Music Review: Depeche Mode Sounds of the Universe

Depeche Mode Sounds of the Universe 1.0 by Branded Research

This is an app built around Depeche Mode's latest album, "Sounds of the Universe."

It has the obligatory ability to see the album in iTunes (unfortunately, it takes you out of the app.) You also get choices for tour dates, a bio, band photos, and a link to the official website. All great stuff for fans of Depeche Mode.

You can also select the Songs tab and to me, that's the cool part of this app. You'll see a graphic that looks like the kids game of "pick up sticks." Click on one of the colored sticks with the sound on or your ear buds in and it gets interesting.

Each stick has a loop of percussion, keyboards, synth, guitar, etc. and you can slowly build up an interesting and unique soundscape by selecting different sticks that play each loop.

There are 18 sticks and 18 sounds; there are also 8 different tabs of 18 on the tabs page, so there's a lot to choose from.

All the loops are from the recording sessions of Sounds of the Universe. Some of the sets are pretty eclectic – OK weird. And some offer really good base tracks to layer into some rich sounds.

Sample Soundscape

I spent a couple hours messing around and enjoyed it. Some of the sounds are a bit silly and some just do not go together well. It was fun choosing and experimenting.

There are a couple "wish it worked better" things.

Like many apps, the touch to select is finicky. It often takes multiple touches, especially on the slender sticks to get a reaction from the app. In the bottom right corner is an i that is actually the navigation out of the sounds… not intuitive.

I give this app a 4/5… and if I was a Depeche Mode fan, I'd probably go higher.

So, what is your thought on this? Let me know!