OT: New Music?

[AJColossal]

Moment of silence for R.E.M. who officially broke up today. 20 years ago I probably would have drowned myself in a toilet with this news, but this was a long time coming, probably since B. Berry left.

For much of their career, they were this perfect encapsulation of how a band should go about being a band. Great music, integrity, and a perfect sense of tastefulness, which is funny to consider when you're talking about the world of rock.

No one mumbled about Miles Standish, Lester Bangs, and acid rain better than them.

[ScoopBrady]

Moment of silence for R.E.M. who officially broke up today. 20 years ago I probably would have drowned myself in a toilet with this news, but this was a long time coming, probably since B. Berry left.

For much of their career, they were this perfect encapsulation of how a band should go about being a band. Great music, integrity, and a perfect sense of tastefulness, which is funny to consider when you're talking about the world of rock.

No one mumbled about Miles Standish, Lester Bangs, and acid rain better than them.

I could never get into REM because I can't stand Michael Stipe's voice. I did like some of the music but the vocals always killed it for me. Still, their career is very impressive.

[F308GTB]

Moment of silence for R.E.M. who officially broke up today. 20 years ago I probably would have drowned myself in a toilet with this news, but this was a long time coming, probably since B. Berry left.

For much of their career, they were this perfect encapsulation of how a band should go about being a band. Great music, integrity, and a perfect sense of tastefulness, which is funny to consider when you're talking about the world of rock.

No one mumbled about Miles Standish, Lester Bangs, and acid rain better than them.

That just sucks. I kick myself for never seeing them live. One of my favorites in any genre, and their music certainly changed over the years. They didn't pigeonhole themselves to the same style. I remember back to my junior high and high school days catching episodes of IRS' the Cutting Edge show. Then picking up Life's Rich Pageant at the big Half Price Books in Dallas as a high schooler. Still have the vinyl today and it ranks as my favorite REM album. I was amazed just yesterday on local commercial radio as Superman came on the air.

I guess all good things must come to an end.

[greggsand]

3 bands that had a MAJOR impact on me musically: The Pixies (made me buy my 1st guitar "sounds loud but easy!"), REM (made me want to try signing "hey, I can mumble cool things too"), and a few years later, Pavement ("lo-fi recording? I can do that").

REM was one of those bands that were able to be a little weird yet could write a song that almost anyone at a party could dig (End of World as We Know It, for example). They were also one of those bands that could start playing pretty massive venues (circa Green tour), and didn't alienate their core fans or have everyone screaming 'sell outs!'. Yeah, Stipe and his 'causes' grew tiresome in the late 90's early 2000's, and I can totally understand why anyone who's intro to the band was 'losing my religion' or (gasp) 'shinny happy people' would find them completely annoying.

Wasn't too bummed to read about the break-up. I did think it was funny that the same REM called it quits, GBV announced their releasing a new album with their 'classic line-up'. Such is the music biz these days. I have no doubt I'll be at a REM reunion show in about 5 years. Hopefully, Bill Berry climbs off his tractor to join them...

[F308GTB]

Wasn't too bummed to read about the break-up. I did think it was funny that the same REM called it quits, GBV announced their releasing a new album with their 'classic line-up'. Such is the music biz these days. I have no doubt I'll be at a REM reunion show in about 5 years. Hopefully, Bill Berry climbs off his tractor to join them...

A new GBV could be good, though the new Jayhawks album was released this week and I was not too impressed.

[Badgun]

Moment of silence for R.E.M. who officially broke up today. 20 years ago I probably would have drowned myself in a toilet with this news, but this was a long time coming, probably since B. Berry left.

For much of their career, they were this perfect encapsulation of how a band should go about being a band. Great music, integrity, and a perfect sense of tastefulness, which is funny to consider when you're talking about the world of rock.

No one mumbled about Miles Standish, Lester Bangs, and acid rain better than them.

Probably been 15 years since they made a decent album. The first 5 or 6 were all great albums and then somewhere in the early to mid 90s they just got to the point that everything they put out was forgettable. Each new album would have that one song that sounded like old R.E.M., but the rest of the albums usually were very mundane. I did get the opportunity to see them in concert when they were at the top of their game and they were fantastic.

[RobVarak]

My initial reaction to this was that they should have done this 20 years ago. My secondary reaction was the same as its been to most of their career. Meh. To their credit, they got an unbelievable amount of cultural and career mileage out of 4 good albums.

[pk500]

I'm somewhere in the middle of the range of reactions here.

R.E.M. was a great band, a true collective of four great musicians. Once that dynamic ended with the retirement of Bill Berry in 1997, the band never recovered. But let's face it: The band's last GREAT album was "Automatic for the People," which was released 19 years ago.

Sure, "Accelerate" received good reviews. It was a sonic return to the band's roots. But I also think the positive reviews were as much of a lifetime achievement award from reviewers yearning to see the band inexplicably return to its 1983-92 heights.

Influential band, a band with integrity. But is it really a sad day? How many but the most hardcore of R.E.M. fans regularly listen to any of the band's albums from the last 10 years?

When I hear an R.E.M. song now, it's almost inevitably from the 1983-95 era. And it makes me think of the scene in "This is Spinal Tap" when the band is in a hotel room and gathers around a table to hear one of their early classics on the radio. As the song ends, the DJ says: "That was 'Cups and Cakes' by Britain's legendary Spinal Tap. They're in the Where and the Now File these days ... "

That pretty much sums up R.E.M. for the last decade. Thankfully the band didn't hang on long enough to be billed beneath the puppet show at the amusement park gig.

[RobVarak]

In an effort to balance out my crabbing in the earlier post: One of my favorite clips:

[F308GTB]

R.E.M. was a great band, a true collective of four great musicians. Once that dynamic ended with the retirement of Bill Berry in 1997, the band never recovered. But let's face it: The band's last GREAT album was "Automatic for the People," which was released 19 years ago.

]
To me, I'd say "New Adventures in Hi-Fi" was their last great one, but I just find that album awesome. But hey, that was 15 years ago...

[greggsand]

2 great links:

Grantland on REM:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7005515/thanks-rem

Full Wilco Concert on the Letterman Set:

http://www.cbs.com/late_night/liveonlet ... lco/video/

[AJColossal]

Som more R.E.M. tidbits.

From '82-'92, they released 8 LPs and an EP, all of which were (arguably) regarded as classic/near classic. Now that's a run.

Who even releases an LP a year, good or bad, anymore?

Wait, what's an LP?

[Spooky]

New 'Giraffes? Giraffes!' is incredible. Wow. Super melodic.

[pk500]

Thanks for the Wilco show link, Gregg!

[greggsand]

Thanks for the Wilco show link, Gregg!

Like usual, Wilco picks the best songs from their albums to play live. The new tracks, played live, sound great!

[Jimmydeicide]

Yeh thanks for the Wilco link. Thought Impossible Germany was epic.

[pk500]

My Morning Jacket's "Circuital" has just dropped to No. 2 on my Album of the Year 2011 list.

Wilco's "The Whole Love" is the best album the band has recorded since "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot." It's THAT good, the offspring of a tight, incredibly talented lineup working together for its third consecutive record.

[Brando70]

This has been recommended in this thread before, but R.E.M.'s "Live at the Olympia" is a terrific live album and a great overview of their strengths. The older songs are a little more forceful and self-assured, and it also covers a lot of ground instead of just focusing on the hits.

I also am more excited than I should be over a new "classic" GBV album. Hopefully it will have a few Tobin Sprout numbers on it.

[AJColossal]

I also am more excited than I should be over a new "classic" GBV album. Hopefully it will have a few Tobin Sprout numbers on it.

Funny, was just talking to another friend who was a huge GBV fan, too.

The problem I see with this new GBV album (which sounds awesome on paper) is how much more does Robert Pollard still have left creatively? He completely ran himself into the ground by releasing 15 solo albums a year, which are more or less complete garbage. Maybe the re-uniting of the band (least surprising reunion in rock history) will revitalize him, or maybe Tobin Sprout hid away some gems.

Either way, I'm putting the pitchfork over/under at 6.1, lol.

[greggsand]

Wilco's "The Whole Love" is the best album the band has recorded since "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot." It's THAT good, the offspring of a tight, incredibly talented lineup working together for its third consecutive record.

(disclaimer:I'm a huge huge Wilco geek) I like the album a lot. I really loved Sky Blue Sky, and I'm not sure this surpasses that album. I do like the "spirit" of this record (which is much closer to a YHF-vibe). I thought the Pitchfork review was a bit "off", but I think they made one great point: The opener is so strong and eye-opening (Art of Almost), the rest of the album never really keeps up with it. It doesn't equate a bad album by any means, but it def has me saying "I want more of that!" every time I hear it.

Wilco is now in this tough spot where there is no album that will please everybody. Some will want more AM, some YHF, some Ghost is Born, etc.. The Whole Love def has slices of each genre. I imagine everyone from those camps would have their own fav songs from this record. Regardless, bring on the L.A. shows, baby!!!

[Brando70]

I also am more excited than I should be over a new "classic" GBV album. Hopefully it will have a few Tobin Sprout numbers on it.

Funny, was just talking to another friend who was a huge GBV fan, too.

The problem I see with this new GBV album (which sounds awesome on paper) is how much more does Robert Pollard still have left creatively? He completely ran himself into the ground by releasing 15 solo albums a year, which are more or less complete garbage. Maybe the re-uniting of the band (least surprising reunion in rock history) will revitalize him, or maybe Tobin Sprout hid away some gems.

Either way, I'm putting the pitchfork over/under at 6.1, lol.

Ha, 6.1 sounds right.

I totally agree on Pollard's solo and side projects. The last few GBV albums were uneven, but they all had at least a few grabbers. His solo records were just very meh. I'd be happy just to have him produce a handful of decent songs on this new album.

[rhymes450]

This has been recommended in this thread before, but R.E.M.'s "Live at the Olympia" is a terrific live album and a great overview of their strengths. The older songs are a little more forceful and self-assured, and it also covers a lot of ground instead of just focusing on the hits.

I'll second that. I actually had a few albums and quite liked REM but until I picked up The Best of the IRS Years in a bargain bin less than two years ago, I thought of them as more of a folk-rock band in the style of "Out of Time" and "Automatic for the People". If anybody else is living in the same bubble as I was, thinking of REM as a band who didn't pack a power-pop punch, the "Olympia" album is an eye-opener. Some fairly amusing between-song banter by Stipe as well, particularly where he touches on the lack of accuracy of lyrics found on internet. Admittedly, I'm very much out of touch as regards new music. The last album I bought was "Choke" by The Beautiful South almost a year ago because I couldn't handle the periodic encounters with the empty cassette box anymore.

[pk500]

(disclaimer:I'm a huge huge Wilco geek) I like the album a lot. I really loved Sky Blue Sky, and I'm not sure this surpasses that album. I do like the "spirit" of this record (which is much closer to a YHF-vibe). I thought the Pitchfork review was a bit "off", but I think they made one great point: The opener is so strong and eye-opening (Art of Almost), the rest of the album never really keeps up with it. It doesn't equate a bad album by any means, but it def has me saying "I want more of that!" every time I hear it.

I can't disagree more with the Pitchfork reviewer's claim that this is the most inconsistent Wilco album in a while. I'll counter that it's the MOST consistent record since "A Ghost Is Born" because there's not a bad track on the record.

Musical exploration with an apparent purpose within one LP is a hallmark of a great, well-developed Wilco album. So when I think of consistency within one of the band's records, it's not in terms of sound or genre. Wilco has danced around sonically on almost every record except for "A.M." and "Being There," before Tweedy finally brushed away the dust of Jay Farrar.

Instead the consistency is determined by the quality of the songs as a whole. And there are no throw-away tunes on "The Whole Love," which wasn't the case with "Sky Blue Sky" or "Wilco (The Album)."

[greggsand]

I agree with a lot of that PK. I do think Tweedy could write songs like Black Moon, Rising Red Lung & Open Mind in his sleep. I just find those "kind of songs" to be too sleepy these days for my taste. That was my biggest complaint with "wilco - the album", there was waaaay too many of those ditties on that record. Sky Blue was interesting to me because it took those "sleepy" songs and wrapped them in this INSANE Nels Cline guitar work.

Like I said, I like the album a lot. Born Alone, Almost, and Dawned on Me are simply awesome.

[pk500]

I agree with a lot of that PK. I do think Tweedy could write songs like Black Moon, Rising Red Lung & Open Mind in his sleep. I just find those "kind of songs" to be too sleepy these days for my taste. That was my biggest complaint with "wilco - the album", there was waaaay too many of those ditties on that record. Sky Blue was interesting to me because it took those "sleepy" songs and wrapped them in this INSANE Nels Cline guitar work.

Like I said, I like the album a lot. Born Alone, Almost, and Dawned on Me are simply awesome.

Yeah, (The Album) was almost like a Grateful Dead album without the jams. That doesn't bother me one bit, but I just think Tweedy and Wilco are capable of much more.

And they delivered it with this record. You dig "Black Moon," "Rising Red Lung" and "Open Mind." Rob V. posted on my Facebook page that he could listen to "Capitol City" on endless loop. I'm in hot lust already with "Dawned on Me" and "Black Moon."

Says a lot about the quality of a record as a complete album when people's favorite tunes resemble a game of drunken darts.