Stereogum celebrates R.E.M.'s Automatic For The People

Stereogum celebrates R.E.M.'s <em>Automatic For The People</em>

Their OK Computer tribute defied all expectations. Now the folks at Stereogum are giving us another remarkable tribute package. This Friday marks the fifteenth anniversary of Automatic For The People, the album where R.E.M. decided to go "mature" and never looked back. Highlighting the website's Drive XV package is an all-star covers version of Automatic, featuring tracks from The Wrens, Rogue Wave, Meat Puppets, Shout Out Louds and more. Each track appears as a downloadable mp3 or a stream, with liner notes from the covering band and R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills. Tying it all together is a thoughtful essay from Matthew Perpetua, the guy behind Fluxblog and R.E.M. blog Pop Songs 07.

All of those goodies should tide R.E.M. fans over until the group's first-ever live release, arriving on Oct. 16.

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