Sony Music Entertainment will release Depeche Mode’s Strange/Strange Too (a much sought-after collection of music videos directed and filmed in Super 8 by Anton Corbijn) on Friday, December 8.
Strange/Strange Too will be released through SME worldwide, excluding the USA, Canada and Mexico (where the title will be released through Warner Music Group). Strange/Strange Too may be pre-ordered HERE.
Previously available as individual titles in VHS and Laserdisc formats (now out-of-print and highly collectable), Strange (1988) and Strange Too (1990) are compilations of the provocative and visionary short films lensed by master photographer/director Anton Corbijn, in collaboration with Depeche Mode, to create a new visual iconography for the band and their music.
Available for the first time in DVD and Blu-ray configurations and as a single collection, Strange/Strange Too presents 11 Anton Corbijn/Depeche Mode music films, newly restored from original Super 8mm sources, alongside six previously unseen outtakes “vignettes” from the DM archives. When assembling the final edits for Strange and Strange Too, Corbijn created a visual running order where the individual music videos are perceived as one continuous film, with additional interstitial content not seen in the original clips.
According to Depeche Mode: “Anton Corbijn’s photography and art direction have played an indispensable part in the evolution of the Depeche Mode aesthetic. Strange and Strange Too are essential titles in both the Depeche Mode and Anton Corbijn catalogues and are the perfect example of Anton’s unique ability to capture the spirit of DM on film.”
The physical nature of Super 8 film means that the stock’s rough, grainy quality becomes part of the finished film’s inherent aesthetic, and Corbijn’s mastery of Super 8 is a key element in Strange/Strange Too and the development of Depeche Mode’s visual components. The tape restoration underwent a rigorous process over the course of several years with the participation of personnel involved in making the original films, including Anton Corbijn. Because this Blu-ray/DVD release was created from the original Super 8 film stock, the final result may seemingly lack the visual clarity that modern viewers associate with contemporary HD 4k reproduction. In some occasions where the original footage had deteriorated too much, the next best source was used.
First released in 1988 as “Strange – A Black and White Mode by Anton Corbijn,” Strange featured the first five Depeche Mode music clips directed by Anton Corbijn, who shot them mostly in black and white Super 8. Strange included the three main singles from Music for the Masses, the final Black Celebration single (“A Question of Time”) and “Pimpf,” the instrumental closing Music for the Masses.
Released in 1990, Strange Too (aka “Strange Too – Another Violation by Anton Corbijn”) was shot in full-colour, opening up a visual/sonic palette for the director and the band as they explored songs from Violator plus bonus videos for “Halo” and “Clean.”
The Strange/Strange Too DVD and Blu-ray configurations come in a digipack with a 16-page concertina booklet featuring photographs and new liner notes penned by Anton Corbijn. “To be seen as ‘strange’ in a creative field is no bad thing as it probably means ‘different’ which I find is a very positive description of one’s struggle to be just that. The idea to make this into a connected series of little films and fake interviews came late into the process of shooting these,” wrote Corbijn. “I was shooting all the films myself on black/white Super 8 film. We put all this together on a shoestring budget, those were the days. We have to look at these films in the light of us being young; we were experimenting and I am happy we were given that space at the time by Daniel Miller.”
Strange/Strange Too
Track Lists
STRANGE
1. A Question of Time
2. Strangelove
3. Never Let Me Down Again
4. Behind the Wheel
5. Pimpf
Outtake vignettes:
1. Strangelove
2. Behind the Wheel
3. Behind the Wheel (Shep Pettibone Mix)
STRANGE TOO
1. Personal Jesus
2. Policy of Truth
3. Enjoy the Silence
4. Clean
5. Halo
6. World in My Eyes
Outtake vignettes:
1. Personal Jesus (Acoustic)
2. Policy of Truth
3. Policy of Truth (Trancentral Mix)
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