r.e.m.
Listen to R.E.M.’s Original Hib-Tone Mix of ‘Sitting Still’
While we wait for the upcoming first-ever reissue of R.E.M.‘s rare 1981 release “Radio Free Europe (Original Hib-Tone Single),” the b-side, the original Hib-Tone mix of “Sitting Still,” is available digitally today for the very first time. Listen to “Sitting Still” below. [embedded content] This track will be available on the upcoming “Radio Free Europe” seven-inch record, presented in its original format: a 45-RPM single, housed in a jacket featuring photography by Michael Stipe. “Radio Free Europe” has been unavailable for 40 years in any format, so fans are thrilled to get their hands on the band’s earliest recordings. As an homage to the band’s hometown, the single was pressed in Athens, Georgia at Kindercore Vinyl. You can pre-order the “Radio Free Europe” seven-in...
R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe and Mike Mills Look Back at Out of Time at 30
An anniversary can be celebrated with champagne or a vacation but Michael Stipe and Mike Mills from R.E.M. decided to honor the 30th anniversary of Out of Time by looking back. The duo joined Matt Wilkinson on Apple Music Hits to reminisce about the writing, legacy and everything in between. Mills and Stipe spoke about the mega-hit “Losing My Religion,” with Stipe raving about “The energy coming off of an audience, a large audience in an outdoor arena, with the first notes, those first da, da, da, da, da and the place would just explode with energy. We got all that being on stage, being elevated, being the center of attention,” the singer recalls. “It all came right towards us. It was the biggest shot in the arm. The biggest jolt of adrenaline. The most powerf...
The 50 Best Alt-Rock Love Songs
Not all love songs are romantic. Not all love songs are even happy. It all depends on your definition of the term. For every “My Girl” or “Your Song,” there’s at least one track with a nuanced take on the darker, more complicated sides of love — the drama of a long-term relationship, the fear of losing a partner, the void left in love’s wake. Many of those songs fall under the admittedly broad umbrella of “alt-rock.” So to mark Valentine’s Day, we decided to gather 50 of our favorite “love songs” in the genre — both conventional and otherwise. Throughout this list, you’ll find lines about blooming romance and marital bliss. You’ll also find nods to drug addiction and car crashes. There’s something for everyone. – Ryan Reed 50. that dog. – “I’m Gonna See You” You take the good, you tak...
The 35 Best Albums of the Last 35 Years
Let’s face it: With most “Best Albums” lists, you know the broad strokes of the ranking before you even click. Part of that predictability is understandable: Most iconic records earn their reputation. But these rankings shouldn’t be fossilized, and a shit-ton of amazing LPs have been shoved aside in the pursuit of maintaining the status quo. We didn’t ignore the unimpeachable on our list — you’ll see plenty of the staples you’ve come to expect. But we also hope we’ll spark your curiosity and encourage you to hunt for a title you may have missed over the last 35 years. 35. Bruce Springsteen – Tunnel of Love (1987) CREDIT: Columbia Records How does one follow up a rock album that recalibrates stadium sound systems and offers a stark look at hard times in America? With love songs, of course. ...
Death Cab for Cutie Announce EP With Covers of TLC, R.E.M. to Support Georgia Runoff Elections
Ever wanted to hear Ben Gibbard sing “Waterfalls” by TLC for a good cause? If so, you have some weird desires, but you’re also in luck. Death Cab for Cutie has just announced The Georgia E.P., a five-song release through Bandcamp that will support Stacey Abrams’ Fair Fight organization in the upcoming Georgia runoff elections. It includes covers of prominent Georgia artists like TLC, Neutral Milk Hotel, R.E.M., Vic Chesnutt, and Cat Power. “We created this exclusive e.p. of songs by some of our favorite Georgia artists for our friend Stacey Abrams and all the hard-working people at Fair Fight,” Gibbard said in a statement. “We strongly believe in the work Fair Fight has done to assure free and fair elections in Georgia and beyond and have been honored to assist them throughout the 202...
The Most Influential Artists: #8 R.E.M.
As part of our 35th anniversary, we’re naming the most influential artists of the past 35 years. Today, we’re at #8. From Athens, Georgia, here is R.E.M. CREDIT: Paul Natkin/Getty Images It started not with an earthquake, but a conversation. Michael Stipe and Peter Buck first met in 1980, at a record shop just off campus at the University of Georgia. They bonded over mutual favorite art- and punk-rock bands, and they soon started writing music together. A few months later, joined by fellow student-musicians Mike Mills and Bill Berry, they played their first show at a friend’s birthday party. Most anonymous college groups never get much further — let alone shoulder a movement that would reroute rock history. Throughout the ‘80s, R.E.M. were unwitting architects of alternative rock’s f...
The 35 Best Videos of the Last 35 Years
SPIN launched in the peak MTV era, when an innovative — or even just salacious — music video could make or break an artist. Thirty five years later, YouTube is an obligatory part of any promotional push, but no one’s counting on a mind-blowing clip to sell a record. (The views do often matter — just not always the creativity.) A sizable chunk of the best videos came out during the ‘90s alternative bloom, when directors like Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry and Hype Williams experimented with the style and substance of this malleable medium. But the format hasn’t died with MTV: artists like Childish Gambino, Kendrick Lamar and Miley Cyrus all made this list for a reason — and it wasn’t to meet a decade quota. Here are the top 35 from the last 35. Ready or not, here we go again. – Ryan Reed 3...
Netflix’s Song Exploder Will Feature R.E.M., Alicia Keys and More
Since 2014, Hrishikesh Hirway has been sitting down with musicians to talk about how they imagined and created their biggest hits on the Song Exploder podcast. Now, Hirway and Oscar-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville have turned the podcast into a docuseries that will premiere on Netflix next month. In the trailer released today (Sept. 17), Alicia Keys will break down “3 Hour Drive;” Lin-Manuel Miranda will talk about the birth of “Wait for It,” from the award-winning Broadway hit Hamilton; Ty Dolla $ign will discuss the inspiration behind “LA” and Michael Stipe will talk about the R.E.M. hit “Losing My Religion.” “‘Losing My Religion’ was kind of a mistake,” Stipe said in the trailer. “The fact that it became what it became is still puzzling to all of us.” The R.E.M. singer a...
Michael Stipe Pens New Song for NYC Art Exhibit
Lyrics to a new song by R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe are part of an art installation that opens at New York City gallery Participation Inc. on Sept. 9. The song, “My Name is Ray,” is about the life and fraught love of married designers Charles and wife Ray Eames. The lyrics are part of a sculptural installation by artist and curator Jonathan Berger, a longtime collaborator of Stipe’s. In an interview with NY1, Stipe said told the station that “the thing that Jonathan offers is a reservoir of thought, but there is also a lightness and beauty to it. It really has to be experienced firsthand to understand how wondrous it is.” It’s not clear where and when “My Name is Ray” will be available in its complete musical form. The entire exhibit is called “An Introduction to Nameless Love...
R.E.M., Hayley Williams, Phoebe Bridgers and More Share Covers for Charity
R.E.M., Hayley Williams, Jamila Woods, Phoebe Bridgers, Angel Olsen and more contributed previously unreleased covers of artists including the Cure and Joni Mitchell to the Good Music To Avert The Collapse Of American Democracy compilation, out this Friday (Sept. 4) and only on Friday. All net proceeds from the set of unheard songs will benefit Fair Fights, a voting rights organization. Pre-order the compilation here. Included in the 40-song set is an unearthed Beverly Glenn-Copeland song from 1977, Williams covering UK kraut-hypnotists Broadcast, a collaboration in progress between Ben Gibbard and Tycho and additional songs from My Morning Jacket, Flume with Eprom, Death Cab for Cutie, Courtney Barnett, Best Coast among many more. Author Dave Eggers executive produced the set, saying...
The 25 Best Soundtrack Albums of the 1990s
In the 1980s, music and film collided for cross-promotional blockbusters both transcendent (Purple Rain) and transcendently cheesy (Footloose). In the ‘90s, soundtracks continued to sell in the millions, capturing cultural moments like the Seattle grunge of Singles or the Britpop and electronica of Trainspotting. Auteurs like Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson reached deep into their record collections to set the mood while movies like Above the Rim and Menace II Society pioneered the concept of soundtracks as hip-hop mixtapes. A great soundtrack can propel an unsuccessful single, like Seal’s “Kiss From A Rose,” to the top of the charts, or revive a decades-old hit, like Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” It can also push a cult singer-songwriter like Elliott Smith or Aimee Mann to an Oscar perf...
