R.e.m in at 36

1. Needlework sampler by 13 year old Elizabeth Jane Hawkins, 1865: “What noisy cats are we” , “Hurrah we are all free now”, “Girl and Dog”, “He bore his Cross”

2. Sketch by Confederate prisoner John Omenhausser, at Point Lookout, Maryland, 1864-1865

For those that haven’t seen it: the source for the lyrics to “Voice of Harold.”

As I've (sadly!) never seen R.E.M. live I thought I'd do the next best thing - see Peter Buck live, playing with his new band Drink The Sea! And what a night it was. I was standing right in front of him for two amazing hours, seeing him doing his guitar magic, mixed in with some staple jumps and kicks. And the next to last song was The One I Love! It was such a joy to see him live, enjoying his music, touring yet again. I even got to meet him after the show, in which he signed a copy of Lifes Rich Pageant and he agreed to take a photo with me. I also thanked him for all the amazing music he has made over the years. And sorry for telling you to smile for the photo Peter, old habit, I hope you can forgive me.

Thanks Peter, for giving me a night I will cherish for the rest of my life. Keep on rocking, you legend.

Longtime REM fan here, as I’m sure you all are.

The past 48 hours or so, I’ve been on a REM nostalgia train.. listening to deep cuts, album favorites, songs I hadn’t accessed in years.

Sure I hear REM frequently, as it’s on my playlists and whatnot, but the last two days I’ve been going deep.

Simply put, Nightswimming is a masterpiece. And I know, it’s not so much of a deep cut seeing as it’s on what I believe is their greatest album, Automatic for the People… but while I always felt it’s a masterpiece, the last two days have only reinforced that for me as I’ve probably listened to it over 50 times. lol. Not kidding.

One just doesn’t get tired of it. It’s more than a song. It’s like a portal to your youth, or certainly to whenever the first time you heard it. It’s hard to explain.. some songs you eventually get tired of: Nightswimming is not one of them. Between the simplicity of the piano loop, to John Paul Jones’s delicate string arrangement, to what I believe is Michael Stipe’s finest hour on the microphone and his magnum opus, Nightswimming is a fucking masterpiece.

I read in a comment section a short while back, someone say that it’s on par with Paul McCartney’s Yesterday. I don’t like playing the “as good as” and comparing game, but I’ll say that Nightswimming is just as impactful, sure.

I have very few songs where I feel I can just listen over and over and over and over again. Nightswimming is one of them

"Michael Stipe wasn’t kidding when he told the New York Times Magazine in 2023 he was “in no rush” to release his long-awaited first solo album. Four years after its initially teased premiere date, the former R.E.M. singer-songwriter has finally revealed when it’s coming in an interview with the LA Times: the first single arrives New Year’s Eve of this year, with the as-yet-untitled LP debuting in May 2027. Also, per Stipe, “five seconds into the new year, there will be a new song with a video setting up the album.” In April, Stipe debuted a song from the project called “The Rest of Ever” on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

Stipe is working with resident rock-icon whisperer Andrew Watt on the album, along with Andy LeMaster and “a gallery of thieves,” he told the Times. “Andy and I are in the studio for three days mixing some of the songs that he and I have worked on together,” he said. “I think the rest of it should be a little bit of a surprise.” Stipe added some vague details about the album’s politics (or lack thereof) as well. “I was talking to someone about the record over dinner—they haven’t heard a single note of it…and they said, ‘It’s political?’ I said, ‘No, not at all,’” he recalled. “Then I said, ‘In fact, just by dint of it being me and my place in pop culture and my reputation as an activist and the kind of songs that I wrote in the past with my former band, it is deeply, deeply political.’ But it’s not topical. Music is such a powerful medium, and I’m responding to instinct over anything else right now in terms of what I feel like I need from music and what I feel like I can offer.”

I hope all the heterosexuals among our lovely R.E.M. community can join Mike Mills and Peter Buck in declaring themselves to be "heterosexual or 'straight'", we love you all and support you to be your true selves🙏

https://youtu.be/MuHayrdAP_k?is=byW6LA53iRqUgTVB

Singing a cover of “Tall, Tall Trees” by George Jones at the 40 Watt with Lona

R.E.M. talent... Is unmatched and simply can't be touched. Our band wanted to show some humble love to Michael and the crew with a Pretty Persuasion music video cover. Enjoy.

Anybody went to see Drink the Sea and has a pic of Peter Buck’s pedalboard?

Saw this old poster for LRP online and noticed the lyric "birdy and a hand". I always heard this as "in the hand", as in the expression, 'a bird in the hand...'.

But from Googling, looks like there are very much two ways to hear it. And the poster, I would assume, is official/band-approved in some way. Does anyone know what the actual lyric is?

For me :
Most loved - Automatic for the People
Least liked - Monster

I've heard that Thom Yorke (lead vocalist) of Radiohead is a huge fan of Michael Stipe and REM, and I was curious about which Radiohead songs actually gave off REM vibes. Now, I can't think of many Radiohead songs that sound even remotely like REM's main style, but I listened to 9-9 from REM's Murmur, and that actually really reminds me of Radiohead.

I feel like I've been looking for REM in Radiohead when I should have been looking for Radiohead in REM

I really love a lot of what Drink the Sea does and Filthy friends was pretty good as well. As for guest appearance I would say either Your Ghost with Michael with Kristin Hersh or Danny by Stef Chura which has Peter and Mike

Does anyone else find this song to be hilarious and absurd. Just seems like he is poking fun at the BS/ meaningless conversations people have on a daily basis and it really hits me in the funny bone for some reason

so I made my own covers for them

What are yours? If I'm going for 5, I think I'd say:

• Automatic for the People is genuinely the only flawless album ever created, not a single thing wrong
• While I do absolutely love the IRS 80s catalogue, I think the bias towards it is clearly through nostalgia and gatekeeping more than complete quality. Reveal is better than half of the IRS records
• Texarkana is top 5, top 3 songs they ever made
• I really don't see the attraction to Old Man Kensey. Objectively a pretty poor song
• Around The Sun title track is one of their best ever songs

Interested to see the variety