[Interview] R.E.M. 'Accelerate' 2008 by MTV

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This is R.E.M. 2008

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We are saving the band

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A 21st century group

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Why 'Accelerate'?

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[Review] R.E.M. - Accelerate att. MV & Download

It's still a dog : R.E.M. find hope despite the (recent) times.

There's a well worn concept in music criticism - one probably applied more rigidly to rock than anywhere else - known as 'the career arc'. Variations can be found, but the most commonly utilised version follows thusly:

a) underground darlings

b) slow move to alt.mainstream / mainstream-mainstream recognition

c) big album explosion / 'biggest band in the world'

d) more 'selective' appeal / shadow of artistic and/or commercial self

e) honorary elders of rock, feted for growing old gracefully.

Whilst there is also many an example you could use to illustrate this, it could be argued that - at least currently - R.E.M. represent the condition more so than most. The real question is, can they finally tick box e, having struggled trapped in box d (at least on record) for the best part of a decade. Before I bore you with what will probably be another precis of what has brought about that decade of artistic inertia, without indulging once again my theories on critical revisionism (or how we crap on those who have served us best for the slightest errant move), I do need to admit that personally I will put the Murmur to Automatic For The People run up there with pretty much any decade long run of albums you care to mention. I'd also contend that New Adventures in Hi-Fi, a vastly underrated album then and now, would have extended that run had it not been predeced by the self-consciously glam/grunge hybrid that was Monster (not a bad record in itself, but certainly strained and contrived in areas).

What is also true however, is that the real monster that has dogged the latter part of the band's career has been the departure of Bill Berry in 1997, and the inescapable ceasura it created between the light and the shade of their output. The first three albums the triumvirate R.E.M. put out have seen a band floundering, unsure of where to go, of who to be, of exactly what that band is now supposed to represent. Up and Reveal would have both made good 5 or 6 track ep's, characterised as they both were by distinct high points surrounded by muddled lethargy. Stick Leaving New York and The Ascent Of Man (from the otherwise dreary and anaemic Around The Sun) on, and you could cobble together a good post-Berry R.E.M. sampler - but still something well below that which went before.

So now they're back. Again. With another new modus operandi designed to kick start the creative motors, embodied by the 'live rehearsal' week in Dublin last year. The fact that those shows, and the new songs aired within, were greeted with no short measure of positivity bode well, but then again, R.E.M.'s live chops have never really been in question. It's actually all about how - IF - they could take this new impetus and allow it to invigour and embolden them in the studio, rather than be hamstrung once more by the studio environment. Let's face it, making an off-the-cuff, punky, live sounding record can end up sounding utterly contrived if not handled correctly.

The album is, from the off, fast and furious, (except in the areas where it's fucking fast, and the odd part which is a bit slower). Opener Living Well Is The Best Revenge comes out of the speakers like it's just shot Marvin in the face, a bastard cousin of Iggy's Funtime, the intro all Buck's razor-edged jangles, and Mills' high end bass notes tumbling and cascading down the scale, as Stipe's declamatory hollering bashes its way through. Man-sized Wreath follows a similar path, with shears of guitar underpinning the verses, before the chorus bounces in with Mills' long harmonising "Ah"'s perfectly underscoring the chorus and its exultation of 'kicking out on the dancefloor like you just dont care'. Michael...I've seen you dance......

One of the frustraions of the R.E.M. of the last 10 years has been that the lead singles have been false promises - Imitation Of Life, Daysleeper, and Leaving New York promised much and the rest delivered little. Certainly Supernatural Superserious meets the first criteria, another perfect choice for a lead track, not as intense and rasping as much of the rest of the album, but ebullient and melodic. The sombre piano opening of Hollow Man does give you the willies a bit, puts the "Shit the bed lads, not again" monkey in the room, but its a great false start, its simplicity and shifts in pace offering patches of breath from the overall rush without losing the momentum.

Houston introduces more shifts of pace as we hit the mid-section of the record, takes the pace down, mixing high end organ with low, coarsing guitar, reminiscent of the cello on Sweetness Follows. There is an obvious reference to open with ('if the storm doesn't kill me the government will'), Stipe the polemicist back, but the actual song taps into a more personal sense ('I've got to get that out of my head'), a perspective of and from the south of America, not dwelling on the damage the politicians did in the aftermath of Katrina. Yes it is bluntly acknowledging that damage but spends more time on, however cliched it might sound, the spirit of the people and places Stipe connects with, strong in the face of the weakness and disregard of their leaders, the strength of the associations he has with the places winning out over the desolation -

'Houston is filled with promise....And Galveston sings like that song that I loved

It's meaning has not been erased...' .

Similar pronouncements are made on Until The Day Is Done ; think the undulating acoustic guitar of Swan Swan H, the deep atmospherics of Drive, but without the layers and layers that you might have come to expect over recent years, allowing full rein to Stipe's treatise on how 'the verdict is dire, the country's in ruins / providence blinked facing the sun' - this contexting of 'providence', the foreseeing care and guidance of God or nature over the creatures of the earth, which 'America Inc.' specifically reserves for itself above any other, damns the gap illuminated between what is projected, and what actually is. Mr.Richards follows on and makes something out of the wasted melody that made up Chorus and the Ring, a tepid drawl from Reveal, and continues its examination of the body politic, reminding the titluar every-politician that 'you're mistaken if you think we'll just forget.... Pay attention...we know what's going on'.

Sing for the Submarine stands out due to being more dense and obtuse, with an instrumental breakdown akin to something Comets On Fire would work out for about half an hour, all mountainous drums and searing guitars, falling into a plucked, doleful resolution. Lyrically its more of Stipe's opacity, but punctuated with telling self references to 'electron blue', how he can 'feel gravity's pull' and 'the world as we know it, the high speed train, we'll pick it all up and start again'. The relative calm is forgotten with the closing tracks however ; Horse To Water is a flail of crunching guitars and breakneck drums, and closer I'm Gonna DJ is daffy and teasingly throwaway, but perhaps, given its recent tenure in the R.E.M. live set is a testament to how much the live experience has informed this record - so why not finish it in the same way. And then its all over, in just over half an hour! I'd defy most to not just put it on again. And again.....

Accelerate is a wonderful balance of nods, glances and in some places heavy leaps towards former glories, but ones imbued with a confidence and belief that produce R.E.M.'s most cohesive record since Automatic..., their ballsiest record since Life's Rich Pageant. It's no blithe patchwork of old references, more a joyous celebration of the freeing potency of reconnection, both the nub of the problem and the epiphanous movement forward being best described in the title track, which has riding on top of its juggernauting drums and excoriating guitars lines such as 'Where is the rip cord, the trap door, the key?

Where is cartoon escape hatch for me?

No time to question the choices I make

I've got to fall in another direction....accelerate'.

Thankfully, eventually, they've only just gone and cracked it haven't they - and cracked it hard! Yes, they have done so by tapping into their past, but in doing so have released themselves from that fruitless identity quest they were on, and have discovered that what was important about the Stipe quote of 1998 , "A three legged dog is still a dog, it just has to learn to run differently", was not the latter part but the former. It's still a dog, its ability to run is instinctive. R.E.M. forgot what they were due to assumptions that they would have learn to be something different in order to survive. They have reminded not only us, but themselves why they were, and thankfully are once more, such an important band.

Release date: 31/03/08
Artist website: www.remhq.com
Label: Warners

### R.E.M. Accelerate: Previews of Every Song ###

### Download R.E.M. Accelerate

ARTIST : R.E.M

TITLE : Accelerate

LABEL : Warner Bros

GENRE : Rock

BITRATE : 208 kbps avg

SOURCE : CD (LP)

PLAYTIME : 00:34:34 (54.6MB)

STORE DATE : 2008-03-30

Track List ----------

1. Living Well Is The Best Revenge 3:12

2. Man-Sized Wreath 2:33

3. Supernatural Superserious 3:23

4. Hollow Man 2:39

5. Houston 2:05

6. Accelerate 3:33

7. Until The Day Is Done 4:08

8. Mr. Richards 3:46

9. Sing For The Submarine 4:50

10. Horse To Water 2:18

11. I'm Gonna Dj 2:07

Produced by Jacknife Lee & R.E.M. www.remhq.com

Download Links:http://rapidshare.com/files/99852551/-Accel3rate.rar.html

Mirror:http://www.shareonall.com/-accel3rate_bihl.rar

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R.E.M. On Tour

Find the R.E.M. show near your area.

March 2008
Monday, Mar 24 @ 7:30 PM Royal Albert HallLondon, United Kingdom

May 2008
Friday, May 23 @ 7:00 PM Deer Lake ParkBurnaby, British Columbia
Thursday, May 29 @ 9:00 PM Bowl Los Angeles, California
Saturday, May 31 @ 6:00 PM Greek Theatre-U.C. BerkeleyBerkeley, California

June 2008
Tuesday, Jun 3 @ 7:00 PM Red Rocks AmphitheatreMorrison, Colorado
Friday, Jun 6 @ 7:00 PM United CenterChicago, Illinois
Sunday, Jun 8 @ 8:00 PM Molson AmphitheatreToronto, Ontario
Tuesday, Jun 10 @ 7:00 PM Walnut Creek AmphitheatreRaleigh, North Carolina
Wednesday, Jun 11 @ 8:00 PM Merriweather Post PavilionColumbia, Maryland
Friday, Jun 13 @ 7:00 PM Tweeter Center for the Performing ArtsMansfield, Massachusetts
Wednesday, Jun 18 @ 7:00 PM The Mann CenterPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Thursday, Jun 19 @ 8:00 PM Madison Square GardenNew York, New York
Saturday, Jun 21 @ 5:00 PM Lakewood AmphitheatreAtlanta, Georgia

July 2008
Wednesday, Jul 2 @ 7:30 PM WestergasfabriekAmsterdam, Holland
Jul 3 to Jul 3 Werchter ParkWerchter, Belgium
Jul 4 to Jul 6 Kobetamendi BilbaoBILBAO, Spain
Jul 6 to Jul 6 Castelló d'EmpuríesCastelló d'Empuríes (Girona), Spain
Wednesday, Jul 9 @ 8:30 PM Théatre de VerdureNice, France
Jul 11 to Jul 13 Punchestown RacecourseCo Kildare, Ireland
Wednesday, Jul 16 @ 8:00 PM WaldbühneBerlin, Germany
Friday, Jul 18 @ 8:30 PM Piazza GrandeLocarno, Switzerland
Jul 20 to Jul 20 PerugiaPerugia, Italy
Monday, Jul 21 @ 9:00 PM arena di veronaverona, Italy
Wednesday, Jul 23 @ 9:00 PM Neapolis Festival, Mostra D'Oltremare Napoli, Italy
Thursday, Jul 24 @ 9:00 PM Villa ManinCodroipo, Italy
Saturday, Jul 26 @ 9:00 PM Arena civicaMilan, Italy

August 2008
Aug 12 to Aug 18 ÓBUDAI ISLANDBudapest, Hungary
Sunday, Aug 17 @ 8:00 PM Slavia StadiumPrague, Czech Republic
Tuesday, Aug 19 @ 7:00 PM Ehrenhof Neues Schloss, SchlossplatzStuttgart, Germany
Wednesday, Aug 20 @ 8:00 PM Loreley FreilichtbühneSt. Goarshausen, Germany
Friday, Aug 22 @ 7:30 PM Festung MarienbergWuerzburg, Germany
Sunday, Aug 24 @ 4:00 PM Lancashire County Cricket ClubManchester, United Kingdom
Monday, Aug 25 @ 5:30 PM Millennium Stadium CardiffWales, United Kingdom
Wednesday, Aug 27 @ 5:30 PM The Rose BowlSouthampton, United Kingdom
Saturday, Aug 30 @ 5:30 PM Twickenham StadiumTwickenham, Middlesex, United Kingdom

September 2008
Wednesday, Sep 3 @ 7:30 PM Ullevaal StadionOslo, Norway
Thursday, Sep 4 @ 6:00 PM KoengenBergen, Norway
Saturday, Sep 6 @ 8:00 PM ParkenCopenhagen, Denmark
Sunday, Sep 7 @ 8:00 PM StadionStockholm, Sweden
Tuesday, Sep 9 @ 8:00 PM Finnair StadiumHelsinki, Finland

Official website : R.E.M.

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R.E.M.: fast, furious and fun

The band breaks from its latest run to talk about rock, three decades into the game.

By Ann Powers, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

AUSTIN, TEXAS -- YOU'D think 15 minutes with one member of R.E.M. would be a lot like 15 minutes with another. In the rush and grind of promoting "Accelerate," the band's 14th album, at the South by Southwest Music Conference, Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills didn't have much more to spare.

A Wednesday club show at Stubb's Bar-B-Q led to a Thursday taping of the venerable "Austin City Limits" TV series; in between there was radio to do, a campaign's worth of hands to shake, and a new set of songs to try to thoroughly grasp.


Media encounters inked into such a run take on an inevitable shape: for a veteran band, it means discussing the new album (this one rocks), assuring fans you still enjoy the job ("fun" is the operative word for these three), and offering some warm memories and rejiggered hopes for the future. Potentially meaningful encounters with journalists turn semianonymous, like visits from the cable guy. Even smart, friendly, seasoned artists can't be blamed for resorting to stock answers.


But for the passing moment in which these three submit to amiable grilling, they are fully present. This is an old game for them, but they take it seriously.


"The truth is, I've been working so hard I haven't had time to land," said Stipe when asked what it means for R.E.M. to be here, at a festival rooted in the indie-rock scene the band was so instrumental in creating. When he did talk about legacy, wasn't in terms of music, but politics, and generations.


"As a 48-year-old, I'm thrilled to have someone younger to vote for," said the unabashed supporter of 46-year-old Sen. Barack Obama. "I think we screwed it up, you know? I'm looking at and talking to and hanging out with people born during the Reagan era, and I feel like our generation, we did what we could, but it really wasn't enough. I think we can continue to inspire -- I hope -- or support the next generation or the generation below. But I think it's time to pass the baton to them and see what they can do with this mess."


Meanwhile, R.E.M. is busy redefining the romance of its own existence. Except for U2, no other band of its generation has been stuck with so much heavy meaning. As one of indie rock's co-founders -- along with many more obscure bands, such as the Dream Syndicate and Hüsker Dü, whom Buck habitually name-checks -- R.E.M. still represents the idea that amplified, guitar-based songs can bring people together and even form the basis for a larger life.


"Being in a band is a lifestyle," said Mills. "Being politically active is a lifestyle. Being a fan of music is a lifestyle. You can combine those things, and it does become a big community. That's a very difficult thing to do, and when you can pull that off -- when you can make so many people feel the same sort of passion -- you've done something really good for the world in general, I think."


It's a beautiful ideal, and on some level, it has to be an illusion. Like any long-lived band, R.E.M. is also a business that has to keep renewing itself.


The meditative, electronics-influenced albums the trio has made since drummer Bill Berry's 1997 departure haven't always pleased longtime fans, who miss the driving melodicism of classic works such as "Document" or "Murmur." "Accelerate," which hits the Internet on Monday via the Facebook-friendly music application iLike, before arriving April 1 as a physical disc, willfully answers that criticism. It is songful and determined, a frank gesture of self-acceptance.


"I'm just really personally pleased that they made this album at this point in their career, on an artistic level," said the group's longtime manager, Bertis Downs, backstage at "Austin City Limits." "People wouldn't have thought this was the record they'd make, and I'm not sure they would have thought it was the record they'd make. Whatever it does commercially -- and it's gonna sell -- the fact that they've made this record in their career is a very good thing, artistically. I hope it's the first of many, many more; it may very well not be. But I just think it's really nice that they have."


Asked whether "Accelerate" represents some idea of "classic R.E.M.," Buck cringes just a bit. "You try to avoid repetition," he said. "I could probably rewrite 'Murmur' every day, and that would be a little less than interesting. Sometimes you do come up with a really great chord change, and you say to yourself, you know, this sounds like something I might have done 10 years ago. But if it's great, you take it."


Buck is forthright, with a hint of a laugh behind his quick answers. ("Music is all he does," Mills says of his tune-writing partner.) Playing in R.E.M. has become an extension of his larger life as a working musician in the Pacific Northwest, where nobody's overly committed to one band. Recently Buck has played guitar with indie-pop guru Robyn Hitchcock and toured in bands with R.E.M.'s longstanding sidemen, drummer Bill Rief- lin and multi-instrumentalist Scott McCaughey. Buck's love for playing seems inexhaustible; he still enjoys sound checks. And there are plenty of those ahead during a 5 1/2 - month world tour that stops May 29 at the Hollywood Bowl.

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