R.E.M. with Johnny Marr, New Sigur Rós Stream

Forget that R.E.M.'s new record is their best in years. Forget that even when their albums started sucking, their live shows remained phenomenal. Forget that one of the openers is one of the best young bands around (The National, whose album was declared by Paste as the best of last year—an honor that has gone to their heads, according to Rainn Wilson). And forget that Modest Mouse is also on the bill. This one thing is reason enough for you to make sure you get out to see R.E.M. on their North American tour...

Michael Stipe, Johnny Marr, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Scott McCaughey all on one stage. Getting to see Marr play with Modest Mouse is already a beautiful thing, but when Buck and Marr get those twin Rickenbacker's going, every Gen X'er in the crowd better work extra hard on bladder control.



Bonnaroo
I'm headed up to Manchester, Tenn., today. Despite the line-ups I've seen at places like Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits, Bonnaroo is still my favorite festival simply because it's the most creative. The sculptures and the performance artists and the people-watching make it so much more than a bunch of bands playing outdoors. I'm also looking forward to catching Swell Season and Sigur Rós, both for the first time. Sigur Rós has a brand new album coming out in August and you can stream it here.