Auctioneer's R.E.M. Blog

Beach Boys cover

2011-05-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

I'm mid-way through my exams now (thus the reason I haven't posted in over a week), but that hasn't stopped me from having a little fun! As a quickie, I'd like to give you this:

All the instruments were played by me. I used a drum loop, and recorded some custom parts for it with my keyboard, and recorded all the vocal tracks, which took forever and a day. Hope you like it! :)

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

A rarity from the back catalogue

2011-05-08T11:19:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I'm mid-way through my exams, so only another short post here, but I have something very rare and very special to share with you all. As you no doubt know, I love collecting rarities and bootlegs, and I am attempting to collect most of the studio B-sides from R.E.M.'s huge collection of singles. However, no matter where I looked on the Internet I just could not find The Lion Sleeps Tonight, a cover of the Tokens' hit that the band placed on The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite in 1993.

But then, after I realised that I would not be able to find it on the Internet (I had tried YouTube, Spotify and tons of bootleg sites), I headed over to Amazon and saw the single for a mere £0.02 (plus £1.26 P+P)! Excited, I went ahead and bought it so I could then share it with all you lovely people out there.

So, without further ado... the first time this has ever appeared on the Internet... The Lion Sleeps Tonight!

Get back to me and let me know if this works... it says this video is blocked worldwide. :S

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

Two new films released - CIN film project

2011-05-02T01:13:00.000-07:00

Well, happy birthday to me, it seems! I've turned 16 today, and to celebrate I have a little surprise for you all - two new offerings from the Collapse Into Now film project. First up, we have Every Day is Yours to Win, which actually came out a while ago (but I was being sneaky and left it out my last post!). Accompanying this is an introduction from Michael and one of the directors, Jim McKay.

An interesting video, no doubt, with some quirky choices of actors. In the intro video, Michael and Jim state how they were inspired by Chris Rock (Google her), and her antics on the Internet. Things then took a very weird turn when Chris, a fan herself, actually wrote a comment on the video! Small world, eh?

I can't embed Discoverer onto this page, so you'll have to head to Nowness.com to see it (WARNING: Very flashy). The interview below the seizure-inducing film is also rather insightful, with Michael explaining that the song's inspiration came from New York. We also find out the name of Lynda Stipe's pitbull. ;)

I would write more today, but I can't be bothered... it is my birthday, after all! Later today I will be heading to a recording studio to play a few songs: one which I have written, and a cover of that Mikey Mills classic Near Wild Heaven. Until then!

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

P.S. Funny, this - Lynda's experimental band is called Flash to Bang Time. Upon checking out the band Myspace page, I discovered that their record label is "Happy Birthday to Me"! Synchronicity or what?

To clear things up...

2011-04-29T02:59:00.000-07:00

...about my last post, which may have confused you somewhat. I was unable to write a full explanation as to why I felt the need to host a seemingly-irrelevant image on the blog. Now, however, with more time on my hands I'll be happy to fill you all in, and update you with the latest news in the R.E.M.fan world.

Just yesterday I stumbled upon the site http://www.remweb.net/, a website containing a 'ring' of R.E.M.-related forums, fansites etc., with the opportunity to join yourself. Naturally, I jumped at the chance and added the HTML code to the bottom of this blog, sending my application form as soon as possible. However, to get the image to display I had to alter the HTML and use an image that I hosted... and the only way to do that was to host it by uploading it to a post on this blog. So, mystery solved!

I don't know whether I will be on the WebRing soon or not, as the site seems to have been devoid of updates for years. Indeed, the most recent posts I could find on their forum are over a year old, so it remains to be seen if my website will join those listed in the page index. If a month passes without any notification, I'll delete the HTML.

Meanwhile, I'm happy to announce that some cool things are happening at RemFan.it. Remmo and Kugat have been doing a great job with the site, and I've been doing my best to help out whenever I can, posting news and the like. Recently I posted a list of songs that might be relevant to the "Music" section of their site... anyway, to cut a long story short, one thing led to another and now I'm collaborating with them to make improvements to that section of their website. I'm very excited about this - more to come, hopefully!

After a long spell of silence, Michael seems to be back on the laptop and writing articles for R.E.M. HQ and TIME magazine. His most recent post, a plug for his friend Christy Turlington's Mother's Day charity record, is written in his usually cheery mood, and characteristically without much grammar. You can read it here. Michael's TIME article, conversely, seems more polished (likely the result of some doctoring on TIME's behalf), and here he pays a homage to his idol and friend Patti Smith, who has been selected for "2011 TIME 100", a list of this year's most influential people, among, er, other things. Last year, Patti released a new book entitled Just Kids, which I believe is a memoir of sorts, although I haven't read it.

Mike and Peter have been rather quiet recently, but that's understandable considering the huge number of tours and concerts they have been participating in. The Baseball Project's new tour will be making a stop in Toronto (the rumour that Mike is replacing Peter on the tour may or may not be true, but Mike is definitely performing with the group), and our good friend Linda will be there to see the band rock out once more! Linda generously offered to take me with her to see them, but sadly I'm 1) not old enough to get in to the club they're playing in and 2) unable to afford the £1000 return flight to Canada. Some day, some day...

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

Joined R.E.M. WebRing

2011-04-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

Hello folks! I am writing this to inform you that I have recently joined the R.E.M. WebRing. More updates will follow, but for the time being I'm trying to get the HTML to work, and in order to do that I must host a graphic in this post.

New covers and collab info

2011-04-23T06:45:00.000-07:00

Action shot! I think I'm playing Cuyahoga in this picture...

While I may not have much time for writing during this exam period, I have been able to make a few videos for my YouTube account. Due to the time-consuming nature of making tutorial videos, I've stuck to mostly covers, but I did have time to make my first ever bass 'how-to-play' in the form of Radio Free Europe. Here are the links to the new songs, listed below:

The cover of Wolves, Lower was particularly difficult to perform - the guitar part alone is complicated enough, but singing at the same time is nigh on impossible! In other news, we have been treated to some juicy information about the work currently being done by Peter Buck and Mike Mills. Mike has been busy as ever, appearing in a "Strings Extravaganza" at Mercer University, acting as MC for the night and also performing on piano. I've yet to find any good footage of the concert (the best I've had is a half-second shot of Mike playing midway through an advert for the show), but I shall keep looking.

Details have also emerged of a collaboration that took place last year between Saint John and the Revelations and Peter, Scott McCaughey and Bill Rieflin, which you can read about on his website here. Like before, we are sketchy on details and unaware of what was recorded and played, but hopefully some audio from the sessions in Seattle will make their way to us hardcore fans eventually!

Finally, we return to Mike, and the recent news that he will be joining Peter, Scott and The Baseball Project for their "Regular Season" tour. That's right, folks - the Project are hitting the road once again, barely a month after their last outing, the "Cactus League" tour. Although I can't say for sure, my guess is that Mike will be on keyboards, but whether he will be playing every show or just some is unclear.

It seems everybody's been pretty busy lately, but what about Michael? Since his BBC 6 Music interview, no mention of him has appeared anywhere. He's probably trying to get rid of all that jetlag. :)

Yours truly,

Auctioneer

Live @ The Shore + Exams part deux (Now updated with links 23/4/11)

2011-04-18T12:55:00.000-07:00

As much as I've been trying to put it off, exam time is rearing its ugly head once more, this time for real. Starting May 4th, the following month will be filled with stress and underprepared students as the population of Great Britain attempts to pass the tests set before it.

So, with that cheery note aside, onto some important information! Three days ago (15th April) I performed a gig at a Dundee club with my friend Robbie, who joined me midway through the set. Because this was an acoustic show, and pretty much solo, I had the freedom at play whatever I wanted for however long I wanted to. And what better for a hardcore R.E.M. fan to play than... some R.E.M.? :) Here's the setlist in full:

1. I Am a Rock (Simon and Garfunkel cover)

2. ÜBerlin (R.E.M.)

3. Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I

4. We Were Young (original song, the first time ever played!)

Robbie came on for the next four:

5. Beautiful Day (U2)

6. (Don't Go Back to) Rockville (Dedicated to Mike Mills Tribute and REMFan.It)

7. Use Somebody (Kings of Leon)

8. The One I Love (in swing rhythm, like the bonus track on the IRS Document re-issue!)

I'll be posting links as I upload them to my YouTube account, so check back. Now, I think I best get some revision done. The exams are only a few days away, after all!

Yours truly,

Auctioneer

New project for the Auctioneer!

2011-04-12T03:04:00.000-07:00

There comes the time in each person's life where anonymity cannot be sustained. The fact is, I am just too overcome by the desire to look stupid on camera than I am... well, not to be. That's why I've started up my own covers/teaching project on YouTube, which you can find here. On this page, I will be recording cover versions and how-to-play videos of R.E.M. songs, in no particular order - this is really more of an arbitrary thing!

My first video was in December of last year, when I recorded a 'how-to-play' of Discoverer. While I initially intended to leave it at that, the video gained popularity, and so I decided to make a few more. Also of note is the fact that my Discoverer video was the first non-R.E.M. video of that song on YouTube. That was why I made it. :P

Above are the videos I've made so far: 'how-to-plays' to Wolves, Lower and Discoverer, and covers of Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I and Moral Kiosk. I hope you enjoy them, and requests are always welcome. Over and out!

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

Off on holiday (Happy Birthday R.E.M.!)

2011-04-08T07:04:00.000-07:00

I'm outta here!

Hello all, just a quick post this time. Just to let everyone know that Auctioneer (that is to say, me) will be off on holiday to sunny England from today until Monday. So, although plenty will happen in the R.E.M. world while I'm gone, I'm sure dedicated fans such as myself will have no trouble catching up!

I'd also like to say happy birthday to the band - on April 5th it was their 31st anniversary of making great music together, and we have much to be thankful for. Let's hope we can enjoy many more years of epic rocking from Michael, Peter and Mike!

Now, where's my sun tan lotion? ;)

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

Ooh, looky! Predictive search!

2011-04-03T02:52:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to zoom.

A small victory, perhaps, but a very rewarding one. As I was checking the traffic coming to this blog via that handy stat counter, I decided to see if my search results would appear on Google's predictive search (getting "Auctioneer's R.E.M. Blog" onto the predictive search is something I've been trying to do for months). What do you know - it was there! Auctioneer's R.E.M. Blog is now on the map, as far as I'm concerned, and I'd like to thank all my visitors to this site for its appearance on the Google search engine. Eagle-eyed fans may also spot Ivana's website slightly further down the results page. ;)

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

P.S. Interestingly enough, if one was to search for Michael Stipe website by typing in "confessions of a Michael Stipe", my website is the 6th one down linking to this post. Hey, maybe Michael types his own website's name into Google... maybe he's seen this blog? I'd like to think so!

New side project?

2011-04-02T03:12:00.000-07:00

Err... nope. :)

Unfortunately, it was all a big April Fools' joke played by the team at R.E.M. HQ, who decided to post an article announcing the formation of a new group led by Mike and Michael, called "The Hockey Boys". For the record, I wasn't tricked for a second, as I was already feeling suspicious after another incident earlier that day, the details of which will remain unpublished. :)

The article, which you can find here, states that the new band are currently auditioning drummers and will possibly name their first album Me, Mike Mills, Gordie Howe and Us (no bonus points as to which R.E.M. song they are referring to here!). On the whole, it's a very well-written and funny piece, but part of me does wish it was true.

This isn't the first time the band's office in Athens has played a trick on us - take for example the article last year which read "R.E.M. changes name - now to be known as REM". I would post a link here but, rather irritatingly, the R.E.M. HQ just went down. You'll just have to trust me on this one!

Now, as I said a few posts ago, I intended to revisit Collapse Into Now and see if my song order (best to worst) had changed since last week. For those of you who are too lazy to scroll down, here was my original order:

1. It Happened Today
2. Uberlin
3. Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I
4. Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter
5. Discoverer
6. Walk it Back
7. Mine Smell Like Honey
8. Blue
9. That Someone is You
10. All the Best
11. Oh My Heart
12. Every Day is Yours to Win

And so, here is my new order:

1. It Happened Today (still a winner!)
2. Uberlin
3. Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I
4. That Someone is You
5. Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter
6. Mine Smell Like Honey
7. Discoverer
8. Every Day is Yours to Win
9. Walk It Back
10. All the Best
11. Blue
12. Oh My Heart

There doesn't appear to be much difference, but I had a huge problem in making this one. Most of the songs (particularly 7 onwards) are fairly equal in terms of quality, so it was a tough decision. I surprised how much Every Day is Yours to Win has grown on me, but I knew Oh My Heart would be at the bottom of the list before I started. My favourites have not budged, and my top three is still the same.

Perhaps at the end of the month I'll revisit the list one more time, but I'm fairly certain it'll change again and again, and a definitive order will be impossible to create. That can only be a good thing!

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

Big Stars playing Big Star

2011-03-29T10:09:00.000-07:00

A great shot of the crowded stage.

It's been a long time since my last post, and I'd like to apologise for that. As always, the stresses and strains of everyday life keep me way too busy for my own good, and my blood pressure's probably extremely high right now. But it's a comfort to know that across the ocean, a whole lotta rockin' is going down.

We've all been aware for a while now of Mike's intended participation in the tribute to Third/Sister Lovers (an album by the short-lived group Big Star), and soon after Michael jumped on the musical bandwagon and announced that he too would sing in the concert. I am now happy to report that things went swimmingly, and you can view their contributions in the videos below! In addition, Mike was part of the house band, playing bass for what I believe to be the entire gig.

Reviews have been pouring in of the gig, and so far there has not been a single negative review between them. To quote a review published by The Examiner: "What a night!"

Meanwhile, the Baseball Project are still touring, with performances planned in Los Angeles (The Echo, 31st March) and San Francisco (Slims, 2nd April), to name but a few. Before that, however, the group have been doing the rounds in Arizona, performing in places such as Scottsdale and Tucson. This was particularly exciting news for me, as I visited most of these places during my holiday to America last year, and can identify with some of the locations in these towns.

Alas, I speculate that Peter may be slightly disillusioned with the seemingly unending task of touring, as he has now taken on a 'biker' look, complete with a leather jacket and facial hair. Err... rock on?

I jest - he looks fine! Although after some of the slack Michael got recently, I'd consider losing the beard. ;)

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

Slow news day

2011-03-18T10:55:00.000-07:00

A photo from Linda's Athens trip. Bill and Mike appeared later on in the set.

In what appears to have been a fairly normal week in the R.E.M. world, I am relieved that not too much has happened in my absence. The past week has been totally nuts, with more rehearsals, competitions and exams than I could have possibly comprehended - and there's still more to come on Sunday! Hell, I'll probably live... but three hours of singing Handel's Messiah seems like a tall order for a rookie such as myself.

Anyway, you didn't come here to listen to me rabbit on about how my life was! On to R.E.M.-related news.

First of all, Linda's diary of her visit to Georgia is now on Mike Mills Tribute, along with some fancy pictures (like the one above) documenting her stay. I recommend you take a look, and go green with envy when she gets to the part about meeting Mike Mills. Click here to see it.

The Baseball Project's Cactus tour is still going strong, as expected. They've currently landed in Austin, TX for the SXSW (South By South West) festival which is held there every year, and Michael Stipe is also in town on separate business holding a Collapse Into Now film premiere party, much like the one Ivana attended not long ago. Could there be a possible guest appearance in the works? We certainly shouldn't rule it out.

On the subject of films, it appears that a certain Mr Franco has so far been unsuccessful in delivering his two videos for the album, namely That Someone Is You and Blue. Also not yet finished is Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I, directed by Albert Maysles and Bradley Kaplan. However, I still hold out hope for Franco's pieces - sometimes good things just take time!

The video for All the Best has also been recently released. You can view it below, along with an interview with Michael about the film, which starts at 6:49. WARNING: Nudity and, err... blood(?) present in the music video. Watch at your own discretion.

There is one last thing I'd like to add, then I'll be on my way. A short while ago I made a post on the great site REMFan.it about the rankings for the album Collapse Into Now. Here was my order of songs, from favourite to least favourite:

1. It Happened Today (the vocal jam and rich instrumentation makes this one a winner in my book!)
2. Uberlin (spacey synthesisers and soaring Mills vocals... totally)
3. Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I (this is bizarre. I keep wondering why I like this song... but I can't explain it. I just do)
4. Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter (Peaches does wonders for this track)
5. Discoverer (a rocking opener to R.E.M.'s best ever album)
6. Walk it Back (had this song stuck in my head for an ENTIRE day)
7. Mine Smell Like Honey (initially disappointed, but I now like it for what it is)
8. Blue (really cool, but you can't sing along to it per se)
9. That Someone is You (a bit short, but catchy nevertheless)
10. All the Best (the chorus drum groove is just awesome! The rest is interesting too)
11. Oh My Heart (was never a huge fan of "Houston" and slow R.E.M. ballads, but this one is quite nice)
12. Every Day is Yours to Win (just not as good as the others)

It's always been my theory that opinions and rankings will vary wildly from one day to the next, with the final order after a week being totally different from the initial one. So, I propose an experiment. I go on with my life, listening to the record, and I'll post my new ranking in 7 days. Then we'll see how it varies. Until then!

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

What a month! What a year!

2011-03-13T04:21:00.000-07:00

A summary of what's been going on this month, organised into a montage by me.

We're only thirteen days in, and already so much has happened this March. It seems that everybody in the R.E.M. fan community has been given something special by the band, myself and my friends no exception. However, that's just the tip of the iceberg, and we're all still looking forward to even more from the group. Here's the lowdown on what they've done for us over the past few months:

JANUARY:
Lyric videos of Oh My Heart and Discoverer released (the latter song being free to download in December), along with singles Mine Smell Like Honey and ÜBerlin. A 'live in studio' video for Oh My Heart was also released at the end of the month, filmed last June at Hansa Studios in Berlin.

FEBRUARY:
Collapse Into Now becomes available to pre-order. Oh My Heart becomes free to download at Amazon for a limited period of time, and the film for Mine Smell Like Honey is released online. Interviews are abound, and fans start getting agitated about the wait. Jacknife Lee gives us a chance to 'R.E.M.IX' It Happened Today by releasing the multitracks for us to download. Early streams of Collapse Into Now are hosted, and more 'live in studio' videos become available. Ivana's piano cover of Discoverer makes the R.E.M. news round-up.

MARCH:
More films arrive, each for a different song on the album. on March 7th, Collapse Into Now is released in the UK! Michael appears at the Tibet House Benefit concert, performing Every Day is Yours to Win. Reviews come flooding in, every one at least three stars of more. The iTunes LP version of the album comes out, with loads of goodies. And of course, more 'live in studio' videos - a bootlegger's dream.

And here's where it starts getting interesting for our team of fans here on the Internet:

Auctioneer joins a live chat on Dazed Digital and talks to Michael Stipe! (Link)
Kirsten and Dol have their translations linked by The Guardian on an R.E.M. article! (Link)
Ivana goes to London, watches films from CIN and actually speaks to Stipe in the flesh! (Link)
Linda heads off to the 40 Watt Club, Athens to see Mike, Peter, Bill Berry and Scott McCaughey live in The Baseball Project, and actually meets Mike! (Link)
Remmo and Kugat's new website REMFan.it receives a huge increase in traffic thanks to their hard work!

And if that isn't reason to celebrate, then I don't know what is.

I'm beginning to see Collapse Into Now as 'the people's album', if you catch my meaning. R.E.M. have involved their fans in so many ways over the past couple of months - through the mediums of art, discussion and remixes, they have connected with us in a way that has never happened to this extent before. In 2008 Vincent Moon allowed us to make video remixes of Supernatural Superserious, and an Accelerate tour website was created, but other than that I struggle to recall much else in the way of band/fan interaction. But this time around, the conventional barriers have been broken, and now we're feeling closer than ever to our favourite group.

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

UPDATE: I have just found out, thanks to some photos on Facebook, that Bill Berry was drumming at the 40 Watt 4 hours ago (12th March in the USA, which of course has just happened)! If I get permission to use them here, check beck soon and I'll have them.

Me, Michael Stipe, Michael Stipe and I...

2011-03-10T10:47:00.000-08:00

Michael trying to keep track of all the questions sent to him.

I'd like to start off by saying that today has been a great day, and it's all thanks to DazedDigital. To begin, we were given a new film from Collapse Into Now - which up until earlier today had been a tight-lipped secret. However, I can now reveal it to be Walk It Back:

As much as I'd like to review this video, I'm having trouble loading it. The opinion of the majority seems to be that it is utter crap, but I'll leave you to decide that. Anyway, we still have much to get through!

The next thing that DazedDigital gave us was perhaps the most unique and special one of all. If you weren't aware of it, then I'll fill you in. R.E.M. fans at 1pm GMT were given the opportunity to actually participating in a live chat with Michael Stipe himself! Even if that didn't set your pulse racing, it was for me at least the cause of some extreme excitement. I knew I had to be there this time - I became a fan in 2009, just after the Accelerate tour, the Supernatural Superserious video remixes, the TV performances... I was crushed when I found out what I had missed. This time, I vowed that things would be different.

Sadly, there were a number of obstacles that stood in my way:
1. The chat was during school time, at lunch.
2. Facebook, which was being used for the chat, is blocked in my school.
3. The sheer number of people that were bound to arrive if I didn't get there early would mean I wouldn't be able to get on the chat.

Something had to be done. Thankfully, my mum is a teacher at the school I go to, meaning I could use her login in which Facebook is not blocked. However, I just had to trust my luck with 3 and in the case of 1, I just missed lunch and prayed that the room containing the computer I was using would not be discovered by a teacher. The plan was in place, but concentrating during the morning classes was near to impossible. The clock ticked idly by, prolonging my suffering time and time again. Nerves shook my body. I needed to be there!

Surprisingly, I turned out to be the second person to arrive at the chat, despite it being on eight minutes before Michael was due to arrive. Soon though, the conversation was flooded with people from many countries (I counted at least three from the UK). One of the employees at DazedDigital informed the wildly-expanding crowd that Stipe was on his way to the company's offices in London, and he would be about five minutes.

Alas, at 1:10, ten minutes after the start time, there was still no sign of our favourite frontman. I did my best to help keep the crowd busy, asking questions such as what everyone thought of the album, who was a fanclubber here, what their favourite song from Collapse Into Now was etc. (The answers to the latter question, if you're interested, seemed to be mostly UBerlin.) But even with a healthy conversation going, it was easy to tell we were getting agitated. Where was he? Where was Michael Stipe?

At eighteen minutes past one, we got our wish. A user, "Rem Dazed", appeared on the chat - his profile pic was of the man himself. He was here, at last! Instantly, the whole chatroom went crazy, overwhelmed with excitement and happiness at his arrival, myself included. We thanked him for giving us the chance to talk to him, and told him what we thought of the new album. He thanked us for our comments on Collapse Into Now (which were, of course, extremely favourable) and allowed us to ask our questions.

To be perfectly honest I didn't even expect a reply. There were so many there that the school's crummy Internet connection almost couldn't handle it. Fingers crossed, I posted my comment:

"I have a question about the sound of the album, which is very ambient. Did you know early on how you wanted it to sound, or did it just develop naturally?"*

My comment disappeared under a mound of others. No way was he going to see my question. But it turned out I was wrong:

"to Lewis, we had no idea what is was going to sound like.."

My heart skipped a beat. Not only did Michael personally answer my question, my question was the first one he answered.

And he used my name.

Instantly, I was hit with elation. It was all worthwhile - I chatted to Michael Stipe! He answered my question first! He used my name! (Which you now all know. Sigh - that's what I get for directly quoting.)

To any casual or non-R.E.M. fan, this whole thing probably doesn't sound like a big deal. But to me, the boy who has spent literally months living and breathing the band, it has been the highest point in my fandom so far. Soon, more people joined, my Internet connection slowed even more - something that didn't even seem possible - and Michael was struggling to cope with the sheer amount of traffic on the chatroom. The poor guy was forced to answer questions from five minutes ago. It was hectic.

But a lot of good questions were answered in this chat. Here's a couple of pieces of interesting information that came from the event:

Michael uses an iPhone and a Canon G10 when taking photos.
According to Stipe: "Aligator is one of three songs in what we laughingly refer to as the 'testosterone trilogy'"
He recorded a duet with Courtney Love not long ago (UPDATE: Last week, as it turned out).
Newest music on his iPhone: The Knife, Die Antword, Grizzly Bear, Karen Elson, The National, Peaches, Salem, Tired Pony, Walkmen, INXS, Courtney Love, Brian Eno, Burial, Alva Noto.
Confirmation that Oh My Heart is a sequel to Houston.

He even answered a second question of mine! I asked him what his website, Michaelstipe.com was about. If you've ever been there, I'm sure you'll understand why I raised this question. Again, in his own words:

"Michaelstipe.com is a record of a year of looking at my computer"

Pretty neat stuff, eh? Sadly, my school's Internet packed in about two-thirds of the way through the chat. But I was happy. He spoke to me - as cheesy as it sounds, I think everyone there today was especially pleased of connecting with Michael. I know I was!

Finally, as if that wasn't enough, DazedDigital gave us another video - Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter:

Err... interesting! Its weirdness reflects the strange lyrics, in a way.

So, that's it for now. My adrenaline has fuelled with writing of this post, but I must go as Michael is appearing on The One Show in 15 minutes. Apologies for making you sit through my giddy speech, but I'm riding the excitement 5 hours later. Goodbye!

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

*This may not be the actual wording I used. Thankfully, I have a saved copy of what I typed, so I'll update this page later with what I said.

UPDATE 2: Here's a couple of screenshots I took of the chat, with Stipe answering my questions. Just in case you doubted me!

A new look for "Auctioneer's R.E.M. Blog" + Why you should go deluxe

2011-03-08T09:50:00.000-08:00

Snazzy.

Hi all. As you may have noticed, Auctioneer's R.E.M. Blog has changed slightly from its usual format. The normal title image (of the band playing at Hansa studios) has been removed for the time being and replaced with a brand-spanking shiny new one to celebrate the release of Collapse Into Now. This alteration is only temporary - it'll only be up for the next week or so - but I just felt that this was the time to show the band how much I enjoy their new album! :)

I had a great time last night listening to the record, but I couldn't help feeling a little spoilt by the great bonuses I received by buying the deluxe edition from iTunes. By purchasing the iTunes LP for £10.99, you don't just get the three 'live in studio' bonus tracks offered (although buying it with the deluxe album still constitutes a better deal than going for the normal version and buying those extra tracks separately). In fact, I was incredibly surprised with what I finally found once I had downloaded. Here's the lowdown:

The official 12 Collapse Into Now songs (duh!)
Three 'live in studio' songs: Discoverer, Oh My Heart and Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter
A new, previously unseen live in studio video for That Someone is You
Lyrics to all the songs on the record
Publicity photos of the band
Liner notes written by producer Jacknife Lee
An awesome user interface to package it all up in!

Another interesting point of note is in the credits for the album, which lists one of the technical assistants as DeWitt Burton. Doesn't sound very attention-grabbing, until you realise that R.E.M. played at his wedding in 2005! Lucky guy!

On the whole, the iTunes LP sounds like a pretty amazing deal for a hardcore R.E.M. fan. Of course, for the average viewer, the normal version would almost certainly suffice, and for £7.99 it's not to be sniffed at considering the quality of songwriting present on Collapse Into Now. Fans will love it, those who prefer 'old-school' R.E.M. and can't get over Bill Berry's departure will hate it, and most of the general public will wonder what all the fuss is about. But in my opinion, it's worth every penny. ;)

Finally, I have a little bit of news courtesy of REMfan.it - the latest video to come from the CIN film project will be aired on Dazed Digital, Thursday afternoon. Stay tuned for a link, and possibly even a review!

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

UPDATE: Why does this keep happening - I write a post about an upcoming event, and then suddenly the event happens an hour later! Get over to IFC and watch the film of Oh My Heart!

It's HERE!!! It's finally HERE!!!

2011-03-07T10:10:00.000-08:00

This album is awesome. Buy it, or I'll set Michael Stipe on you.

My life is crazy right now, so this post is all I can do as of yet. All I want to say is that Collapse Into Now has finally graced the shores of the UK! My iTunes pre-order, made months in advance, has finally come through and the deluxe edition of the album is downloading right now.

Look out world, here it comes - R.E.M. is back.

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

"It Happened Today" music video

2011-03-03T10:26:00.000-08:00

Sure, he looks sweet, but he's actually a pyromaniac.

We have some progress! As you may recall, yesterday I went on a bit of a tirade against the music video for Überlin, which was meaningless and not even in time with the song (the latter issue I hammered home enormously, but that was mostly for comedic effect). The point was, it just wasn't relevant.

Now, however, we see an improvement with It Happened Today, along with the news that there will be a video for every track on the new album, each to be directed by different film-makers. In this new offering, the story seems relatively simple. A child wakes up in the morning and is bored with the monotony of his day (shown by the greyscale effect present in the first part of the film), until he has some sort of revelation and goes out into the snow. There, he befriends some sheep and a dog and finds a mysterious box with some roses in it... as you do. Cut to night time, and a hunter is watching the child set fire to one of his roses, which he then uses to light a hay bale before he runs away gleefully. He goes home, and the greyscale returns as he drifts off to sleep.

So, what do we get from the story, apart from that the child is obviously dangerously obsessed with flames? Well, on a serious note, this film fits the music much better than Überlin did. We get a feeling, partly due to the expression of realisation on the boy's face and the immediate transition into colour, that something really is happening here. Rather than make a video to fit the 3:47 track running time, the director (Tom Gilroy) has actually used the multitracks to remix the song, and push the music to just over six minutes. This gives him time to develop the plot, although what the true meaning of this plot is still eludes me.

NME has revealed the names of all the directors participating in this art project. Here they are in full:

Discoverer - Michael and Lynda Stipe
All the Best - James Herbert
Überlin - Sam Taylor Wood
Oh My Heart - Jem Cohen
It Happened Today - Tom Gilroy
Every Day is Yours to Win - Jim McKay, Chris Moukarbel and Valerie Veatch
Mine Smell Like Honey - Dominic DeJoseph
Walk It Back - Sophie Calle
Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter - Lance Bangs
That Someone is You - James Franco
Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I - Albert Maysles and Bradley Kaplan
Blue - James Franco

I, for one, am particularly excited about the choice of director in two cases, for the simple reason that I think James Franco is a fantastic actor. Naturally, that may not mean he's a good director, but Michael must have faith in him if he's directing both That Someone is You and Blue. Incidentally, Michael is pairing up with his sister Lynda for Discoverer.

If you haven't seen Franco in his latest film, 127 Hours, then I implore you to do so. His acting ability is so great, that I nearly cried at the end of the movie. And no, I'm not ashamed in the slightest to say it!

Oh, you want to see It Happened Today as well as read about it? Well, here you go. :)

Before I go, there's one last thing I'd like to mention. I could be wrong on this one, but do I get the feeling that Gilbert is paying homage to Stipe at 1:21. The action the girl uses here is almost identical to that used by Michael himself during most live versions of Man on the Moon:

This could be an interesting point. If you have any thoughts on it, feel free to contact me. Until next time!

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

Über-fail

2011-03-02T10:46:00.000-08:00

...right...

The free Überlin giveaway at iTunes UK can't have been a coincidence, as immediately following that comes a new music video for the song. Many R.E.M. fans around the Internet are unhappy that they don't get to see the whole band - so far we've just had Michael being carried upstairs by a group of men, in black and white. As interesting an experiment as it was, we wanted something a bit more mainstream... and something which Peter and Mike could be involved in too.

Sadly, our prayers have not yet been answered - in fact, the complete opposite has happened. Not even Michael appears in the new music video, as he has instead given complete artistic control to another director, by the name of Sam Taylor-Wood, who in turn has decided to create a video revolving around a man (Aaron Johnson) dancing down a street in London. Not only that, but it's her boyfriend!

He's wearing an R.E.M. T-shirt. That's about where the connections between the video and the music end.

Oh yeah, and it's not even in time with the song.

Granted, some of the moves Johnson pulls off are nothing short of spectacular, involving flipping himself around a lamp post and jumping over a bicycle. Never in a million years could I do that! But the point is, the concept is all wrong. The character portrayed in the song Überlin seems to me like a reserved, tired individual, who is looking for solitude - the last thing I would expect him to do is strut down a street pulling off dance moves and doing squirrel impressions (see above). No... this is just all wrong. And did I say it wasn't even time with the song?

There's a place for obscure art in this world, and there's a place for things that appeal to the general public. Music videos fall under the latter category, an idea which R.E.M. sometimes just don't get - in 1984, the first twenty minutes of Reckoning were put to film. The video was - wait for it - the band members walking round a farm. Well, perhaps I'm being too harsh here, as it was quite a good movie, with interesting camera effects and editing, but the public at large would not want to see Left of Reckoning (for that was its name). No, what they wanted was something like Man on the Moon, with Peter serving drinks at a bar and Millsy shooting pool! Or was that just me?

Überlin was a fantastic, emotive and moody song, a quality lost as soon as you press 'play' on the flash player. The video, for UK users, can be found here.

Now, as my hand is cramping (thanks to a massive post I did last night on Collapse Into Now), coupled with the fact that my doctor has warned me of repetitive strain injury, I think I'll stop there... but not before sharing with you my favourite R.E.M. music video: Near Wild Heaven. Check it out - it's much better than the band's most recent offering.

And have I mentioned it wasn't even in time with the song?

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

First impressions of Collapse Into Now, as it happens!

2011-03-01T11:41:00.000-08:00

Hello again once more to everyone out there on the Internet! This may be quite a short post*, as this is going to be written 'live', in a way. Over on NPR fans of the band are getting a free one-time only stream of Collapse Into Now, and my plan for this blog post is to write my impressions of each song as it comes. However, this is one-time only, which means I won't be able to do any detailed analysis, plus my comments may be of varying length depending on how fast I can type! Here I go:

DISCOVERER: Ahh, the classic. Nothing much else to say here! (UPDATE: Read my review from January if you're interested in a detailed look.)

ALL THE BEST: Woah, sweet. Slightly dissonant, reminds me of Accelerate - the song. Mills has a groovy chorus bassline, and there's a nice high guitar drone from Buck/McCaughey. Stipe sounds like he's rapping!
The bridge is nothing like I've ever heard from R.E.M. before. Oh man, that is an awesome breakdown! Geez, I wish you guys were here to hear this....

UBERLIN: I've already reviewed this song at length, too. Check out my review, if you wish. This song is still as melancholy and moody as ever. Mike is on top form, providing a vocal contrast to Michael. Would have been nice to have the guitars just a little lower in the mix, but hey. The synths are nice, not too overpowering, and they give the track a spacey feel, which in turn is boosted by the lyrics e.g. "star", "meteor".
Best bit: "We walk to the streets to feel the ground I'm chasing, Uberlin." :)

OH MY HEART: I've never been a fan of most R.E.M. ballads, but this one's okay - like Houston but with acoustic guitars and undistorted snares. Probably a track I'd usually skip over on my iPod. The Mills/McCaughey harmonies are just a bit too free-flowing for my liking, and the mandolin is another instrument I'm not too fond of here. Despite this, it's still a lovely ballad, and the three singers sound emotive and meaningful.

IT HAPPENED TODAY: After hearing the multitracks, it's amazing what you can pick out once you know it's there. Three bass synths, three mandolins, ambient drone guitars... hell, even two pianos! This is undoubtedly my favourite song out of all those I've heard so far, but All the Best comes pretty close. Ooh, here comes Vedder...
AAAAAHHHHHHH, OOOHWAAAYAHHH! :D

EVERY DAY IS YOURS TO WIN: New song! Opens with a clean, relaxed guitar. Stipe's got a delay effect, like in Drive. Rieflin has some great low drums here, and Buck has a finger-picking section that arrives around the second verse. Wow... didn't expect that explosion of sound at the second chorus! The jump from that section into the bridge is a little awkward - it's like Good Vibrations. Mike's doing an "ahhhh" in he background during the part we've heard in the trailer, and the track smoothly segways into the previously-heard "hey-yeah"s. My least favourite song so far, but that doesn't mean I don't like it!

MINE SMELL LIKE HONEY: Now that I've heard it in higher quality (my iPod has a rubbish copy), Mine Smell Like Honey actually sounds pretty good. Not exactly up to the standard of most of the record so far, but it fits in comfortably with All the Best and Discoverer, the two rockers. Tremolo guitar at the end, which you may not have noticed.

WALK IT BACK: Sounds kinda... country... Walk It Back has a relaxed feel to it - the piano part heard here was actually a rehearsal. There's nothing much here in this track initially: piano, acoustic guitar, vocals, but it builds up. Mike's currently wailing in the background (not in the bad sense, mind)! This feels like something The Eagles would release in the 2000s, only better. Ambient noise in the background, reminds me of Uberlin, or that dubmix on the Christmas single.

ALLIGATOR AVIATOR AUTOPILOT ANTIMATTER: Ka-pow! Double-tracked vocals, overdriven guitars, octave bass... the song seeps rock! Peaches was an unexpected surprise the second part of verse one, but you get used to her. This is head-banger, all right, and such a catchy riff. Peaches has a spoken section during the bridge. "STARED AT ME!" was a great moment, and the constant rhyming gives the song a feeling of urgency. Great track.

THAT SOMEONE IS YOU: Starts off a standard pop/rock song, and doesn't really do anything else. Harmonies are nice, and the lyrics are refreshing (Pacino? Torino?). But gee, it's short! I can't type this fast... my head hurts....

ME, MARLON BRANDO, MARLON BRANDO AND I: Slow start, sustained piano and mandolin are interesting instruments. The 12-string and string sections come in, and Marlon Brando now feels like a mourning song, devoid of drums and 'rock' instruments. The change from verse to chorus is an odd sensation, which I can't really explain. Mills has a cool backing vocal after the second chorus, present pretty far on both sides of the pan.

BLUE: FEEDBACK! The chord progression and song in general reminds me of another R.E.M. song, but I can't put my finger on it. Orange Crush-style speaking at the beginning. Patti Smith sounds like an alien, and metallic percussion and distorted guitars place the listener in an industrial/wet setting. Does that make sense? Probably not.
And there are the immortal words... Collapse. Into. Now.
Finally, we can hear what Patti is singing, but "Cinderella Boy" may come as a surprise to some who expected a more straightforward song.

Wait a sec... Discoverer!?! Aw man, that is soooo.... cool! Building up, and up - Mike enters - main riff - Michael shouting his vocals at the top of his range... this is something not to be missed.

Wow. That was hard. But let me tell you this - Collapse Into Now may just be one of the best R.E.M. albums I've ever heard. I'd hesitate to say original, despite the great songs, because the band pays homage to many of its past records. Collapse has the rockiness of Accelerate, the electronica of Up, even the jangliness of Murmur occasionally... I could go on, but then again, you could just see for yourselves when you buy the album. Rest assured, it's fantastic!

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

P.S. Figured out the song that Blue sounds like. It's Country Feedback mixed with E-bow the Letter!

*Well, I thought it would be at least. How wrong I was...

Countdown Into Now

2011-02-25T11:21:00.000-08:00

As I write this, we have approximately 4 days until we get to listen to Collapse Into Now in its entirety, and, according to Dol: "Just one week, 7 days, 168 hours, 10.080 minutes, 604.800 seconds" before we can all get our greasy paws on it to keep. Yep, we're ready for this album!

Which is why we don't have to wait to buy it, to hear it. As I mentioned in the paragraph above, we only need to hang in there a few more days. NPR is hosting a CIN listening party online, with the album being streamed live to fans across the Internet. Also available to those who tune in is a chat feature for discussion of each track, and live commentary from the show's hosts (I hope I'm wrong on this one, but I have reason to believe this commentary will be present during the playback. No taping this one, folks!).

The broadcast will take place on Tuesday 1st March, at 2pm E.T., which for those of you living in the UK is 9am. However, should you miss All Songs Considered, the whole album will be available for listening on March 2nd - free of charge!

This isn't the only good news we've had today. Roughly an hour ago, R.E.M.'s YouTube channel posted a higher quality version of the Mine Smell Like Honey live in studio video. Here it is:

Kirsten on Mike Mills Tribute has been doing a sterling job translating some articles for us, from the German version of Rolling Stone magazine. Find them here, and don't forget to drop her a note of thanks! (Also check the comments section for a few more translated tidbits.)

Now all that's left is the agonising wait until the album arrives. I've been trying to keep myself busy, as always, but sometimes the tension and anticipation is almost too much to bear. Collapse Into Now? More like Collapse Into Shock. Due to this lack of any real news, I hope to do a feature sometime very soon - possibly this weekend - and possibly even begin a little project I've been contemplating. Until I have a proper think about it, however, mum's the word. :)

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

Note: There seems to be some really weird spacing here - the gaps between paragraphs are huge! Doing my best to fix it, but this may take some time.

UPDATE: Fixed! It's amazing what deleting a bit of HTML can do. :)

Exams finished (finally) - News roundup + video reviews

2011-02-22T03:24:00.000-08:00

Click on the image to find out why I'm happy. :)

As I sit down comfortably on my computer chair once again, I breathe a sigh of relief, content with the knowledge that my exams are over and done with. I do have one more day left of German exams, but they're not the kind you can really revise for.

Which means I can get back to what I really enjoy - blogging! Sadly, during my absence (I did, however, post a couple of bootlegs - just scroll down) much has happened in the R.E.M. world. Although I only mentioned it in a small update earlier last week, I am pleased to once again relay the fact that our good friend Ivana from Mike Mills Tribute has once again made the news at R.E.M. HQ, with her amazing cover of Discoverer from the new album! By major coincidence I was browsing the site at the time the news was posted on the HQ. I was bored, so a refreshed the page, and a weekly roundup popped up out of nowhere. Curious, I clicked on it, and down at the bottom of the article was Ivana's link! Naturally, I raced over to Mike Mills Tribute and, in a whirlwind of exclamation marks and smiley faces, I told her the news. :)

This isn't the first time Ivana's been on R.E.M. HQ, however - last year, her cover of Wolves, Lower, recorded to celebrate the band's 30th anniversary, was also picked up by the kind folk at the R.E.M. offices in Georgia. You can see the video here.

But that's not all! Recently, the band released some new interview material via various websites, plus a live video of Mine Smell Like Honey. While the interviews themselves don't tell us very much, the "making of" video gives us our first ever glimpse of All the Best, a song from Collapse Into Now which we hadn't heard before now. Below is the video on YouTube:

Not only that, but Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter (try saying that three times fast!) is featured a lot more heavily, with a little snippet of the previously-unheard chorus. I don't know about you, but I think this'll be a head-banger.

And of course, Mine Smell Like Honey is here. Despite my initial poor reviews of the song, I had always maintained the belief that it would sound much better live, much like I'm Gonna DJ from Accelerate. I'm not normally one to blow my own trumpet, but it looks like I was right on this one!

Michael's voice has a much more gravelly, rock-style tone than in the studio version - his vocals on the record sound like a smoker whose voice is giving out. Granted, Stipe does smoke, but I've never noticed it prior to MSLH. Also, that third backing vocal has gone, allowing us to at last clearly hear Mike's harmonies. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad that extra vocal isn't there. This song has been around since the days of Accelerate - I have two recordings of an instrumental version that they played during the '08 tour - and in retrospect we can see the similarities. With heavy guitars, the band never staying too long on one musical idea... this could easily have been on the last album, were it not for the strange 'pop song' feel to it. Just a guess, but I think that may have been aided by the arpeggios that the lead guitar plays.

There are some other videos lurking around, but nothing that gives us anything really new. While I'm looking forward to Collapse Into Now, I'd rather the band stopped releasing content until March. Why, you ask? The answer is plain and simple - the more I hear songs from the album, the less I think I'll be blown away by it. And judging from what we've seen so far, that's exactly what the new record deserves: the opportunity to blow us away.

While we're on the subject, the first reviews have surfaced! Alas, so far they haven't been very positive. Q gives it just 2 stars, and UNCUT, while being a little more generous, still only gives the album 3 stars. Rolling Stone and Gigbless are the two reviews that are better-than-average, with 4 stars each! As for the bad reviews, I'd like to repost what I wrote on MMT on the subject yesterday, which pretty much sums up my feelings towards the press:

It seems that the press are just going to compare this album to the rest of R.E.M.’s back catalogue, which IMHO isn’t in the least bit fair. The band are probably never going to have another “Automatic for the People”, so why keep reminding us?

You really just can't compare R.E.M.'s latest ventures with the work they did in the 80s and 90s, because that was then and this is now. It's important to take their new albums at face value, rather than prattle on about how the band aren't relevant anymore. So what if Oh My Heart isn't as melancholy as Drive? So what if Discoverer isn't as politically charged and relevant as Finest Worksong? Besides, when you take all their albums from Up onwards, this is looking like it'll be the best yet.

Keep in mind this is just my opinion. I'm neither right or wrong on this one, and it's up to you how you see the band in the 21st century. Don't like Collapse Into Now? That's fine by me. But whatever you do, approach in the same way you should with all music - with an open mind.

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

UPDATE: R.E.M. HQ has just posted a feature on Losing My Religion, in celebration of its 20th anniversary. Head over there and take a peek!

McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, 1987

2011-02-18T09:53:00.000-08:00

One of two covers for this bootleg. The other is embedded in my audio file's tags, but I can't get it out. Should be there within the .rar file.

This is perhaps one of the rarest bootlegs I own, ever more rare than MTV Unplugged. However, anyone with the IRS Vintage edition of Document will have actually heard at least two of the songs on this record. Both The One I Love and Disturbance at the Heron House were featured on the re-release, and both originate from this show. I was under the impression that Time After Time/Red Rain/So. Central Rain was also from this show, but that was actually from Holland in the same year. The recordings on Document are of a much higher quality than the ones I have here, leading me to assume that somewhere somebody has the soundboard recording of the whole show. Will it ever see the light of day? Perhaps not. This bootleg features Peter and Michael on 12-string and vocals, respectively.

There's one other thing that makes this particular bootleg special, and that's the guests. This show is not actually an R.E.M. one - they were actually guests (they called them "The Mystery Twins") for a Steve Wynn performance, and so Leaving on a Jet Plane has Buck, Stipe, Natalie Merchant, Steve Wynn, Jenny Homer and Kendra Smith jamming all at once! A bootleg not to be missed.

Also: Maps and Legends can be heard on the IRS Vintage version of Fables of the Reconstruction, again in a state of much higher quality.

Bootleg details:
Tracklist:
01 - The One I Love
02 - Welcome to the Occupation
03 - Disturbance at the Heron House
04 - Finest Worksong
05 - Maps and Legends
06 - Walk Don't Run/Baby Please Don't Go
07 - A Million Miles Away
08 - Trains
09 - The One I Love (played for a second time)
10 - Spooky
11 - Disturbance at the Heron House (again)
12 - Finest Worksong (if I was an audience member, I'd be getting a little bored with all these repeats)
13 - Fever
14 - So. Central Rain
15 - Leaving on a Jet Plane

Quality: B+
Rating: ◊◊◊◊ - An excellent rare show, hampered only by its low quality. A must-have for those who want to hear rare acoustic versions of songs.

Download: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NVT7THE4

And we're done! I'll be on the lookout for the full show. I recently heard Wynn's early set, and he played See That My Grave is Kept Clean with Peter Buck on guitar. You can hear it here. Bye for now! :)

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

UPDATE: Got a real gem here! Ivana over on Mike Mills Tribute has made me aware of a YouTube video of That Someone is You, recorded live in the studio for the Oh My Heart single. Listen to it here - it's short, but sweet and has a really rock/pop feel to it. Haven't really formulated an opinion on it, but I like it. Also, Ivana's piano cover of Discoverer has made the weekly roundup on R.E.M. HQ. Congratulations to her! :)

"It Happened Today" - What you may have missed

2011-02-14T10:53:00.000-08:00

Jacknife must've had a field day with this.

R.E.M.'s official website seems to have no new information on it, and the lack of news was bugging me immensely. But at least I had the multitracks of It Happened Today to come home to - nothing is more fun than listening to my favourite song, and isolating the individual tracks. Maybe you want to know how to play the guitar part? Perhaps you wanted to find out which voice was Joel Gibb's? In any event, this has to be one of the best things R.E.M. has given us... and it's free!

Listening to a load of instruments you didn't know existed, and then actually picking them out on the studio record has to be one of the most surreal things I have ever experienced. If you had told me there was a mandolin on the track I would have been surprised, but two? I would have just laughed. But they're definitely there, and together they add new levels of complexity to an already awesome song.

What I'd like to do now is put together a list of all the instruments and tracks you can hear if you download the multitrack of It Happened Today. If you haven't got it, head on over to R.E.M. HQ and get either the AIFF or Garageband files. While you're waiting, here's what's in store for you:

Michael's Vocals (of course)
Mike's Vocals (seems to be two tracks placed into one during the bridge)
Eddie's Vocals (a joy to listen to!)
Joel's Vocals (strange voice, but an interesting layer)
Acoustic Guitar
Electric Guitar (plays the same as the acoustic)
Drone Guitar (the sound you hear at the beginning)
Third Electric (like the drone, but higher)
Bass Guitar (doesn't appear as often as expected)
Bass Synth
Second Bass Synth (mono - having one is not enough)
Bass Synth Sustain (notes held longer than original)
Hansa Stairwell Snare (presumably recorded in the same place they shot Mine Smell Like Honey)
Bass Drum
Upright Piano
Piano (like the upright, but higher)
Mandolins (two tracks put together, panned left and right respectively)
Third Mandolin (mono)
Celeste and Vibraphone (two tracks put together)
Mallets
Brass Band (really funny to listen to - the group is called Bonerama)
Percussion (mixed into one track, and includes hi hats and clapping)
Kick Snare

And if that hasn't left you dumbstruck, check your pulse. You might be dead. :)

Windows users can listen to the AIFF files, but if you'd like to have a go at mixing them then I recommend installing Audacity. Audacity is a free, open-source program that allows people to record, import and mix their own tracks. It can be installed here. Mac and Unix users can get Audacity too, but if you've bought Garageband on your Mac, then that software works just as well.

One final thing - the first word-and-a-half is missing from Mike's vocals during the chorus. Another user suggested that those words can be taken from the second line of the chorus, and that works flawlessly. Other than that, everything else is intact.

I'll leave you to your remixes. Don't forget that they can be posted on Soundcloud, to share with other R.E.M. fans. Happy mixing!

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

Bootleg: Kingpin's Bowling Alley, 2005

2011-02-11T07:50:00.000-08:00

It's quite easy to tell which covers I made myself, isn't it?

Now here's a really rare one, and with a story behind it. In 2005, R.E.M.'s guitar technician Dewitt Burton was holding a wedding ceremony in Athens, at a bowling alley, and the band decided on an impromptu concert to show their appreciation for his work. What could be better than R.E.M. playing at your wedding, you ask? Well, how about having the incredible Bill Berry drumming live for the first time since 2003? Exactly!

Bootleg details:
Tracklist:
01- Sitting Still
02 - (Don't Go Back To) Rockville
03 - Wolves, Lower
04 - Begin the Begin (at the request of the bride)
05 - The One I Love
06 - Permanent Vacation
07 - Radio Free Europe (the last time I recall this being played was in the 90s!)

Quality: A+
Rating: ◊◊◊ - Keep in mind this is an impromptu concert, meaning they probably didn't rehearse for it. It does show in places - Wolves, Lower is the example that springs to mind - but is interesting to listen to in any case.

Download: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9K7GKT0N

One thing I should mention is the inaccuracies on the bootleg itself. The track names, as well as the original cover I made, list the date of the concert as 10/10/05. This is wrong - it was actually two days earlier. Although I haven't bothered to change the track names (just do that manually), you can download the cover at the top of the page which has the right date on it, and delete the wrong one included in the .rar file. Sorry about that!

In other news, remixes of It Happened Today have been pouring in to the Soundcloud website, which you can view here. I also made one myself. Check it out if you like:

It Happened Today - Contrast Mix by ListentotheAuctioneer

I don't have the best mixing software in the world (it crashed after I added too many tracks), but that's the best I can do with the equipment I've got. Enjoy the bootleg!

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

Bloomin' 'eck! (Exams)

2011-02-08T08:45:00.000-08:00

Well, this may be the only post until the weekend, and they may be pretty sparse after that. It is now with great regret that I'll have to get cracking with exams, and thus my attention towards the blog's upkeep is going to waver a little. As of now, I can only make posts a maximum of twice a week - come March, I will be able to resume blogging on a regular basis.

I had two exams today - History and Music performing on the violin. I passed the latter (overheard the teachers :) ), but I won't get the History marks back until a long while later. Tomorrow it's a massive English exam, and then Maths... and then I might be able to post!

So, that's my summary for the week. I'll try to compensate by putting a bootleg up on Friday. Next up - the Stipe/Buck ultra-rare McCabe's Guitar Shop gig, 1987!

Yours truly (albeit harrassedly),
Auctioneer

UPDATE: Why do I always miss these? R.E.M. HQ has made It Happened Today available to download as a multitrack! This is even better news than I had hoped - now I can add that to my collection, along with Orange Crush!

Dates for "Collapse Into Now"

2011-02-04T09:21:00.000-08:00

These guys are happy 'cause they get to listen to it earlier.

From the creation of this blog in early January, it appears I have been quoting the wrong date for Collapse Into Now's release all this time. Now, courtesy of a weekly news roundup from R.E.M. HQ, I can remedy that. I had been saying March 8 for a long time, which is close... but still incorrect. To give you an idea of just when the new album will be hitting your shores, have a look at the list below:

Australia and some of Europe (Germany, Norway, France etc.): March 4th
United Kingdom: March 7th
Americas (USA, Mexico, Canada etc.): March 8th

The roundup also mentions that Collapse Into Now will be out "slightly later in the week in other areas of the world", but fails to specify just which countries/continents that date encompasses. Your guess is as good as mine on that one. Apologies for initially mentioning the wrong date (or rather, it's wrong to everyone except America).

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

P.S. The photo at the top of this post was taken in 1984 by Laura Levine at Walter's Bar-B-Que Athens. It shows the band tucking into a hearty meal there. In fact, they loved it so much they even wrote a song about it!

UPDATE: American visitors! Go to Amazon.com and download Oh My Heart for free before it's too late! You heard it here first, folks. :)

"Discoverer" video - Hansa Studios

2011-02-03T10:28:00.000-08:00

Another one from the CIN trailer, and in the same venue as Oh My Heart, R.E.M. has just released a video for Discoverer, track one from the new record. Rolling Stone Magazine calls it "seemingly live", which to my ears sounds a little harsh. That fact that Michael's vocals have minor differences in them is obvious to me, but the website doesn't seem to agree.

On some unrelated notes, the box with the band's name on it (behind Michael) makes its first appearance since the working rehearsals in 2007. I'm probably wrong on this second point, but the carpets in that studio look awfully familiar... are they the same ones used by System of a Down?

Er... maybe not. But hey, it's Discoverer and it rocks!

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

It's been a month!

2011-02-02T11:10:00.000-08:00

Wow, that long? It feels like only yesterday I started Auctioneer's R.E.M. Blog. How naïve I was at the time - oblivious to the massive amount of work that maintaining a website involved, how often I'd need to check up on R.E.M. news, and the bitter struggle that ensued following my attempts to put a picture on the top of the page. But you know what? It was worth it, every step of the way.

I've made new friends. Fellow R.E.M. fans - bloggers, bootleggers and many more - have helped me find my feet on the Internet. Their insightful knowledge has been a massive aid to my blogging, as have their own websites. I'd also like to thank those of you who have visited the website frequently... as of the start of January, I've had over 600 visitors, more than I could even dare to imagine. Thank you all!

So, now to the reason I'm posting this. The chances are I've been doing some things right, some things wrong, and I'd like to know what they are. Put simply, I'd like some constructive criticism about where I've been doing well, and what areas I need to improve on. If you have any suggestions for extra content I can add, feel free to post a comment here telling me what would be nice on my blog - I'll seriously consider all of them.

If you have any tips, leave a comment on this post. Be as brutal and honest as you want to. Well... not too brutal. That'd hurt. :)

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

Mine smell like honey... huh?

2011-02-01T09:20:00.000-08:00

Is it me, or is this just... wrong?

Ethan from Murmurs got a sneak preview of this video, and now that I've seen it I agree with him - the music video for Mine Smell Like Honey is BANANAS.

The whole thing is shot with still images, and involves Michael getting carried up a flight of stairs by a group of men and women. Mostly, the video is in black and white, with the exception of the odd picture (see above for an example), and the end in which Michael is lying on top of a bunch of chairs... with green eyes. I'm sure his eyes are really blue, but perhaps I'm wrong.

Though the video itself isn't in particularly high quality in full screen, it's an interesting watch, and you may even find yourself laughing a little! I do hope this embed code works:

Err... nope. I had hoped to post an embed code, but it seems to not be working. To view the video, click here.

Now that I've had time to reflect on the video, I have to say that, on the whole, I like it - it would have been good to have seen the other band members in it, but a bearded Michael Stipe (not dissimilar to my PE teacher at school, I might add) will do just as well. The general consensus amongst fans seems to be is that this is a strange video, a point that would be impossible to argue against - all one needs to do is view the first ten or so seconds to get a flavour of what the rest of the music video will be like. So far, there has been no word of the track being made available for purchase on iTunes, but seeing as most of R.E.M.'s music videos are up there we should be able to get it soon.

Finally, I'd also like to take the opportunity to say Happy Birthday to Ivana and Elena from Mike Mills Tribute, who started the site one year ago yesterday, on their birthdays. Have a good one!

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

Update: R.E.M. posted a higher quality version of the video on YouTube! Here it is:

Ahh... that's better. :)

"Oh My Heart" - Live!

2011-01-29T08:10:00.000-08:00

Some great news for all of you who wanted to hear R.E.M. performing a live version of one of their songs from Collapse Into Now - Stereogum has finally posted a video of the band playing in Berlin, in the location featured in the trailer for the album.

Although we've yet to see the other songs they played, Oh My Heart is hopefully the first in a long line of them. As we can deduce from the trailer, the band played this song, Discoverer and Alligator Aviator Autopilot Anitmatter. We may not see these until March, but I am particularly excited about AAAA - it sounds like a rocker, even though the lyrical quality is questionable.

I also have some interesting news concerning the first single Mine Smell Like Honey. I was looking around for some bootlegs recently, and I stumbled on the soundchecks for the shows in Larcano and Prague. These soundchecks show that Mine Smell Like Honey had already been written - at least, in an instrumental sense - in 2008! There are no vocals in either recording, but the song is pretty much complete otherwise. I'll bundle it in with the next show I release on this blog, if you wish.

I guess there's nothing more for me to say here other than enjoy the video... so, enjoy the video! :)

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

"Überlin" review

2011-01-27T10:17:00.000-08:00

Wow, just...wow.

Last night, heading back from a Vivaldi concert, my mum and I were playing some Simon and Garfunkel in the car (when I sing, I'm always Garfunkel!). I was about to change the disc when Hazy Shade of Winter came on, a song I'm not a huge fan of... but mum enjoys it so we left it on.

Thank goodness we did.

As soon as I removed the disc, the car player switched to radio, as it does automatically. A song was just starting, one which nearly caused my heart to skip a beat in my excitement. Mum, however, was confused.

"Auctioneer," she asked*, "did you just put on an R.E.M. CD?"

For an instant, the words could not leave my mouth - I was just too surprised to speak. But, as soon as it had come, the sensation passed, and I was able to joyfully announce the song:

"Oh my God! Mum, it's Überlin!"

And that was how I ended up listening to Überlin on BBC2 Radio, just as I had wished for a few days earlier in my previous blog post. In retrospect, I'm glad we listened to just one more Simon and Garfunkel song - otherwise, I would have changed the disc too early and missed the whole event. Don't get me wrong, Mrs Robinson is a great track, but Überlin is just too good an experience to miss.

Thanks to a leak, I managed to listen to the song a few days before it made its radio début, and I was astounded at the quality of the track. As some regular readers of this blog will know, I'm not a big fan of R.E.M.'s more sad songs, but there's something about Überlin that I just can't pin down. Is it the delay effect used on Michael's voice? Is it the subtle synth section that gives the chorus a strange ambience? Or is it Peter's simple guitar part, no effects added?

The truth is, it's probably a combination of all of these. A lot of people have compared this song to Automatic for the People's Drive, but apart from the consistent use of the word "hey" I can't say I fully agree. Sure, it's in a minor key, but Drive has got nothing on this piece. I feel I must congratulate Mike Mills on his fantastic harmonies and bass playing, two elements which are crucial to this track... but one of the stars of this song is, of course, Michael Stipe. The vocals in Überlin feel raw with emotion, leaps and bounds above those in the most recently released track, Mine Smell Like Honey.

Another thing that makes this song stand out is - surprisingly - the lyrics. Collapse Into Now has had lyrics of varying quality so far (think Mine Smell Like Honey again), but Michael brings back that wordsmith quality of his once more. Hearing Stipe and Mills singing "I am flying on a star into a meteor" is beautiful beyond comparison.

But there is one last thing that elevates this song above all the others. I have spent three tireless days in a vain attempt to work out just what it is, but I can't. Whenever I hear Überlin, my mind produces this vivid imagery that throws me somewhere completely new. I suppose the best way to give you the faintest notion of what I'm trying (but failing) to say is to give you a description. Here goes:

"It's 12:30 in the morning. There's a small breeze tickling my side as I lie on my back, on the top of the hill I always go to. Above me, the sky is clear, and the stars dance and sparkle in front of me. As I watch, I slowly drift away, feeling as if I am being pulled through space itself into the furthest reaches of the cosmos. I am cold, but even though the sensation of emptiness and minuteness ensnares my body, I am content."

Cheesy? You bet. But that really is what I feel when I hear this song. Naturally, I've never been on the top of a hill at 12:30am, and although I'm an amateur stargazer, the sensation of feeling tiny only comes to me occasionally. This imagery, however, is what will lead me to give Überlin the praise it deserves.

Überlin - ◊◊◊◊ - I just don't have the words to express my admiration for this song. Beautiful.

So after all that, I imagine you're curious as to why I didn't give the track five stars. Truth be told, I'm a little scared of doing that. If I gave Überlin five stars, then another song same along that was even better, I would have to stick with my initial rating and give loads of song on Collapse Into Now five stars. That just wouldn't be fair. So, when I do a full album review I may re-rate this track, but until then, four stars it is.

Yours truly,

Auctioneer

*No, she didn't really call me that - she used my real name. I actually have one of those, believe it or not.

P.S. R.E.M. HQ has confirmed - turns out I was right about the U-Bahn. At least I know I'm not totally stupid! :)

Quickie: "Überlin" lyric video

2011-01-24T09:49:00.000-08:00

Hey... that's pretty inventive.

Only got time for a quickie right now, but here's some interesting news in the form of a lyric video, for R.E.M.'s newest song Überlin. What separates this one from the others is its format - this time the video depicts a railway map similar to the Ü-Bahn (at least, I think it does), Berlin's underground subway. Also included in the release are producer Jacknife Lee's thoughts and opinions on the song.

To see the video, click here.

While I've yet to review Überlin, I did manage to hear it a couple of days early thanks to a leak from REMFan.it. I think it's safe to say that this new song is going to be a major hit among fans... it's my favourite so far along with It Happened Today, in my book at least! I find it hard to describe just what makes this track so special - perhaps I'll know by the time I properly review it - but suffice to say, whatever it has, it flaunts it.

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

Cologne 2001: Roncalliplatz

2011-01-22T04:05:00.000-08:00

Cover courtesy of the great people at R.E.M. Cover Studio (will add link to sidebar)

Here it is, as promised! This show really is one of the top-notch bootlegs in terms of quality - anyone would think it was actually an official live album. I realise that pretty much every bootleg I've uploaded I've given an A+ quality rating to... but that's deliberate, as I'm putting up my highest quality ones first. All that aside, let's get on to the details:

Bootleg details:
Tracklist:
01 - The Great Beyond
02 - What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
03 - All the Way to Reno
04 - Cuyahoga
05 - Electrolite
06 - I've Been High
07 - Daysleeper
08 - The Lifting
09 - Find the River
10 - Imitation of Life
11 - I'll Take the Rain
12 - At My Most Beautiful
13 - The One I Love
14 - She Just Wants to Be
15 - Walk Unafraid
16 - Losing My Religion
17 - Man On the Moon
18 - So. Central Rain
19 - It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
20 - Superman (taken from Heidigretel's video of the Cologne Soundcheck - see my post on the 19th for the video)

Quality: A+ (Track 20 I'd give a B-)
Rating: ◊◊◊◊ - The guitars are a bit quiet, but Michael and Mike's vocals are clear as day. And that fruity organ we so love is there too!

Download: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WUHOA0BX

That's it from me. Check back soon for that feature I promised you (woo!), and of course there'll be another bootleg on the way, too. Enjoy Cologne 2001 - I know I did.

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

P.S. Just one more thing, for those of you who live in the UK. According to R.E.M. HQ, the as-of-yet unheard song Überlin will be played on the radio during the Ken Bruce show, from 9AM to 12 noon on Monday. Ireland has a similar opportunity on the Colm Hayes Show, from 12 o'clock onwards. Irritatingly, I'll be at school then and probably won't get to hear the track at all, but if anyone manages to listen to it, please get in touch and let us know your first impressions. Fingers crossed it'll be a good 'un!

Not another lyric video!

2011-01-21T09:01:00.000-08:00

More of the same, but it's still pretty cool.

Now that Mine Smell Like Honey has finally graced the shores of our good friends in America, it only seems right that a new single should have a video to match. But Warner Bros. have decided not to involve R.E.M. in its music video creation, instead opting for... wait for it... another lyric video!

I'm not a big fan of these videos, but the first two (namely Discoverer and It Happened Today) had a fresh, unique feel to them. The concept seems simple enough - take the words to a song, mix them in with the themes employed by the album artwork, and there you have it: something cool to look at while you listen to the song, and you don't even have to Google the lyrics. While the Discoverer lyric video seemed more like an autocue to an expensive karaoke machine, It Happened Today's video was interesting to boot. There was something hypnotic about watching all those orange lines flying around while Stipe, Mills, Gibb and Vedder initiated their triumphant vocal celebration. Despite this, however, the video was still a novelty.

As an R.E.M. fan, I was disappointed with Around the Sun (who wasn't, eh?), but at least they put out some good music videos - Leaving New York was never a stand out track in my book, but I liked it a little more after seeing my favourite musicians sing it. So, I'd be lying if I said I was ecstatic about the new video, although at least the people who make them are still putting a lot of effort into it:

Like pretty much every song, I like it better when there's a video. Mine Smell Like Honey is a lot catchier when there's a visual aid to help you 'get' the music and lyrics, but there's still something missing. It won't take you long to guess what it is:

You got it - R.E.M.

The Collapse Into Now trailer was fun to watch, because even though the band were only pretending to play (or at least the studio tracks were dubbed over them), we fans could be comforted by the fact that R.E.M. were still there, and still rocking out. There's a strange familiar sensation that comes with seeing your favourite group, as I said before. So that's why I'm a little uneasy after seeing four new videos, and none of the guys whose music we've come to love.

It throws up a lot of questions in my mind, such as "Why are they not appearing? Are they tired of making music videos?", which then leads on to "Does this mean that they're tired of trying to boost publicity? Will this mean they won't tour?", and so on and so forth until I get to the unthinkable: "Will this be their last album?".

On that last question, we still don't know. Nor have we had any confirmation that the band will tour. Scott McCaughey says they won't, Peter Buck says they might, and the rest of us are just left rather bemused. It does seem, however, that there will be a schedule clash if they decide to tour this year - I recall reading that Mike Mills and The Baseball Project are going to be touring soon, and Scott always keeps himself busy with The Minus 5 and his many side-projects. Therefore, to that end we have no definitive answer.

Anyway, if you haven't seen the other videos, they're fairly decent. I'm sure they're on this blog somewhere! :) I'd love to hear your comments on these lyric videos in general, as I don't know if I'm the only one who's not completely endeared to them, or if you, like me, just want to see R.E.M. doing what they do best.

While you think about that, here's something I really enjoy:

Now that's how I like my music videos!

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

UPDATE: Okay, from now on I promise not to find information just after I finish posting. I've got an interesting new piece of information, straight from Murmurs.com:

Firstly, it appears that there will be a music video for Mine Smell Like Honey! Michael has posted onto his Tumblr site three images of the not-yet-released video. There's been no word of an air date, but according to Ethan, Murmurs' administrator, it's "BANANAS". Sounds promising - at least they're not wandering aimlessly round a farm, like they did in Left of Reckoning!

Oh yes, and while you're on Stipe's Tumblr site, be sure to check out his award for the best ever tap. Truth be told, I kinda agree with him.

And that smiley-faced necklace thing he posted today is cool, too. :)

"Mine Smell Like Honey" Release (+ Apologies)

2011-01-19T12:02:00.000-08:00

Hi all, I'd like to start by offering an apology. It's prelim time in my school at the moment - for those of you who don't have the same education system as the UK, it's basically a mock exam. While it may not seem that important, should I miss the final exam (due to ill health etc.), the prelim marks are counted instead. So it's quite vital I do well in them.

Therefore, I'm afraid I won't be posting as often as I'd like to. I'll update fairly regularly - say, once every few days - but it won't be one post a day, as I've been accustomed to doing recently. The prelims are at the beginning of February, but there's still lots of revision to be done on my part! :)

Don't worry though - my dedication to this blog hasn't waned in the slightest, and during prelim time I'll be posting bootlegs, seeing as I can upload them whilst I revise. Mine Smell Like Honey has been released as of yesterday, and the reception amongst fans has generally been okay. Can't say all of us hardcore fans are in favour of it though, as one can see in the comments on Ivana's blog.

Despite the single's release, however, the song is still not available to buy on the iTunes store, and It Happened Today is so far the only song that can actually be bought on its own. I find it rather odd. Being a single, shouldn't it be possible to buy the song, you know... singly? Furthermore, there has been not mention of any B-sides, which implies that there are none.

I guess you can tell I'm researching this as I write! I've found myself on the American iTunes store, where Mine Smell Like Honey can be bought for $1.29. My advice - hang on to your money, and wait for the album. It may be a decent song, but Mine Smell Like Honey is not worth $1.29 in my opinion.

Later on this week (possibly the weekend) I'll be doing a feature, the topic of which will remain a mystery until then, just because I enjoy the ambiguity. :) Also, as I promised Kirsten, I'll be uploading the Cologne 2001 show R.E.M. played, filled to the brim with great tracks such as At My Most Beautiful, Cuyahoga, The Great Beyond, and of course all the staple songs and hits. Heidigretel's Youtube page has a great recording of Mike Mills playing Superman during the soundcheck, the audio of which will be in the bootleg as a bonus track. Until then, here's her video:

Here's something fun to try - wait till the video has loaded, and then press '4' continually on your keyboard. That'll keep you busy until my next post, I hope!

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

So Much Younger Then: Tyrone's 1981

2011-01-16T08:32:00.000-08:00

Here it is, as promised! Megaupload started behaving again, and so I was able to upload So Much Younger Then, a very early R.E.M. bootleg. This show was recorded on April 10th 1981 at Tyrone's in Athens, Georgia, and although this is only part of the set the quality is superb. You'll hear songs you've never heard before - tracks such as Action, Narrator and Mystery to Me were never released (however they were recorded at the Wuxtry sessions in Atlanta, which I'll get round to posting) but are still awesome.

Bootleg Details:
Tracklist:
01 - Body Count
02 - A Different Girl
03 - Narrator
05 - She's Such a Pretty Girl
06 - Baby I
07 - Permanent Vacation (released on Perfect Square DVD in 2003)
08 - Wait (also with Michael's sisters Lynda and Cindy Stipe)
09 - Scheherezade
10 - Liza Sez
11 - Mystery to Me
12 - I Don't Want You Any More (released on Dead Letter Office and also in 2001, as All the Right Friends)
13 - Little Girl
14 - Dangerous Times

Quality: A+
Rating: ◊◊◊◊◊ - A recording that captures R.E.M. at its finest pre-Chronic Town. A must-have for those who want to hear early recordings of the band.

Download: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5RJ45XEI

The full tape for this soundboard can be found here, but it's of poor quality and is a whopping 70 minutes long. Next time, I'll be uploading Cologne 2001, another A+ quality show. I also have some good news - MTV Unplugged 1991 is staying up! So you can all download it to your hearts' content until the link expires (should that happen, please leave a comment). Have a great time, everyone!

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

EDIT 22/01/11: The link has been updated to a non-password archive. If you were having trouble before, that should be fixed now. Thanks to Carlos for informing me on this problem.

I was wrong, I have been laughable wrong...

2011-01-15T03:11:00.000-08:00

It seems I was a little hasty to totally condemn Mine Smell Like Honey. After a few more listens on my iPod, I now feel that the pop-punk verses work, and the rest of the song isn't bad, either. While I still loathe the "Mine smell like honey... uh" part, nothing else is as bad as I originally perceived it to be. My initial dislike was partly due to the fact that I was ready for an amazing single, which Mine Smell Like Honey isn't.

So, for that reason, I'd like to re-rate this piece:

Mine Smell Like Honey: ◊◊◊ - It's better than I thought. Not great, but it's a jolly little song and the chorus is still awesome!

Upon reflection, that's the rating it deserves. But in the coming months leading up to Collapse Into Now, I believe I'll be listening to this track a lot less than some of the others.

In other news, I've been having a lot of trouble putting So Much Younger Then, the booteg I promised, onto Megaupload. Due to high traffic at peak times, Megaupload gives me an error message every time I get past 1% - things seem to be doing well right now (I'm uploading as I write this), but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Another bootleg I'll be uploading in the near future is Live at Cologne, Roncalliplatz, 2001, as I know that Kirsten has been looking for it for a while. As for MTV Unplugged 1991... that post has been my highest source of traffic due to the bootleg's popularity, so I'm kinda inclined to leave it up there. I'm still undecided on that, however.

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

"Mine Smell Like Honey" streamed!

2011-01-14T14:56:00.000-08:00

So much for waiting! Ivana over on Mike Mills Tribute has provided me with the excellent news that Warner Bros. have made the new R.E.M. single Mine Smell Like Honey available for streaming, something which would have had the hardcore fans foaming at the mouth. However, I do say would - apparently the video was taken down shortly after it was released. Thankfully, a user ripped the audio from the video and has re-posted it online. So, without further ado, here it is:

My impression of the song? Unremarkable. The past three songs that have been released - Discoverer, It Happened Today and Oh My Heart - have been of a high standard, and I was really looking forward to this single. But, sadly, this is just another album-filler that competes with even the most bland of R.E.M. songs.

Michael's vocals sound a lot like they did on Reveal, with a possible slight compression/chorus effect that can be heard on such songs as Imitation of Life and All the Way to Reno. The only difference between its use on Reveal and this single is that, on the former, it works. The chorus that we heard on the trailer is perhaps the best part of the song, as everything before and after it just doesn't compete. The beginning of the track sounds something like a pop-punk record, before cutting to the pre-chorus:

Mine smell like honey, uh,
Mine smell like honey.

Wait a second... his what smell like honey? The addition of "uh" on the first line is a very Accelerate thing to do, and although it was beneficial (even a little 'cool'!) on that album it just doesn't work on a song like this. In fact, it has the opposite effect - the sound is nauseating and has some pretty sexually explicit implications. I'm sure I could explain further, but I think you get the gist.

Having said all that, the lyrics are fairly decent, and the chorus is still a redeeming quality. But like I said on Ivana's site, why on earth didn't they choose It Happened Today instead? That song is catchy as hell and miles better than the trite of Mine Smell Like Honey. I don't mean to be over-critical, but I was expecting bigger things from this track, which really just sounds like a bunch of loose ideas bundled into one song. And so, my rating:

Mine Smell Like Honey - ◊◊ - I might have put it on a par with Oh My Heart, if it weren't for the fact that my hopes for a great single have been crushed. A poor effort.

However, like I also said in my post on Mike Mills Tribute, we still have the rest of the album to go. I hope there'll be some gems hidden in amongst that tracklist... in fact, I'm sure of it. Bring it on!

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

Collapse Into Now UK pre-order

2011-01-13T11:18:00.000-08:00

Well thank goodness! I was getting worried there.

It's finally here! After an infuriating wait, and roughly two weeks since the US pre-order went on sale, iTunes UK is now offering its users the chance to make an advance purchase of Collapse Into Now. While it's not exactly a groundbreaking story, I'm sure it will come as a relief for all the British R.E.M. fans who are eagerly awaiting the new album. Along with the advertised tracklist, there are also a number of bonus tracks that you can buy - live in studio versions of Discoverer, Oh My Heart and the as-of-yet unheard Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter. There's a short clip of AAAA on the Collapse trailer, but so far the chorus and bridge (if there is one) remain a mystery. It Happened Today is the only song you can make a standalone purchase of as of yet, and if you haven't got it, I'd highly recommend it.

As I look at the iTunes page, another interesting fact arises - the expected release date on the store is March 7th 2011, as opposed to the previously stated 8th. Does this mean that those who pre-order will be getting the new album one whole day early? I hope so... that's why my finger is poised over the 'Post' button!

Mine Smell Like Honey is now only five days away, and it's easy to get excited. About a week ago, an odd article caught my attention, which stated that the B-sides to this single had been leaked, and were available to play on article's website. The songs, A Town Called Armadillo and Zullu were the alleged B-sides, with the latter track featuring Peter Buck on vocals. I speculated that these tracks were fake. If you would like to hear them, you can find them here. Some of the comments on the website REM Nation state that there is, apparently, a video of Peter recording Zullu. However, this appears to be site that has perpetrated the hoax in the first place! REMRing seems to have confirmed that the songs aren't real, and that the whole thing was just a prank by the website in question. Still, the tracks are amusing enough.

Now, I think I'll need to run. There's a digital copy of that album with my name on it!

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

UPDATE 12 SECONDS AFTER ORIGINAL POST: Blame my bad eyesight. REM Nation state on their post concerning Oh My Heart that the B-sides were, in fact, a joke. Well, you know what they say: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice... you won't get fooled again."

R.E.M. covers that should NOT have been released

2011-01-12T15:03:00.000-08:00

Hello all. In the absence of any major news from R.E.M. HQ (aside from a heads-up on Michael's performance at the Tibet House Benefit in March with Patti Smith), I've decided to do a small feature on R.E.M. covers by bands and artists. God knows there's a lot of them, and some are... well, not great. Appalling, even. So let's get our list started with what is possibly the worst rendition of an R.E.M. classic ever to be created:

1. Courtney Love's (Don't Go Back to) Rockville:

I've never heard Courtney Love, nor have I heard her band Hole, but after listening to this meagre snippet I know I never will, either. This beautiful, melodic country classic from Reckoning transforms itself into a sleazy, atonal hybrid when Love 'sings' it. I use that term loosely - her voice is unemotional and bland, and her grasp of tuning slips slowly away as she eventually decides she doesn't care anymore. Meanwhile, her band have other ideas, noodling away in the background and subconsciously telling Courtney to shut up and get on with the next number. I'm not sure if I would even call this a cover, but as it's so bad I feel it deserves inclusion.

2. Furthermore's Fall On Me:
http://www.covermesongs.com/2010/08/furthermore-fall-on-me.html

No video for this one. To hear it, click the play button just below the article. The song starts off promisingly, with a groovy woodblock rhythm and an a capella from the female lead singer. Cue some interesting chords in the background, and some spooky backing vocals. Unfortunately, that's all there is. An incessant drum loop, with no build up of volume or instrumentation. I expected at least a piano to come in, to give the track at least a little flavour... but alas, it seems Furthermore are unable to provide the energy needed to spruce up what is a lifeless cover. Where's Mike Mills when you need him?

During my research, I came across an article similar to the one I am writing now, by Darren Barefoot. You can find it here. I can't say I agree with all his opinions, but it's an interesting read.

3. The Walkmen's Driver 8:
http://www.covermesongs.com/2010/08/the-walkmen-wrap-up-a-v-undercover-with-r-e-m.html

To play, click the picture below the song title. This is one I'm still undecided on. In comparison to the others above on this page, this is great (although it's not exactly a photo finish), but I can't really make my mind up on this. The intro is awesome, with a fruity organ and rumbling drums that imitate the train that the song's lyrics allude to. My only qualms are the singer's nasal voice, the lack of vocal harmonies which I feel gave the original a new dimension, and the fact that it suffers from the same problem as Furthermore's cover - it just doesn't build up much. At the end of each verse, the band crescendos with drum rolls a-plenty, and then... it drops back down again. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I'd like to have seen a little more. Still, the inclusion of a video is always fun.

Now that you've heard three not-so-good covers (with the possible exception of The Walkmen, depending on your tastes), I think it's time to move on from our bland main course to a much sweeter dessert. This is one often performed on live tours:

4. The Editors' Orange Crush:

The beginning is odd. On my first listen, I just expected this to be the style of the whole track. A slow, suspended piano and a strange-sounding singer initially put me off, and I just gave up on it. Then I listened for a few more seconds, and then my ears were greeted with the punchy beats and frankly weird vocals of The Editors as they rocked out on Green's epic track. The tremoloed guitars are a nice touch, and the band don't stray too far from the original composition. I just wish somebody had the courage to go up to that high G sharp! Thankfully, the live version with We Are Scientists gives you that soaring vocal line. And now for one that I discovered all by myself:

5. Calexico and Darius Rucker's I Believe:

Out of all the ones on this page, this has to be my favourite, despite the video's average quality. Rucker's country voice is perfect for this track, giving it the 'down South' flair that Michael Stipe had on Life's Rich Pageant. What I think makes it so unique is Darius' bassy-sounding vocal, which in my opinion really brings to life the character portrayed on this song - that old, Southern country gentlemen, who believes "in coyotes, and time as an abstract". The harmonies are sweet, the music is faithful and Darius fits his part like a hand does a well-worn glove.

And there we have it, five R.E.M. covers that'll either melt your heart or melt your brain. I certainly hope it's the former, but you can never be sure, especially with Courtney Love's abysmal cover still festering in my head hours after I listened to her. Darren Barefoot, I think, is overly harsh in his analysis, as Great Big Sea's It's the End of the World cover is rather enjoyable, as is the 10,000 Maniacs version of Rockville. It really does seem to be a matter of opinion. I think I'll leave you with just one more:

Make of it what you may - that's the beauty of a cover.

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

100 Views!

2011-01-10T08:58:00.000-08:00

Hello all, small update this time. As of today, my blog has now reached over 100 (111 to be exact) views! I'd like to thank you all for visiting this site, and I hope you'll stop by again when the mood takes you.

If you're interested, here's the lowdown of visitors:

United Kingdom

United States

Norway

Malaysia

Australia

Costa Rica

Italy

Austria

Spain

Mexico

While I'm happy that so many 'locals' have taken the time to visit, I'm particularly pleased with the numbers from Norway and Malaysia - thank you for your contribution! This table doesn't track unique visitors, just so you know.

By reviewing my stats panel on the blog, I can tell that 91% of you are Windows users, and 36% of you use Internet Explorer. Why Blogger thinks I need to know this is anybody's guess - but I still think it's pretty cool. :)

Later on in the week, I'll be posting another bootleg, this time from the pre-Murmur era. In fact, this show was performed even before R.E.M. released Radio Free Europe! Taken from a soundboard recording at Tyrone's, Athens in 1981, this show is widely found on many bootleg records, albeit in a mostly incomplete form. I do have the whole show, but for the sake of quality over quantity I shall be putting up So Much Younger Then, which features 14 tracks from the 70-minute show. The rest will be uploaded eventually, but So Much Younger Then is such a good boot that I can't hesitate to release it.

Yours truly,

Auctioneer

Live @ MTV Unplugged 1991

2011-01-09T12:42:00.000-08:00

The cover I made, rather crappily, with Photoshop. Give me credit if you want to use it.

What with all my talk of bootlegs and all, it's about time I started uploading them! This is an old R.E.M. classic, and a real hard one to get hold of - the band's performance on MTV Unplugged, in 1991.

I guess I should tell you about bootleg policy. Back in the old days, Murmurs.com had a torrent section, called "Give It Away", which allowed users to get a hold of their favourite live concerts for free. Sadly, GIA is no longer available, but it kickstarted a whole host of bootlegging sites. R.E.M. supposedly had a verbal agreement with Murmurs about allowing bootlegs to be traded, as long as they weren't sold for money. I can neither confirm nor deny this, but I read an interview with Peter and Mike once which seems to support this fact.

I admit, I'm a little uneasy about uploading this one. R.E.M. shows that are bootlegged belong to R.E.M., which means although they're not strictly legal, we users can trade freely without hassle. However, MTV shows, even if they feature R.E.M., belong to MTV. As a result, these unplugged shows are incredibly hard to find, as most links are now dead due to MTV taking them off. Now, as I don't want to get sued, this bootleg will only be up for one more week, then after that you will need to contact me if you want this.

The whole situation is rather unfair. This was recorded twenty years ago, and so it's fairly obvious that MTV have no plans to release this, ever. But anyway, enough introduction. Here's the link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Z9SDXPUW

Even small files on this site take ages to download, so I suggest you visit during 'happy hour' (don't know what it is for U.S. folks, but in Britain it's 5 a.m. onwards!) to get the fastest speed.

Remember, one week is all you get. If you reach this page and find a dead link, e-mail me and I can send you the files directly. Enjoy this classic show!

Bootleg details:
Tracks:
1 - Half a World Away
2 - Disturbance at the Heron House
3 - Radio Song
4 - Low
5 - Perfect Circle
6 - Fall On Me
7 - Belong
8 - Love is All Around
9 - It's the End of the World as We Know It
10 - Losing My Religion
11 - Pop Song 89

Quality: A+
Rating: ◊◊◊◊◊ - One of the best bootlegs out there. If I was stranded on desert island and could only have one R.E.M. show, it'd be this one.

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

"Oh My Heart", AKA "Houston, Part 2"

2011-01-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

Most fans, I imagine, were expecting Mine Smell Like Honey to be the next track released by the band (I certainly was!), but instead R.E.M. chose to surprise us all by giving us a special New Year's treat in the form of Oh My Heart, the fourth track from the eagerly-anticipated Collapse Into Now. Those of you who read my last post will remember my frantic edits as I realised, to my horror, that I had been oblivious to its release during the entire writing of the day's blog post.

So what were my first impressions of the new track? Well, as I wrote yesterday (albeit in a rushed, unpolished form), Oh My Heart alludes in more ways than one to their previous album Accelerate, namely the song Houston. Not just in it's lyrics either* - Oh My Heart evokes the emotion as Houston does, with an acoustic, minor-key verse dominated by Peter Buck's guitar. However, where the new song differs lies in the instrumentation of the track. Heavily distorted drums and guitars that were present in 2008 have been replaced with a mandolin and a brass section, and the chorus focuses more on the backing vocal than it did in Houston.

Speaking of the backing vocals, I was surprised at the change of direction they took in this song. R.E.M.'s harmonies are usually very close and tightly-knit (for example the Mills/Berry vocal duo in Wolves, Lower), and so I suppose I could be excused for being rather taken aback at how much has changed over 30 years. Scott McCaughey and Mike Mills deliver an emotional, reverb-filled sound, which they further emphasise by placing their voices an octave apart, giving a unison effect. Actually, it kinda reminds me of one of those churches in America, where people join in massive sing-a-longs and add their own little ornamentation as they go.

Drums this time round are increasingly quiet, and in all honesty I didn't even realise they were there until my second listen. The musette used, along with the mandolin, gives the song a feeling I haven't experienced since I listened to Green for the very first time.

Alas, the question still remains in my head - do I like the song? After a whole night of deliberation and constantly putting my iPod onto 'repeat', my answer is something you'd probably expect from an adolescent:

"Uh... yeah. It's okay, I guess."

The truth is, I was never a big fan of the more downbeat elements of Accelerate, much as I praise the album, nor am I a huge fan of R.E.M.'s slow, sad songs in general. In fact, it was only yesterday that I actually listened to Houston all the way through. I feel nothing but shame. :(

So, in order to give this song the review it deserves, I have devised a simple 5-star rating system. Here's how it works.

◊ - 1 Star: Just don't listen to this. Please, for the love of God!

◊◊ - 2 Stars: A below-average track. Not really worth your bother.

◊◊◊ - 3 Stars: A good song. Not the greatest, but it's nice to listen to.

◊◊◊◊ - 4 Stars: Great. I highly recommend this song, and you'll want to hear it again and again.

◊◊◊◊◊ - 5 Stars: Excellent. R.E.M. at their very finest!

Keeping in mind I am an R.E.M. fan, some songs which I would rate '5' on an ordinary system would now probably be a '4' on this scale, as it is in relation to the rest of their back catalogue. I think you'll get what I mean. If you're pining for another example, I might give one fizzy drink a 10 out of 10 on an ordinary scale, but if I was rating it in comparison to other fizzy drinks of the same kind it may not be as highly rated (or, indeed, may be even more so!).

Now that that's out of the way, I'll rate the three songs I've reviewed on the blog thus far:

Discoverer - ◊◊◊◊ - A rocking tune that I'll put on my CDs for weeks to come.

It Happened Today - ◊◊◊◊◊ - This is possibly one of my favourites at the moment, of all time. I can't tell you how much I like it!

Oh My Heart - ◊◊◊ - A decent song, though not one I think will stand out on the new album.

And there you have it. If you're clamouring for Mine Smell Like Honey, you'll have to wait until January 18th, I'm afraid. Amazon have a 30-second preview of the track here, and you can hear a shorter snippet on the CIN trailer, but sadly that's all we have. My body can't take much more of the waiting - oh, my heart!

Yours truly,

Auctioneer

P.S. Sorry for the lame pun in the last line. I couldn't resist. :P

*The lyrics I'm referring to are in the third verse: The storm didn't kill me/The government changed, which closely resembles the first two lines of Houston: If the storm doesn't kill me/The government will. That's why I think of this song as "Houston, Part 2".

Michael Stipe's new website

2011-01-06T14:06:00.000-08:00

Michael Stipe... but my guess is you already knew that.

No matter how busy the band are with writing songs, playing concerts or doing interviews, J. Michael Stipe always seems to find time to do other things, such as his collaborations with other artists (notably Kurt Cobain of Nirvana* and Natalie Merchant of 10,000 Maniacs), his political activism, and his extensive work in the world of film. So far he has run two companies, C-00 and Single Cell Pictures, and has even appeared in an episode of The Simpsons, one I have yet to watch.

So why am I bringing all this up now? Well, it would seem Michael has embarked on another project, this time on the microblogging website Tumblr.com and in time for his birthday two days ago. On his new site, "Confessions of a Michael Stipe" (WARNING: Picture of a naked woman down the page!), Michael posts pictures of what he describes on REMHQ.com as "work images and studies". I'm not really sure how taking a photo of a plastic chair incorporates into his work as a photographer/film-maker, but there you go.

However, as I click through the three pages of images, I notice some pretty interesting stuff. Quite a few of the pictures were taken during R.E.M.'s recording sessions during their time in Nashville and Berlin, two of the places the band visited to record Collapse Into Now. Sadly, the photos are not of landmarks or the studio (although the official YouTube page has a few clips of the recording sessions in Nashville taken by Stipe himself), but of some green liquid and a wall. Oh well.

In addition to this web page, Michael also runs MichaelStipe.com (ANOTHER WARNING: Lots of flashy images, and more nudity, although it's gone so quickly you'd hardly notice it). When I visited the site today, I was and still am a little confused. Just what on earth is going on there? Take a look for yourself and see what you make of it.

This review may seem a little negative to some. Truth be told, I don't fully understand the film industry at large, and so perhaps a more knowledgeable person will see these websites and find them utterly fascinating. I'm not criticizing what Stipe does - he obviously has a lot of talent for the arts - but I think in the long run it'll be his work in music, and with R.E.M., that defines his legacy.

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

*It should be noted that this collaboration never truly happened, as Michael was trying to use it as a diversion to stop Cobain from taking his own life. Sadly, Kurt committed suicide on April 5, 1994, whilst listening to R.E.M.'s Automatic for the People.

EDIT: Oh my giddy aunt! While I was writing this, I was totally oblivious to the fact the R.E.M. have just released a new song and lyric video! It's called "Oh My Heart", and you can find it here. Rest assured a review will be coming up very soon. First impression - sounds quite good, I like the lyrical tie-in with Houston from Accelerate in the third verse. And that's where the brass band comes in!

ANOTHER EDIT: Would also like to wish a belated happy birthday to Mr. Stipe, who is 51 as of two days ago but still looks as youthful as ever. :)

"Discoverer" and "It Happened Today" - Reviews of two great new songs

2011-01-03T10:02:00.000-08:00

It was really just by chance that I 'discovered' Discoverer (apologies for the major pun). I came home from school, switched on the computer and checked out R.E.M. HQ on the off chance there might be some new info about the album. Little did I know at the time of the sonic powerhouse that awaited me...

Perhaps I'm laying on the praise a little too heavily here, but Discoverer is still a rocking tune, by any means. Buck's overdriven guitars, panned to the max, give the track an ambience that is complemented by Mike Mills' frankly eerie bass and Bill Rielfin's minimalist drums (at least, I assume it's Bill - if anyone can confirm this it would be much appreciated).

Then Michael Stipe comes in. At first listen I didn't like his vocal approach, and I admit that freely. The chorus sounded particularly dire - the sound coming from his throat was more like shouting than singing at times, and when it came to the last line "Noooooow!" was more like a wail than a note. But it would seem the vocals here were somewhat of an acquired taste, because with each listen I found myself enjoying the track more and more, and my opinion of Stipe's vocals turned from awful to awesome overnight.

On the whole, I was glad they hadn't taken too much of a leap from Accelerate, as that was the album that got me hooked on them in the first place. But they have added elements from their previous albums too. Whilst Accelerate was a short, fast, politically-charged attack, Discoverer lowers the tempo slightly, and every so often you notice things that eluded you on your previous listen, much like R.E.M.'s early albums.

I have only one complaint about this song, and that is the absence of Mills' excellent vocal harmonies. One of the reasons I didn't like Around the Sun was because his vocals were mixed so low that they may as well not be there at all. On Discoverer, he's louder, but he's just singing in unison with Michael. I guess it's better than nothing at all, but I would have liked him to be a bit more... there.

Thankfully, I can't say the same about It Happened Today, which I can essentially describe as a two-minute song with a two-minute vocal jam at the end. And that, my friends, is why I like it so much.

The chord progression used by Peter Buck in the song is a standard I-V-vi-IV, for those who play an instrument, but the melody is interesting enough and the lyrics are astute, for want of a better word. Considering the clever word choice here (who on earth would think of putting "allegory" in a song? I know I wouldn't), the chorus seems a little odd when taken out of the context of the music:

It happened today, hooray, hooray,
It happened, hip, hip hooray.

See what I mean? But when Stipe and Mills are singing as well as they are, it doesn't matter anyway. Speaking of singers, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Hidden Cameras' Joel Gibb make guest appearances on the track, adding extra counter melodies and turning this song into something special. I recall someone saying he was "Vedder-deaf" when listening to this, but he is definitely there - he's singing higher than Stipe and lower than Mills, and he applies his own unique style which can be heard throughout and quite audibly at the end. As for Joel Gibb, I had never heard him prior to this, so I'm not sure which voice is his - I'm guessing, but I think it may be the falsetto you can hear sometimes on the near right pan.

So, my overall impression? That this may just be the best R.E.M. album yet, if things continue the way they're going. Judging by these songs and the trailer, I can find no fault in the direction they have decided to move in. I've seen a lot of people criticise Michael Stipe's lyrics on the new album, calling them "uninspiring" and just plain "boring", but I don't mind, really. They may not be his best, but it's the music that matters most, and it's the music that we'll still be playing a whole year after the album comes out this March!

Yours truly,
Auctioneer

This time it's for myself, you call it what you may...

2011-01-02T13:20:00.000-08:00

If you're reading this, it means you've stumbled into my little abode on the far reaches of the Internet (well, considering this website is owned by Google, it's not that far). So, I'd like to start off by saying hello. My name's Auctioneer - at least, that's my name on here - and this is my blog dedicated to R.E.M. You name it, I'm intending to cover it - reviews, bootlegs and rarities, and comment on all the latest news from Murmurs, R.E.M. HQ and the like.

So why did I suddenly decide to start this blog? Well, after seeing some of the sterling work done by my fellow bootleggers and R.E.M. fans (see their links on the sidebar, they're well worth a visit!) I thought I could take a crack at it too. And what better place to start than a simple blog?

I've been a big fan of the band for about half a year now, although I had always liked them ever since I was a little nipper, listening to Imitation of Life in the car with my mum, thinking that it was Billy Joel who was singing. My mother had always been a fan of R.E.M. too, and she owned cassette copies of classic albums such as Out of Time and Automatic for the People. It's thanks to her that I started listening to R.E.M. in the first place.

But enough introduction! I assume that if you're still reading you'll want to read some more posts. This blog will be updated at least once a week, maybe more, maybe less depending on school and other commitments. In any case, I hope you enjoy what you read. Stay tuned for next time when I review R.E.M.'s first two released songs from their upcoming album Collapse Into Now. See you then!

Yours truly,

Auctioneer