As I'm reading this the story of REM is being played out in the background on breakfast TV. They've been around for many years (30+?) and sometimes it is best to stop whilst still good. The Rolling Stones, for example, IMO, went on too long past their best, and in some ways it is the more recent, poorer material from RS that sticks on the mind more.
Wow, look at all the posts on here! This is great.
I just heard the other night about the R.E.M. retirement. I gotta say, considering my own personal REM renaissance, I couldn't help but wonder if there was some sort of metaphysical synchronicity going on here, like me and REM are inextricably tied together, lol.
My wife came and picked me up from the humane society a couple days ago. The window was down and Happy Shiny People was on. She loves that song. Seeing her pull up and singing along, it's probably the first time I ever liked that song. And then two nights ago, listening to the same album as we drove to Louisville... as I drove through the darkness on a particularly hilly section of road, hearing Near Wild Heaven and Country Feedback totally took me back to driving over La Veta pass in Colorado under similar conditions. I had a very visceral reaction to the whole thing.
We've been listening to Life's Rich Pageant and Green a lot lately. I still can come up with no concrete memories associated with Pageant, which continues to confound me. I still love that album, though I'm not comfortable anymore stating it's my favorite. It was neat hearing Katie relate memories of REM from her childhood as we drove across the countryside listening to them. Of particular interest to me was that she suffered the same type of cognitive dissonance as I did regarding when she remembers really beginning to like them and the facts, as she remembers them, surrounding that time. It's like their music really is slippery when it comes to a timeline. I think that's pretty neat.
Anyways, glad people like my little memories and I'm thrilled to read the recollections of others.
I got Green on a tape.Thought it was bloody amazing but never really followed it up. Fast forward a couple of years and it's Christmas with friends.Open pressies and at the end of it, I have all the recordings up to that point (Automatic...) Our hosts are aghast..who is this? Played 'em through out the weekend and surprised the buggers. The biggest surprise that weekend was when she found out she was pregnant...he was 18 2 weeks ago.
My first belly laugh in a few days. Laughing feels so good!
Not much laughter when dealing with an abscessed tooth. Turned out to be a fractured tooth, so root canal was abandoned. Being extracted this afternoon.
It never would've happened if the Humane Society hadn't taken the time to litter-train me.
Turned out to be a fractured tooth, so root canal was abandoned. Being extracted this afternoon.
Sounds like you need a good soup recommendation. Don't know if you've tried out the new Bardtown Rd. restaurant "Roots" yet. It's where the old Cafe Mimosa used to be (before it burned down). Anyways, they've got a green curry soup that is just fantastic. And they deliver. Highly recommended.
I hope you feel better. And don't spare the pain medication.
I live too far away to ask for delivery, so I have tucked away this recommendation for a future trial. The soup sounds good. Tonight? I'm afraid it's going to be Progresso Tomato Basil soup, lukewarm per instructions (no hot liquids). I did survive, have pain pills at the ready if needed. It's ice pack time right now.
As for the litter training, get your awesome cat to teach you a method that is a bit less messy than a litter box. ;-}
I am revisiting "Out of Time," and, actually, a lot of old albums from my past. I am in the thick of a new book (two, actually, but I've finally settled on the order of things), and I have a particular method for music listening in the perspective of a writing routine, and it diverges dramatically from my normal music listening prerogatives. But it's been "New Adventures..." and "Green," and "Out of Time" (which I just purchased via the good ol' internet from Reckless Records along with a fuckton of other older albums from Pearl Jam, Tom Waits, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tindersticks, Nick Drake, Morphine. The Police, and Sonic Youth (among others)).
I have no new epiphanies or insights into the music of REM and my timeline. I am still in Kentucky, but now living in Lexington. I purchased my first home, met some fun new friends, dated here and there, got settled into a neighborhood bar that sells my preference in Irish whiskey, found some favorite restaurants to grab a meal and, in some instances, just sit at the bar with a good book and appreciate the sublime joy of existing in (at least) two realities simultaneously. Katie and I are divorced, but while I have lost a marriage, I have retained one of my very best friends. I have, somehow, landed in a good place. And then the pandemic hit, which sucks on so many levels for myself and so many people, but it also forced me to stay home and establish a new writing routine, which is the core of my life by so many different measures, and so, amidst despair and fear and isolation, there is hope and happiness, and the future is just as vast as it ever was.
OMFG, "Half a World Away" just came on my playlist, which is the song that began this thread nearly ten years ago, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I am in tears right now, and though the cause-effect relationship is impossible to map, this synchronicity leads me to the irrefutable conclusion that, as bad as things are, all of our dreams can still come true, all because of this one song. That seems like a good place to end this post.
Great article, a footnote Life's Rich Pageant was recorded a mile down the road I live in, it was recorded in Middleton Road in Bounds Green. This is a suburb in North London. Its a row of shops which at the time had a couple of food shops, a couple of take way shops and a couple of barbers. Its now a bit teddy with a great Czech beer tap house. It then became the in house studio for Adrian Sherwood and his On U Studio label, not too sure if it still there
Fascinating to read this thread on a number of levels. I was already contributing to emusers nearly ten years ago - it doesn't seem like it. I miss the contributions from people like Craig/Cafreema and others. The REM material is great too, thanks Jonahpwll. I too havbe recently been revisiting a lot of albums from my past - maybe it is due to the lockdown and pandemic. Thanks for renewing this thread, Jonahpwll
Iconic alternative rock band R.E.M. has shared a previously unreleased
song, “Fascinating,” to benefit global organization Mercy Corps’
Hurricane Dorian relief and recovery efforts in the Bahamas. Band
members Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe recorded “Fascinating”
in 2004 at Nassau’s Compass Point Studios . . .
Funny, I saw this thread, read the last few posts, then went back and started from the beginning. As I was reading, I was thinking about my own history with REM, and started writing a post in my head. Then I came to the post I already wrote, nine years ago. I'm going to listen to Green now.
Iconic alternative rock band R.E.M. has shared a previously unreleased
song, “Fascinating,” to benefit global organization Mercy Corps’
Hurricane Dorian relief and recovery efforts in the Bahamas. Band
members Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe recorded “Fascinating”
in 2004 at Nassau’s Compass Point Studios . . .
Michael Stipe & Big Red Machine
released June 11, 2020
“No Time For Love Like Now” is the first song from Big Red Machine since
the release of their critically acclaimed self-titled debut in 2018.
Big Red Machine began as a collaboration between Aaron Dessner and
Justin Vernon in 2008, and has grown into a multi-artist collective.
When the group got together this year to begin working on new music,
this particular song made a detour and ended up with Michael Stipe.
Written by Michael Stipe and Aaron Dessner, produced by Aaron Dessner,
with Orchestration by Bryce Dessner, and lyrics by Michael Stipe.
Comments
of course, carnival of sorts still kills.
I just heard the other night about the R.E.M. retirement. I gotta say, considering my own personal REM renaissance, I couldn't help but wonder if there was some sort of metaphysical synchronicity going on here, like me and REM are inextricably tied together, lol.
My wife came and picked me up from the humane society a couple days ago. The window was down and Happy Shiny People was on. She loves that song. Seeing her pull up and singing along, it's probably the first time I ever liked that song. And then two nights ago, listening to the same album as we drove to Louisville... as I drove through the darkness on a particularly hilly section of road, hearing Near Wild Heaven and Country Feedback totally took me back to driving over La Veta pass in Colorado under similar conditions. I had a very visceral reaction to the whole thing.
We've been listening to Life's Rich Pageant and Green a lot lately. I still can come up with no concrete memories associated with Pageant, which continues to confound me. I still love that album, though I'm not comfortable anymore stating it's my favorite. It was neat hearing Katie relate memories of REM from her childhood as we drove across the countryside listening to them. Of particular interest to me was that she suffered the same type of cognitive dissonance as I did regarding when she remembers really beginning to like them and the facts, as she remembers them, surrounding that time. It's like their music really is slippery when it comes to a timeline. I think that's pretty neat.
Anyways, glad people like my little memories and I'm thrilled to read the recollections of others.
Cheers.
Fast forward a couple of years and it's Christmas with friends.Open pressies and at the end of it, I have all the recordings up to that point (Automatic...) Our hosts are aghast..who is this? Played 'em through out the weekend and surprised the buggers.
The biggest surprise that weekend was when she found out she was pregnant...he was 18 2 weeks ago.
R.E.M....I had Christmas with you
My first belly laugh in a few days. Laughing feels so good!
Not much laughter when dealing with an abscessed tooth. Turned out to be a fractured tooth, so root canal was abandoned. Being extracted this afternoon.
It never would've happened if the Humane Society hadn't taken the time to litter-train me.
Sounds like you need a good soup recommendation. Don't know if you've tried out the new Bardtown Rd. restaurant "Roots" yet. It's where the old Cafe Mimosa used to be (before it burned down). Anyways, they've got a green curry soup that is just fantastic. And they deliver. Highly recommended.
I hope you feel better. And don't spare the pain medication.
Cheers.
As for the litter training, get your awesome cat to teach you a method that is a bit less messy than a litter box. ;-}
Written by Michael Stipe and Aaron Dessner, produced by Aaron Dessner, with Orchestration by Bryce Dessner, and lyrics by Michael Stipe.