R.E.M. - A Late Appreciation Pt. 1

I never wrote about R.E.M. breaking up. It didn't seem necessary. It was popular knowledge, and the band didn't mean as much to me as they used to when I was younger.

But now some time has passed, I still listen to their music, and I started thinking about it. Did I ever tell you about the time I met Michael Stipe and Mike Mills? No? I didn't mention Stipe insisted that I sniff his hand? Or reveal that Mills showed off his bellybutton? Well, if you want to hear about it leave a comment. For now, I will leave you with Leave, an R.E.M. track that I think is beautiful yet not enough people have heard. If you aren't sure about the first version, check out the others, please give it more than one try.







I am definitely not the only one who loves this tune, here are a few covers to prove it.





Of course, even after the band is gone, music is coming out...like this remix that Stipe really digs. Not my cup of tea but you might like it.

Imaginary Cities - Still Good, Onward and Upward

photo by Trevor Marczylo - nice!

Some smartypants smart-aleck smarticle-particle suggested Scrunchy the Yak should support Imaginary Cities. Huh?! He can't mean this blog, I was telling folks how Imaginary Cities were one of my faves back in January of last year. The guy musta been talking about someone else. Don't know who Scrunchy the Yak is, but it sure is a dumb name.

Anyhow, here's more Imaginary Cities for ya. Still good, ep now available in the U.S., the band just hit SXSW. IC don't sound like any Winnipeg band that I have have ever heard, or actually any Canuck band - it's pretty hard to be original these days, but Marti Sarbit and Rusty Matyas have accomplished it, don't ya think?

Atlas Genius - Trojans

My oldest son, not yet a teenager, called this song hipster music when I played it in our automobile. He told me I was not to play hipster country and furthermore that I was a hipster. I can live with that.

Two other young whippersnappers told me to update this blog recently, so this is for RS and CP. What do you think, is this hipster music or just a good catchy song?

Don't know much about Australian band Atlas Genius, but I like this one and look forward to hearing more. Please leave a comment, I'd love to pass it on to my hipster kid.