Talk about a collaboration that had to happen: Vince Clarke was the original songwriter for Depeche Mode, until he split over creative differences. While he racked up synth-pop hits with Yaz and Erasure, Martin Gore took over songwriting duties for Depeche Mode. So the long- awaited reunion is the New Wave equivalent of the Rocky/ Apollo rematch at the end of Rocky III. The two legends go for minimal electro – no lyrics, no pop hooks, just a stripped- down set of Nineties-style trans-Europe synth grooves. They revel in the dark-wave textures and autobahn beats of "Single Blip" and "Skip This Track" without any frills. For these guys, "Spock" isn't just a song title – it's an emotional stance.

Listen to VCMG's "Single Blip":

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• Photos: Random Notes

“All Along the Watchtower”

Jimi Hendrix got hold of Bob Dylan's early John Wesley Harding tapes and in late 1967 recorded a version of "All Along the Watchtower" with the Experience in London. Dissatisfied with that first development, Hendrix brought those tapes with him to New York in early 1968 when he began work on Electric Ladyland. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer at the time, told Rolling Stone that Hendrix "was still looked upon by his basically white audience as the mammoth black guitar hero. There was a constant fight within him to expand himself." Hendrix's successful take on Dylan's work has long been recognized by the songwriter. "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way," Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his Biograph box set. "Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."