R.E.M.’s Fables (and my own)

Jul 16 2010 Published by under Music, Personal

REM's "Fables of the Reconstruction" cover

At the end of the day, when there are no friends, when there are no lovers, who are you going to call for?  What do you have to change?

–R.E.M., “Good Advices”

R.E.M.’s Fables of the Reconstruction was given the deluxe edition treatment this week–a remastered original CD and an extra CD featuring demos the band did in Athens just before flying to London to record the work with Joe Boyd.  As deluxe editions go, this one is excellent simply because the second disk is not only a great listen but previously unreleased (for the most part), therefore making the whole thing worth purchasing even if you already own the album.  And, yes, I bought my copy.  When the first notes of “Feeling Gravity’s Pull” started up, I was suddenly taken back in time to 1985, to a point in my own musical history that has few parallels. Continue Reading »

Comments are off for this post

In Praise of Aeroplane (In Search of Lost Sound Part III)

Jun 16 2009 Published by under Music

I bought Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea years ago and have enjoyed it for most of those years (took a few listens to get it, but I got it fairly quickly).  Still, I never really LISTENED to it until about two months ago.

By LISTEN, I mean actually sitting down, not doing anything else, just LISTENING to it listening, the kind of listening I reserve only for the absolutely greatest music I’ve ever heard in my entire life.  Now, I love music and have for a very long time, but albums I will drop everything to LISTEN to are rare.  There was Bob Dylan’s Biograph, a few Stones albums (definitely Exile, possibly Beggar’s Banquet), the first Tricky album, Richard and Linda Thompson’s Shoot Out the Lights, Arvo Part’s Tabula Rasa, most everything by Boards of Canada and Sigur Ros and William Basinski, The Conet Project, and Joanna Newsom’s Ys.  And now Aeroplane. Continue Reading »

Comments are off for this post