R.E.M.

[Jahfin]

For some reason I'm unable to edit my post above to add this, the artwork for Murmur and Reckoning:

Edited June 17, 2009 by Jahfin

[Jahfin]

From the Friday Morning Quarterback site:

R.E.M. has announced a new two-disc set, Live From The Olympia, due out in October. The release collects songs from the band's five-night "working rehearsals" during the making of Accelerate, where new songs were tried out and old chestnuts unearthed at the Olympia in Dublin in the summer of 2007. A four-song digital sampler of Live From The Olympia will be released on July 7. The sampler will feature four songs off Reckoning, to tie in with today's deluxe re-issue of R.E.M.'s sophomore album.

[Jahfin]

No Depression has announced the winners of the Reckoning contest:

http://community.nodepression.com

[Jahfin]

Looks like the remdublin.com site is active again. Clips from the upcoming Live from the Olympia CD/DVD have been uploaded:

Songs from Reckoning, Songs from Dublin

[Jahfin]

The tracklisting and release date for Live at the Olympia has been posted at www.remdublin.com.

[Jahfin]

[Jahfin]

Unique R.E.M album free with The Times

In the first giveaway of its kind by a British newspaper, The Times is offering you a complete R.E.M. album on iTunes.

You’ll find a special iTunes card inside The Times magazine on Saturday, October 10. Click the link below and use your code to be among the first to own five songs from the new R.E.M. live album, plus five classics including Losing My Religion and Man on the Moon.

Enter your code here

Plus, hear Michael Stipe and Peter Buck talk about the inspiration behind each track in an exclusive interview. Then every day from Monday, October 12 to Saturday, October 17 look out for six more free songs from The Times and iTunes from a selection of other great artists.

How Michael Stipe and R.E.M. rediscovered their best songs

A series of concerts by R.E.M. in a small and intimate Irish venue laid bare a creative process once steeped in enigma

Pete Paphides

First things first. Michael Stipe needs — preferably in this order — a lavatory and a coffee. Dressed in a grey designer suit with matching grey shirt, tie and black NHS-style glasses, he leaves his satchel on the chair and scuttles off in search of relief. “Feel free to rifle through my bag,” the R.E.M. frontman deadpans. Instead I rifle through my own bag and find a CD compilation that I’ve prepared for him.

He looks at the disc. “Thank you. What do I do with it?” If he has an Apple Mac, all he needs to do is insert the CD and the track names will be retrieved from the online database. Mock-affronted, Stipe splutters: “Do I have a Mac? Of course I have a Mac! Do I seem like a PC guy to you?” If I’m going to go to the trouble of guessing his musical tastes, can’t I at least figure out which side of the Mac/PC divide he stands?

To read the rest of the interview click here

[Jahfin]

One of several clips recently posted to R.E.M.'s website from their recording sessions in Nashville.

There's also this news about the official release of their 2008 performance on Austin City Limits which is due out on October 26th.

Edited September 13, 2010 by Jahfin

[Kiwi_Zep_Fan87]

Always loved R.E.M! This song pretty much started it all for me :

The lyrics are beautiful!

[Jahfin]

Always loved R.E.M! This song pretty much started it all for me :

The lyrics are beautiful!

What's your take on the early stuff like the Chronic Town EP, Murmur, Reckoning and Fables of the Reconstruction? I ask because so many people that came onboard with Losing My Religion are totally unaware of the stuff that came before and believe that Out of Time is their first record.

[Kiwi_Zep_Fan87]

What's your take on the early stuff like the Chronic Town EP, Murmur, Reckoning and Fables of the Reconstruction? I ask because so many people that came onboard with Losing My Religion are totally unaware of the stuff that came before and believe that Out of Time is their first record.

Well, I got into R.E.M thanks to my dad! Its one of the few bands he loves from the 80s. My first albums were in fact "Murmur" and "Out of Time" (my dad bought them both together actually so it was pretty much a double treat for him at the time) .I remember tapping my feet to songs like "Radio Free Europe" and "West Of The Fields". I was just 7 when my dad bought those albums (in cassette form) in 1994 and he used to play them quite often with stuff like Floyd and Queen! It brings back some awesome childhood memories to be honest! And from Fables of Reconstruction, I really like "Can't Get There From Here" and "Life And How To Live It". I, to be honest, get a bit annoyed when people say they like R.E.M and yet know only 2 songs, namely "Everybody Hurts" and "Losing My Religion" and I know you feel the same way!

Edited September 14, 2010 by Kiwi_Zep_Fan87

[Jahfin]

More news on the recording of R.E.M.'s next record from the German edition of Rolling Stone. I'm awaiting a translation of the article but apparently they don't go into what it actually sounds like. They're staying true to their word (at least so far) in regards to staying mum on this one.

[Jahfin]

Stipe guesting on vocals last night in NYC with Tired Pony, a new project with Gary Lightbody (Snow Patrol) and Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey of R.E.M.

[Jahfin]

From ConsequenceOfSound.net:

R.E.M.’s new album will be called Collapse Into Now

BY ALEX YOUNG

Here’s a great little nugget that just popped up on our Twitter feed. The BBC reports that R.E.M. have titled their much-anticipated 15th studio album Collapse Into Now and will unveil it to the masses next Spring.

As previously reported, the band recorded the followup to 2008’s Accelerate with legendary producer Garret “Jacknife” Lee (U2, Bloc Party, Editors) during sessions in Portland, New Orleans, and Berlin. More details as they become available/pop up on Twitter.

Edited October 14, 2010 by Jahfin

[silvermedalist]

Who in the hell is REM? Never heard of em?

[Jahfin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwLR3xTgqNs&feature=related

[Jahfin]

From Spin:

R.E.M. Tap Eddie Vedder, Patti Smith for Next Album

By William Goodman

R.E.M. have finished their fifteenth studio album, called Collapse Into Now (due in early 2011) — so what can fans expect? According to multi-instrumentalist Mike Mills, a more "expansive" sound than on 2008's Accelerate and some special guests, including Eddie Vedder, Patti Smith, and Peaches!

"With Accelerate we were trying to make a point by making the songs as short and as fast as possible," Mills tells Spin. "So we wanted this new one to be more expansive. We wanted to put more variety into it and not limit ourselves to any one type of song. There are some really slow, beautiful songs; there are some nice, mid-tempo ones; and then there are three or four rockers."

Mills adds that while Accelerate's lyrics were politically-inspired, Collapse Into Now is a "very personal, very human record. Not only to [singer] Michael [stipe], but personal and human in the sense of the narrative of the songs, the protagonists of the songs."

The 12-track release — produced by Garret "Jacknife" Lee (Snow Patrol, U2), who plays alongside R.E.M.'s Peter Buck in alt-country supergroup Tired Pony — includes rocker "All the Best," and the album's closing song, "Blue," which features vocals from Patti Smith.

A yet-to-be-named song, which Mills promises will feature the word "alligator" in its title, features Peaches on vocals and Smith's longtime collaborator Lenny Kaye on guitar.

"It Happened Today" features Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder on vocals.

Another, "Walk It Back," was written during studio sessions in New Orleans, the product of the band's new approach to writing and recording. Instead of penning a batch of tunes and tracking them in a marathon session, R.E.M. scheduled sessions in different cities -- Berlin, Nashville, New Orleans -- with breaks between to write and rewrite songs.

"It's also fun for us to go to the cities we really love and spend some time," says Mills. After a day's work in the studio, the band would go out to dinner. "It's really important to go out, get great food, shrug off the debris of the day, and just be friends and have a good time. In Berlin you drink beer and eat wurst. In New Orleans you eat Cajun food and drink Sazerac. In Nashville we ate a lot of fried chicken."

[Jahfin]

From RollingStone.com:

Mike Mills On New R.E.M. Album With

Patti Smith, Eddie Vedder

'Collapse Into Now' is reminiscent of 'Automatic for the People', says Mills

Larry Busacca/WireImage

By Andy Greene

When R.E.M. began recording Collapse Into Now last year they decided to throw out the guidelines they imposed on their last album, 2008's Accelerate. "On the last one we tried to make everything focused, short, fast and sharp," Mike Mills tells Rolling Stone. "We took most of the rules off this time, picking the best songs regardless of whether they were fast, slow or mid-tempo."

The disc, which is due out early next year, reminds Mills of the band's 1992 classic Automatic For The People. "The songs go from one type into another really easily and it all seems to fit as a piece," Mills says. "It makes sense as a whole the same way that Automatic For The People did."

Produced by Jacknife Lee, the disc was recorded over the past year at studios in Portland, New Orleans, Nashville and at Berlin's legendary Hansa Tonstudio—where David Bowie and Iggy Pop recorded The Idiot and later where U2 cut Achtung Baby. "There's so many, not exactly ghosts...but vibrations in there," says Mills. "It's as very, very vibey place."

While in Berlin the band met up with longtime friend Patti Smith, who contributed vocals to the track "Blue." "Patti totally changed the song and added a whole other dimension to it," says Mills. "It was a powerful thing to watch." Another track, "It Happens Today," featured vocal contributions from Eddie Vedder.

The songs are also less political than the material on Accelerate. "It's more of a personal record than a political one," says Mills. "Current events do come into our mind when we write, but the themes here are more universal."

Other songs include the piano ballad "Walk It Back," a rocker called "All The Best" that features Mills and Michael Stipe sharing lead vocals and "Everyday Is Yours To Win"—which Mills describes as a "slow, beautiful song built around a guitar riff."

Mills says the group didn't always see eye-to-eye while recording the disc. "This one certainly has its share of difficulty—but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing," he says. "It just means you have creative tension, which is what happens when three strong-willed people manage to find a consensus."

Edited November 5, 2010 by Jahfin

[Jahfin]

Promo copy of the new record:

[Jahfin]

[gperkins151]

Thanks a million for all that, Jahfin!

BTW, your inbox is full!

[Jahfin]

The first single from Collapse Into Now, "It Happened Today", is due for release on December 20th:

Oh and by the way, this year's fanclub Holiday single is now out. If you care to hear it, click here.

Edited December 10, 2010 by Jahfin

[Jahfin]

[Jahfin]

From NME.com:

REM announce new album release date

and free download - audio

Band to release Collapse Into Now in March

December 15, 2010

R.E.M. are set to release their new album Collapse Into Now on March 7.

They are set to make the first song from the album, "Discoverer'', available as a free download from remhq.com.

The record will be Michael Stipe and co's 15th studio effort. It was recorded in Hansa Studios in Berlin with producer Jacknife Lee (U2, Bloc Party, Weezer).

Guests on the album include Patti Smith, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Peaches and Lenny Kaye.

The tracklisting of Collapse Into Now is:

Discoverer

All The Best

Uberlin

Oh My Heart

It Happened Today (featuring Eddie Vedder)

Every Day Is Yours to Win

Mine Smell Like Honey’

Walk It Back’

Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter (featuring Peaches and Lenny Kaye)

That Someone Is You

Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I

Blue (featuring Patti Smith)

Edited December 15, 2010 by Jahfin

[Jahfin]

New song is now up at this link. Get it while it's hot.