The year of The Jam’s birth — 1977, the year punk broke — will be celebrated this fall with a 40th anniversary 5-disc box set, aptly titled 1977, that will include the band’s first two albums, a disc of demos, a collection of Peel session recordings and live tracks, and a DVD of TV appearances. Check out the full tracklist.
Today we unveil the results of Round 3 of our latest Slicing Up Eyeballs readers poll series, a 1-to-282 ranking of R.E.M.’s entire catalog of songs recorded between 1981 — the original Hib-Tone release of “Radio Free Europe” — and the band’s eventual break-up in 2011. Check out the full list right here.
Now that we’ve unveiled the results of our latest Slicing Up Eyeballs readers poll — one that ranks 282 songs recorded by R.E.M. — it seems like a good excuse to put that data to good use. Namely, we’ve thrown together a Spotify playlist of that ranked countdown. Well, minus the 38 songs that aren’t on the streaming service.
Record Rack: A round-up of the week’s new albums, expanded reissues and/or box sets, appearing each Monday on Slicing Up Eyeballs. All releases due out this Friday unless noted. This week’s releases include titles by The Fall, Jane’s Addiction, The Rain Parade, Blancmange and Brian Eno.
“Dark Wave,” hosted by Slicing Up Eyeballs’ Matt Sebastian, airs 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. EDT every Sunday on Sirius XM satellite radio’s 1st Wave (Channel 33). The most recent two episodes also are available via Sirius XM’s On Demand service for online subscribers. Here’s the full playlist from tonight’s show.
The legendary 40 Watt Club in Athens, Ga. — an early home base for college-rock mainstays R.E.M., The B-52s, Pylon, Love Tractor, Guadalcanal Diary and more — was burglarized Friday, with dozens of pieces of equipment stolen related to the venue’s PA system. Members of R.E.M. and Cracker have offered rewards.
After dropping three new songs over the last three Saturdays, Paul Westerberg today doubled up, releasing the electric rocker “Dead Sick Of” via his anonymous Soundcloud account, plus a cover of Hank Williams’ “Someday You’ll Call My Name.” Listen to both right here.
Q&A: Daniel Ash on Love and Rockets’ reunion, his new band — and figuring out how to play “So Alive” 
Q&A: Chris Frantz talks Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club and new book ‘Remain in Love’ 
Q&A: Steve Wynn on The Dream Syndicate’s first new album in nearly 30 years 
Q&A: Bauhaus’ David J on his ‘accidental’ concept album ‘Not Long For This World’ 
Q&A: Peter Murphy on ‘Ninth,’ Bauhaus’ break-up, reuniting Dalis Car 
Q&A: Joey Santiago on Pixies’ ‘Doolittle’ tour, possible ‘Surfer Rosa’ shows, new album talk 
Q&A: Prefab Sprout’s Paddy McAloon on new album, changing the world with music 
Q&A: Peter Hook talks ‘Unknown Pleasures’ tour, re-recording Joy Division 