We brought you news of R.E.M.’s expanded reissue of Automatic For the People yesterday, but now the band officially has announced the project, and given fans the first taste of one of its 20 unreleased demos in the form of “Mike’s Pop Song,” a sweet, “fully realized” track sung by Mike Mills. Stream it right here.
Back in June, R.E.M.’s Mike Mills and Peter Buck traveled to Norway for the Sun Station Vadsø festival, featuring performances by a series of intertwined bands including The Dream Syndicate, Filthy Friends, The Minus 5 and The Baseball Project. Watch footage of them playing R.E.M. songs.
Police in Athens, Ga., this week arrested a former contractor accused of stealing $20,000 in audio gear from the 40 Watt Club, a burglary that had drawn offers of more than $15,000 in rewards from members of R.E.M., Camper Van Beethoven and others. The gear has been recovered, police said.
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.
Last night at the venerable 40 Watt Club in Athens, Ga., Drivin’ N Cryin’ paid tribute to late guitarist Buren Fowler, who played with that band from 1988 to 1993 after working as Peter Buck’s guitar tech and an occasional second guitarist on two R.E.M. tours.
By now you’ve heard about R.E.M.’s Mike Mills breaking the news of David Letterman’s retirement yesterday, but here’s the reason he was even there: Mills and former bandmate Peter Buck reunited on “The Late Show” to back Joseph Arthur’s performance of “Walk on the Wild Side.”
As we noted over the weekend, the former members of R.E.M. seemed to go out of their way to avoid staging a full reunion Saturday night at Peter Buck’s wedding in Portland, Ore., as all four ex-bandmates took the stage to perform at the Wonder Ballroom at one point or another — just never all at once.
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