Our pick this week represent my immense excitement that the new REM record is set to be released April 1. By all accounts it's supposed to be one of their finest records and deliver on the promise of the new songs on the In Time best of (Bad Day & Animal). Around the Sun was a good record, but it seemed to be missing something. If you saw them on the Best of tour or the Around the Sun tour you know what I mean.
Back in July, the band played 5 nights at the Olympia theater in Dublin, Ireland (which I didn't get to go to because no one loves me enough). Billed as a "Working Rehearsal", they played early versions of the new songs. Some of the songs didn't have titles yet. They had a banner behind the stage that declared, "This is not a concert". They used it as a chance to work out the new material in front of a crowd. Just something different and special for the fans there.
The first single is called Supernatural Superserious and you can hear a snippet of it on their website, RemHQ.com. (upper right hand corner. Hit listen on the banner.) I couldn't find anything video wise for it yet, so I chose this one. It's the first track on the new album and its working title was "Fast One in B". I tried to find the best quality I could, but you get the idea.
Better late than never (Special Saturday edition of NMT)
Since it's finally winter outside, and seriously, make sure it's a month after Christmas, I wanted to put these out there for those of us in the cold. (anyone in Orlando, where it's 80 degrees, those in NH and ATL invite you to suck it). It's cold here and just finished raining after doing so most of the day. It's that kind of raw cold that sticks to you, which is nice and I am about to go out in it.
Our friends in Atlanta and New Hampsha are not so lucky. Atlanta is expected to get 2 inches of snow (that sound you hear is New Hampsha scoffing at a mere 2 inches. They call that April). However, Atlanta doesn't usually get snow, so they're not prepared for it. I"m sure they'll survive when it all melts tomorrow.
So, sit back, get in your favorite jammies, find a blanket and get someone to cuddle with (If you're married just worry about those first two, you're excused from the cuddle part) and here's some songs to help you feel warm.
Everyone say Happy Birthday to Allison. Our bonus tracks will be aimed at her since it's her day and all (and don't the rest of you greedy bastards be looking for special birthday NMT's. I always forget hers, so it's only fair). Happy birthday Alison, uh, I mean Allison.
Our pick this week comes from the movie Once. You may remember this was mentioned way back on NMT 10. The lead singer from the Irish band The Frames is the lead in this film and he sings his own songs in it. I loved this movie and you should all watch it. Now (and this is for Amanda's benefit only, since the rest of you have your men pretty much house broken at this point), it's listed as a musical, but I can assure you it's not at all. There is a lot of music in it and they sing a lot, but it's not like regular musicals where everyone sings what they are doing, they just sing their own songs in proper context, recording, busking on the street, etc. You do get a feel for some of the back story a little from the lyrics, but that's what good songs do.
The story is basically, this guy is a songwriter and sings on the street for change (called busking in Europe) and working with his dad. He meets a Czech woman (hey I think Allison spent time in Czechoslovakia - double bonus) on the street, they hang out, she convinces him to record his songs and go to London to find his ex. That's the short version, but it's really was a great movie that's very personal and is made with heart. It's done very low key, mostly hand held shots so you get that feeling you're watching someone film an actual moment.
Anyways, I won't give it all away. I will tell you that as I understand it, the actors fell in love while making the movie and are dating now. When you watch the movie, you can see it.
I'll set up the part of the film this song comes from: The girl comes back the next day because she wants him to fix her vacuum (that's what he does with his dad) and he takes her to get coffee. They talk about music and how she used to play piano, but doesn't have one in her apartment. She goes to a local music shop during lunch and the owner lets her play for an hour.
So they go to this shop, she sits down at the piano and plays him some wonderful music. She then asks him to show her one of his songs so they can play together. He does and this is what happens:
Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova - Falling Slowly:
Bonus Tracks:
Happy Birthday my dear. Everybody: get your bandannas out.
I don't know why I thought about this, but I did. The first time I saw this video, it was on VH1 late at night and I liked it straight away. I thought it was odd that I liked something on Vh1 because at the time, it was where they played the old people music (Now that we've all got 30 surrounded and they keep putting on our old videos, shit ain't that funny anymore).
To put some perspective, this was late 1992, Nirvana had broken into the suburbs and all that wonderful, loud angst was the order of the day. I was all in to it, 15-15 years old, white middle class suburbia, it was perfect. I remember the first time I heard Smells Like Teen..., it was on the way to school one morning and I knew then, that's where it was going to be at for me.
Anyway, in the midst of all of this, this weird little video with a girl in a blue chiffon dress on a stark white background, with a piano, a box and a little girl running around. I don't know what it was, but something about it drew me to it. It's a song about a girl talking to an ex or an asshole lover that she's finally speaking up to and I remember thinking the line "So you found a girl who thinks really deep thoughts.../boy you best pray that I bleed real soon/how's that thought for you" was really funny (few years later, it would become very unfunny, but at the time.)
I went to the Camelot Music in the Florida Mall the next day and bought the tape. I listened to it pretty much non-stop for like a month, much to the chagrin of my friend Nathan, who was bumming rides to school from me.
That's been the first and last album of hers that I've been able to enjoy front to back. The rest of her albums have had good moments, but have been uneven (Boys for Pele is almost completely useless save for one or two songs). I think it's just something to do with it being very open and innocent. Something being made not knowing if anyone will ever hear it and not knowing enough to be scared to open up completely. Like relationships; you're never throw yourself in to them the way you did before you got hurt the first time.
Anyways, I was thinking about it and decided to pick it for this week. It was nice to think about the time when I didn't know anything and right before the time when I still didn't know anything, but thought I knew everything.
So, from Newton, NC (and West Palm and England):
Tori Amos - "Silent all these years":
Bonus Tracks:
A song about Angels. The singer thinks this may be his greatest set of lyrics he ever wrote. He might be right.
Random pick of the week:
We're we ever this young? "..never said used to be so much..."
R.E.M.’s fourteenth studio album will be called Accelerate and, as Michael Stipe revealed last month, will hit stores on April 1st. Stipe recently told Uncut, “We spent less time making this record than we have in twenty years. … I feel like there’s a confidence in the material, and a communication between the three of us that hasn’t been there for some time.”
It's a New Year, which means new hopes, new plans, a fresh beginning if you will. So, with this in mind, we're going to keep it positive this week. Start off the year with happy thought and good feeling of hope and happiness. (Trust me, it's even weirder to be typing it).
I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday, even if there was no snow..Oh, wait...
This video was done by someone for a graphic design class and I must say it is a very good job. Very Impressive.
Our feel good start to the year. From Tryon, NC (and later France):
Nina Simone - "Feeling Good":
Bonus Tracks:
Continuing the good vibes:
Random Pick of the Week: Happy New Year everyone! Let's dance!
