--* Title, Artist (Nat'l Rank) Last Week 1 Lateralus, Tool (1) -- 2 Weezer, Weezer (4) -- 3 Miss E . . .

Is Depeche Mode in danger of becoming obsolete? ("Mode's Unsatisfying Success," Nov. 22.) Possibly. They are in danger of being outdated, just as is any other rock group such as Nirvana or Pearl Jam, but Depeche Mode has been around for 13 years and survived the different phases of rock, such as the new romantics (early '80s), bubble-gum rock (Bon Jovi, Poison; mid-'80s), rap, Manchester, techno and now the grunge phase. Robert Hilburn is under the false impression that Depeche Mode has copied U2 in the way they have staged their new tour.

There is little more incongruous than the sight of well-scrubbed, wide-eyed high schoolers at a Depeche Mode concert, singing along to the dark, solemn strains of songs such as "Black Celebration" and "Nothing." Yet Depeche Mode's obsession with 'cause-tomorrow-we-die fatalism has struck a chord with middle-class teens, who turned out in droves Friday for the first of two sold-out shows at the Forum. The Wild, the Innocent and the D. Mode Death Dance?

Over the years, Depeche Mode has probably broken more attendance records than it has sold records. The British synth-pop band has become this year's biggest concert attraction in the country, even though until recently they've never had much success on the U.S. charts--which generally is what precipitates huge live draws. For Depeche Mode, the trend isn't new. Two years ago, the band easily sold out the 75,000-capacity Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

La Santa Cecilia, the alt-Latino L.A. band led by frontwoman chanteuse La Marisoul, will have at least one high-profile collaborator on its upcoming major-label debut album, "Treinta Dias" (Thirty Days). Elvis Costello will appear on a duet, "Losing Game," on the new record, scheduled for an early May release. Here's what he had to say about the partnership in a press release: “Since La Marisoul and I traded Spanish and English verses on 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood' at the Wiltern Theatre, a year ago, I hoped that we might have a chance to sing together again.

With two weeks until the release of its new studio album, Depeche Mode announced details Monday of an upcoming North American tour, its first since a 2009 jaunt that brought the long-running British synth-pop group to the Hollywood Bowl. Depeche Mode will launch the tour -- tied to "Delta Machine," due out March 26 -- on Aug. 22 at Detroit's DTE Energy Music Theatre. It reaches Southern California on Sept. 24 for a show in Santa Barbara (where multi-instrumentalist Martin Gore spends much of his time)

A list of upcoming concerts across the Southland, with on-sale dates in parentheses. Hollywood Bowl Fleetwood Mac, May 25 (Mon.) Honda Center Fleetwood Mac, May 28 (Mon.) The Wiltern Imagine Dragons, March 20 (Fri.) Gibson Amphitheatre Gilberto Gless y La Cupitos, Feb. 2 (Fri.); Hot 92.3 MLK Jr. Holiday Festival with Cameo, Jan. 19 (Sat.) Troubadour I4AI, Jan. 5; PLaNETS, Jan. 10; the Suits, Jan. 11; Like Giants, Jan. 12; Tycho, Jan. 13-14; Wax, Jan. 15 (now)

Nearly four years after 2009's surprisingly strong "Sounds of the Universe," Depeche Mode will release a new studio album in March, the pioneering synth-rock band announced Tuesday. The disc, whose title has not been released, is to be Depeche Mode's first for Columbia Records and arrives shortly before the group launches a world tour on May 7 in Tel Aviv. "I am very happy with how the album turned out," said multi-instrumentalist Martin Gore in a statement. "The music has a similar vibe to 'Violator' and 'Songs of Faith and Devotion,' and I think the songs on the album are among some of the very best we've done.

Simon Cowell was the victim of a false 911 call early Sunday afternoon, Beverly Hills police said Monday.  The caller told authorities that "The X Factor" judge was tied up with duct tape, according to L.A. Now . A first address given was outside city limits, but then the caller said it was "Simon Cowell's house," which is in Beverly Hills.  Unlike in previous "swatting" incidents in which authorities were summoned falsely to celeb spreads...

Let me tell you a story about my dad and Johnny Cash. Many American music lovers of a certain age could spin out such a connection; Cash is primary among artists who represent the tough psyche of the post-war patriarchal male, his music exposing the connections between empowerment and violence, pride and repression, that defined an ideal still romanticized long after it became dated. Frank Sinatra did it, tux tie loosened, with a Scotch in his hand. Muddy Waters shouted about it in a sharkskin suit before the folkies persuaded him to put on overalls.

About 100 Los Angeles police officers outfitted in riot gear were sent to a La Cienega Boulevard music store Tuesday night after fans of the British rock group Depeche Mode, who had turned out en masse for a record-signing event, became unruly.

Depeche Mode's four-date engagement in the L.A. area--the band's first Southland performances in five years--has proven to be something of a bittersweet homecoming for the English band's singer, Dave Gahan.

You needn't have read about Dave Gahan's recent illness to know that something was up with the Depeche Mode frontman Sunday night at the Hollywood Bowl, where the English electro-pop outfit played the first of two sold-out shows. After all, Gahan kept his shirt (well, actually his black leather vest) on for the entire two-hour concert -- quite possibly an unprecedented event in Depeche Mode's nearly 30-year history. Since launching its current world tour in May, the band has canceled a number of dates as a result of Gahan's health troubles, which have included a severe bout of gastroenteritis, a malignant tumor in the singer's bladder and a torn calf muscle.

Depeche Mode "Sounds of the Universe" Mute/Capitol/Virgin * * * The best pop music is a work in progress, as artists refine and reignite their core sounds and vision one album at a time. In that way, Depeche Mode is a tighter operation than ever, a band of world-weary New Wave survivors still working from an early template but who began to do their most lasting work only at the end of the '80s, with provocative statements like "Stripped" and "Personal Jesus."