When I pulled up the Vince Clarke album and saw his picture from the album my first thought was where the heck has this guy been.  Then our acerbic Otis (you know, from Mayberry) from across the water chimed in he was in Depeche Mode and other bands.

The odd part is how much this album struck me at the perfectly right exact listening time (though, the edibles might have helped the experience right along).

Years ago while still working nights, on Sunday nights (I believe), NPR used to play this segment that focused on music largely found on the Hearts of Space albums - it was music very similar to Clarke - moody, haunting and surreal - and on these midnights, I would love driving home with that eerie, moody, melancholy stuff in the dark on a largely vacant expressway illuminated with towering lights and especially when it snowed.  Believe me, it was so utterly surreal and outer space-like, driving on a silent, snow-covered road illuminated with haunting lights cutting through the night, while the snow lightly and gently fluttered to Earth.