auctioneer69

I was just joshing. "Anorak" - is a British term for an obsessive fan taken I think from people who are literally train-spotters. Jealous of your experience in '95 when I didn't see any shows. Too bad they aren't touring this year.

This is like an R.E.M. anoraks convention. Yes, I do know the history of the making of "NAIHF". The live versions are different from the record versions beyond the removal of the crowd noise. Take "Undertow" - less feedback. Like "Binky The Doormat" - the keyboards/organ on the live version have been mixed way down in the album version. Tut, tut - to think you were going to teach me something about REM I didn't know

Wow that is crazy. Going back some years, well before the birth of the internet, I used to have 20-30 bootleg tapes from '81 to '89 but that pales in comparison to your effort. Talking of bonus material. I love the live tracks that accompany some of the singles off "NAIHF". The live versions of "Undertow", "Binky The Doormat" and "The Wake-Up Bomb" blow the studio versions away. They also include my favourite REM Cover of "Wichita Lineman". Listened to that last night and never tire of it.

Spot on analysis. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Yes, I am with you. Played "Fables" and "Life's Rich Pageant" back to back this morning. So many great memories tied to listening to both of these obsessively as a teenager. Almost half-a-century later I am still picking out some of Michael Stipe's lyrics that had thus far been a mystery to me. Dunno - have a feeling about them going out on a high with this record. Looking back to Bill Berry leaving I am surprised that the three remaining members haven't been tempted to ask him back to the studio. Not so much for his drumming chops (as good as they are) but for his judgement and songwriti

"U-Berlin" is one of those songs for me which is initially underwhelming which after several plays refuses to leave my head. A true R.E.M. classic in my humble opinion. The live version of "Oh My Heart" is really good too. It would seem they have written a lot of songs that previously they might not have recorded for sounding too much like themselves in their heyday. I don't know how I feel about 5 full songs being aired and another four clips being available prior to the album's release. There's a line between to little and too much that has been crossed to me. I am genuinely surprised

Nice piece of nostalgia. Kids spend all their time indoors today on facebook, chat-rooms and webcams or being driven round to endless soccer or basketball games.

I will have to respectively disagree - the undercard is great. That's a nice diverse line-up especially if you like more than indie-rock. Dance and electronic music in general which has always had a bigger place in this festival. There's some great new soul this year with Cee-Loo, Lauryn Hill and Raphael Saadiq. As an ex-pat Brit I am really looking forward to seeing Suede (first US tour since their re-union) and Elbow who would both be near the top of the bill in the UK on a far smaller stage and with a far smaller crowd. PJ Harvey and the reformed Big Audio Dynamite should be great too. Ha

Thanks for sharing. Can't wait

Agreed. A bit too slickly-produced and genteel in tone. Would have loved to heard more of the horns too.

Thanks. Nice interview. Shame his solo stuff hasn't been released here.

What brilliant photo's! Love the pic of Steve Diggle (think I got his name right) of the Buzzcocks best. There is a genuine "caught in the act" sense about it. Would have loved to have seen this show. Their first two albums are ace. (On a side-note, check out the current Seattle band, the Cute Lepers who are really good and owe a big debt to them and other more melodic punk/new wave bands.) My first favourite show was LCD Soundsystem at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland in May. Amazing show - felt more like a magic night at a great club than anything else. Best arena show - The Gorilla

Sorry I can't resist. Two very different bands. I will have to respectively disagree with you on "Atomic Bomb". To me it rivals "Around The Sun" in blandness. I do tend to diss them severely. Maybe the problem is that they have released about a grand total of 40 - 50 songs (three albums plus bonus tracks) between 1999 - 2010. When you get so lazy about releasing new music there's going to be a lot of people like me who look at the quality of that very critically given its paucity, the very high quality of what came before and the increasingly ridiculous hype around it much of which is ge

Yes, I think "Pop" is underrated too. That said, U2 were obviously chastened by the response to the album and tour and made conscious decision along the lines of "screw art, let's make as much money as humanly possibly while only releasing an album every 4 years". "No Line on The Horizon" was a decent stab at injecting some more interesting stuff in their catalog but their career is at a similar point to the Rolling Stones in the late eighties. Albums are only released as an excuse to do a massive and massively lucrative tour. It's always embarrassing to read the interview prior to their r

Good points. I think you are exactly right. Had they done something more commercial than "New Adventures in Hi-Fi" after Monster they might have recovered a lot of their casual fans. I agree that "Monster" isn't very good. They seemed desperate to put out a rocky album but after not touring since 1989 the efforts seemed forced or weak with a couple of exceptions. I think R.E.M. had always had good counsel in Bertis Down and Jefferson Holt (until '96). Their contracts always seem to have given them complete freedom. I know more casual fans would have enjoyed more records that sounded like

He'd have to go for some more obscure stuff. The Wilco cover of "Thirteen" and Tweedy's solo cover of "Simple Twist of Fate" add absolutely zero to the originals. Covers for the most part are fun live but pointless on record.

I agree with most of what you say. Ironically, from what I have heard in the previews "Collapse Into Now" sounds like it could be a Bill Berry era R.E.M. album. Apart from the turkey that was "Around The Sun I have admired and lobed or liked everything they have done. After "Out of Time", "AFTP" and "Monster" continued world domination was theirs for the taking. To some extent they are to be admired for following their own instincts as opposed to trying to repeat past successes. I am sure the people at Warner Brothers don't feel that way after the massive contract they signed in the early/m

Official preview on youtube featuring snippets of seven songs: Also, full version of "It Happened Today" http://ozonlaag.tumblr.com/post/2388392119/it-happened-today-r-e-m-collapse-into-now Liking these a lot: definitely lots of classic, trademark R.E.M. elements.

http://remhq.com/news_story.php?id=1250 Listened to it back-to-back several times now and like it a lot. Plenty of urgency and energy on this. It couldn't be anyone but REM but there's enough new stuff lurking in the background to make it interesting. Not to be too much of a muso but Bill Rieflin's drums kick like a mule and aren't a million miles away from something Bill Berry would play. Definitely hints of "Finest Worksong" and it wouldn't sound out of place on "Green", "Document", "NAIHF" or "Accelerate". Sounds like a great opening track. A very live feel and it's easy to imagine the b

Thanks for sharing. Fantastic - just what a great cover should be- different and good enough to make you appreciate a song in another way.

Just finished watching the third episode. After a good first episode the last 2 have been very weak in my humble opinion. Acting, plot-lines and dialogue not close to AMC standard for me. That said I will stick with it for a couple more episodes.

Good call. I have been listening to the song for months thinking it reminded me of something and you are spot on especially the verse.

Yes, you wonder why this hasn't been released already. Again, shame about Bono's voice. Simon Cowell wouldn't be impressed