Well, you don’t get to be as old as this Tart and not become exposed to the music of REM. And I mean the old, good, best music of REM. Not that Michael Stipe-focused, almost solo project, REM stuff from the late 90s that they produced that was all slow and heartfelt and well, to be honest, kinda sappy. I mean the hard-driving, baritone vocals infused with repetitive-in-a-good-way guitar work REM of their early career. THAT shit was brilliant and derisive and thumbed its nose at the likes of Madonna and Cyndi Lauper and all the others dancing around proclaiming the teenage hilarity of the early 80s, (not that I didn’t enjoy all that as well, don’t get me wrong!) But old REM had that Gothic Southern dark heart to it and the pre-emo me wanted Mike Mills so bad.
Well, REM is back, has been back for a few years now. Thank fuck, they’ve found a way to be a band again, figured out how to tame the monster that Michael Stipe had become in all his celebrity. This video sounds like what I remember them being. You know the LSB policy, click it on for audio and go look at something else pretty while you watch. If you need a blank page, here it is, darlings. Rarely do videos actually improve the experience of music appreciation, in my opinion. I’ll let you know when/if I find one that does. Mostly they’re vehicles for a new song that hasn’t got clearance for a download yet. And of course, I’ve got an approved widget for you; don’t get your panties all wet in excitement. In return for only being able to give you widgets and videos I’ve sneaked in a little remix for my rainy Chicago morning just to show how dedicated I am to good remixes. So here… enjoy an officially approved version of “I’ll Take The Rain (Jamie Candiloro Remix)” xoxo
R.E.M. will release a brand-new double live album, entitled R.E.M. Live At The Olympia on October 27th, 2009 via Warner Bros. Records. As the big labels are wont to do lately it’s a repackaging of old material, featuring 39 songs from the band’s 2007 “working rehearsals” of R.E.M.’s 2008 studio album Accelerate. Yeah, I know, the widgety thingy has the video in it too… no idea why either.
Living Well Is The Best Revenge
Another great power trio. Buck always had great guitar work. Simple, but catchy with no boring power chords. I have always tried to emulate that model of rhythm/lead guitar. Not flashy, just solid with volume in the right places for punch. The Smiths, Sundays, 10,000 Maniacs, etc have a similar guitar style.
Reconstruction of the fables would be my favorite from REM.
That’s all it takes, isn’t it Andrew? And yeah, Reconstruction is my fave too… they were always just a really hard-working band that delivered, respectable, and solid.
Do you think the recent stuff was excessively Stipe-driven?
I think it suffered more from Mills and Buck getting all noodley and experimental, and forgetting how to be a rock band after Bill Berry left.
I’ve recounted this opinion before on other blogs (that shalt not be mentioned here!) but I think REM released one great album between 1998 and 2004, the problem being they spread that one great album out over three LPs.
Well I think Up is REM’s best album – sonically rich, lyrically deep, moving and experimental. For me that was their last good record. And since then Michael Stipe has been their only saving grace. His effort is always exemplary when it sounds like Mills and Buck are treading water, trying to recreate something that they ought to leave in the past.
Good call on the drummer Dylan. Changed the bands whole dynamic.
From my playing experience I could say musicians feel like they need to progress and change. It’s a lot of that stumbling around that leads you back to what was fun to play and made you sound the best.
There was a great comment in an article I was reading around the time, relating to Bill Berry leaving the band.
It said – to paraphrase – that Bill Berry was never the most pyrotechnic of drummers, but was certainly the ‘anchor’ of the band, and that an anchor doesn’t have to be flashy or the centre of attention, it just needs to be heavy and have two sticky-out bits to do its job well!