THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Depeche Mode ( Yes, that's French for fast fashion ) begin their world tour on June 15 in Montreal, in an effort to hype their new album Exciter due May 15. According to Billboard.com, their first single "Dream On" debuted at No. 32 on its Modern Rock Tracks two weeks ago. The video for the single was shot on America's infamous Route 66 and was directed by the French fashion shutterbug Stephan Sednaoui, who has done videos for Madonna and U2. The buzz on this album is that it shows the band going back to its techno roots.

Orbital will release their newest offering The Altogether April 30, the group's sixth album in 10 years. The brothers Hartnoll ( Kent and Phil ) solicited vocal input from David Gray on at least one track and the album also boasts samples from Tool and from the Cramps. The group's monster hit "Doctor Who," which has never been released as a single, will be included on the album.

NME reports that the band Faithless almost broke up due to the stress of promoting their last album Sunday 8 PM. "You just get bored all the time. You get very tired and fatigued and you need fresh impetus and stimulus in order for the band to survive," said Faithless member Maxi Jazz to NME. He describes the new album Outrospective as "slightly dancier" than the last album with "intense" dance tracks that have a "core of melancholy." The first single off the record will be "We come 1" out June 4.

This and that: The next single for U2, the third off their latest album, will be "Elevation" and has been remixed by DJ Jon Carter ... The second single from Fatboy Slim's Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars is "Star 69" ( out May 8 ) and includes remixes by German mixmaster Timo Maas, among others ... Ministry's Greatest Fits is the name of Ministry's new best-of collection, ( out June 19 ) and will feature a new song titled "What About Us?" which they perform during a cameo appearance in Spielberg's new film A.I. Artificial Intelligence, starring Jude Law ... Paul Oakenfold is creating an original score for the John Travolta film Swordfish, which will include new tracks as well as remixes of other songs and will be out May 29.

According to various reports, the boys at the Palm Springs White party this year went crazy for two new dance tracks: Junior Vasquez's remix of Information Society's "What's on Your Mind," and a new remix by David Harness of Blondie's "Rapture." While much fun was had at the event, which is the third largest circuit event behind the Black & Blue Ball and Mardi Gras in Sydney, Australia, the mayor of Palm Springs told a local newspaper that the behavior at this year's event was "unacceptable," according to The Advocate. During the three-day event, 13 people overdosed and two others were cited for having sex in public. The mayor noted that the main party is held at the city-owned Convention center and that the Palm Springs city council could deny use of the center for future parties.

Speaking of gay boys who don't know how to party in moderation, The New York Times reports that some Manhattan clubs, including the tres-gay Twilo ( home of the great Junior V ) , have taken to hiring private ambulance companies to "wait outside [ in order to take ] revelers who overdose on drugs to hospital emergency rooms." The thinking behind this is that the contracted ambulances will get help for our boys much quicker than calling 911—-and it will help avoid drawing attention from New York's finest. Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington was said to be outraged by this and said it was further proof that these clubs should be shut down.