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Stereogum celebrates R.E.M.'s Automatic For The People
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... read more
Found in: Music, NewsR.E.M. prep Live CD/DVD package, more
After 25 years of performing together as a band, a few things happened to R.E.M.: * The group got inducted into some old boys' club in Cleveland. * Michael Stipe learned how to an-nun-ci-ate. * The band's formerly scraggly, college-aged fans grew up and made enough money to be able to afford numerous R.E.M. recording packages. Owing to a terrific confluence of these three factors, R.E.M. will release R.E.M. Live, two CDs and a DVD documenting the band's 2005 domination of Dublin's Point Theatre. The busy beavers at Stereogum have a track listing and video from the Dublin performance, so... read more
Found in: Music, NewsFirst-ever R.E.M. live album coming in Oct.
The bad news: R.E.M. won’t release its next studio album until 2008. The good news: The band will put out a live CD/DVD set on Oct. 16. While obsessive, quibbling fans may call New Adventures In Hi-Fi a live album, R.E.M. headquarters says it ain’t so. It may be hard to believe, but the new set—simply titled R.E.M. Live—is R.E.M.’s first official live record. The set was recorded in Dublin in February 2005, and includes the previously unreleased track “I’m Gonna DJ,” along with “Orange Crush,” “Cuyahoga,” “The One I Love,” “Losing My Religion” and “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville.”... read more
Found in: Music, NewsR.E.M. Announces First Shows In Two Years
Most bands crowd into dimly lit basements or sit around their parents’ living rooms to rehearse new material before packing up and heading into the studio. Thankfully, most bands are not R.E.M. Soon after their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last month, the Athens-based legends announced a special five-night residency at Dublin’s historic Olympia Theatre for June 30 and July 1, 3, 4 and 5. The shows, their first in nearly two years, will be a chance for Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills to test out songs for their upcoming 14th LP, the recording... read more
Found in: Music, NewsREM's Mills, Hem's Ellyson Record
REM bassist Mike Mills and Hem frontwoman Sally Ellyson have recorded a version of Big Star’s classic Christmas tune “Jesus Christ,” which will be available for download via a number of websites and online music services just in time for the holiday season. Beginning November 28th, iTunes, eMusic, Rhapsody, and Sony Connect will offer the song for purchase. All proceeds from downloads of the track will be donated to the Red Apple Foundation, a non-profit group that works in elementary schools to combat childhood obesity, educating schoolkids, their parents and teachers about healthy living. For more information about the Red... read more
Found in: Music, NewsR.E.M. makes surprise appearance at Minus 5 show
(Above [L-R]: Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Minus 5 drummer Bill Rieflin and Michael Stipe. Photo by Reid Davis) Audience members were rewarded with a surprise performance at The Minus 5's Georgia Theatre tour-closer in Athens Satuday night. No, it wasn't an April Fool's joke, it was R.E.M. At the first encore, the veteran band—including original (retired) drummer Bill Berry on bass—took the stage as frontman Michael Stipe said, "let's hear it for a community that would support three bands like that on a Saturday night." (The Silos and locals Elf Power opened for the Scott McCaughey-led Minus 5, which features... read more
Found in: Music, NewsR.E.M.
“It’s happened like, three times over the last couple years,” says R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe. “I’m sitting in a café or a restaurant... read more
Found in: Music, FeaturesR.E.M. Announces North American Tour
R.E.M. will launch an extensive fall tour, performing in nearly 30 North American cities to coincide with the release of Around The Sun, the group's first new studio album in three years (out Oct. 5 on Warner Bros). The tour kicks off Oct. 13 in Los Angeles at the Greek Theatre, and is in addtition to the band's co-headlining of the Vote For Change tour. Dates for R.E.M.'s 2004 North American Tour: Vote For Change Tour (with Bruce Springsteen, Bright Eyes and John Fogerty) • 10/1 - Philadelphia, Penn.•10/2 - Cleveland, Ohio• 10/3 - Ann Arbor, Mich.• 10/5 - St.... read more
Found in: Music, NewsVote For Change Tour
In an attempt to get out the vote in swing states, a loose coalition of artists have united with the MoveOn PAC and America Coming Together (ACT) organizations to put together the Vote for Change tour, which kicks off Oct. 1. A diverse lineup of performers—including Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., John Fogerty, Pearl Jam, Jurassic 5, Dave Matthews, Bright Eyes and Death Cab for Cutie—will perform in multiple cities on each of the tour’s six nights. For example, while Pearl Jam and Death Cab for Cutie hit the stage in Reading, Penn., on the tour’s opening night, Springsteen, R.E.M., Fogerty and... read more
Found in: Music, NewsJohn Keane Studios - Athens, Georgia (1990)
It’s strange to think so many incredible albums have been recorded in this little white, wood-panel house—brick front porch, bench swing, wind chimes and all—in this quiet residential neighborhood in Athens, Ga... read more
Found in: Music, Features
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