Apparently taking a break from recording R.E.M.’s next album in New Orleans, Michael Stipe last week uploaded a series of five short videos to YouTube entitled “Tribute to YouTube 5 Year.” The somewhat nonsensical clips — ranging from about 30 to 60 seconds long — find the singer, well, goofing off; in the first (shown above), Stipe runs around with a camera mounted atop a “big stick,” while the other four (below) feature the frontman vaguely vocalizing (“Lay me down” can be made out at one point) over a recording of an Out of Time-esque mandolin/guitar part while standing in and on top of various objects (a pot, a pair of chairs, a forklift, etc.).
See more of Michael Stipe’s videos after the jump…
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Video: R.E.M.’s Mike Mills covers Billy Bragg’s ‘Sing Their Souls Back Home’
- Milestones: R.E.M. turns 30 today; band made live debut April 5, 1980
- Record Store Day vinyl from R.E.M., Sonic Youth, Ramones, Factory Records
- Spin in the ’80s: The Cure, R.E.M., Morrissey, The Replacements and much more
- Bill Berry plays ‘Crazy Like a Fox’ cover on R.E.M.’s new fan club Christmas single
- Video: Michael Stipe shoots iPhone clips of R.E.M. in the recording studio
