About The Sun

[eyesbomb]

another exception to the rule that I'm gone from the board, just to bring you my review of the new R.E.M. album

"It's quiet now"
Michael suggests it immediately, it's the first of the verses of the new album;
behing three years of wait, two of work and one ahead of tour. the longest they've ever done, in between all this even the 25 years of the band, next 5th of april.

It's quiet, 'Around The Sun', it's an absolutely quiet record because as Mike says "in a slow song there's much more breathing than in a fast one, when you hold the breath 'til the end"; it's a record that I understand how could 'bore' for its being so quiet, thing that if on the other hand nobilited by the necessary cure, capacity of listening, of hearing brings to forget the lack of crazy tracks, fast, brings to take out the sense from it and all that you want it's that same calmness.
Even and initially for this it's a surprising record: it's a record that you have to stay quiet listening from the beginning to the end, with butt or back well held down, without them moving clumsily here and there, but with grace.

It's crazy how much grace there's in this record.

It's a quiet record; sweet, extremely sweet; whispered, almost low; soft, slow; mid-tempo, slight; out of light, out of focus in general and in detail full of details and yet so bright, blinding.
No-R.E.M. record ever had so many details, shades; so little rock, even, there's not a single carrying rock song in the classic sense, in a sense even obvious.

That's it, in 'Around The Sun' there's nothing obvious.

So, what record is this ? I don't know.
A R.E.M. record, right?
I'm not even sure of this: it sounds more different from R.E.M. themselves, if R.E.M. ever been something targetable, pointable, something you can bring on focus at all.
Let me confess you something: R.E.M. don't have a sound.
They never had one.
Peter says that any song, if sung by Michael, becomes an R.E.M. song; I say something else: any R.E.M. song, without Michael's voice, you can't tell it's R.E.M.
Take the most beautiful new song od the band, The Ascent Of Man; then take all the other songs that make this the most beautiful band to exist, like E-bow The Letter, Losing My Religion, Carnival of Sorts, the Lifting, Half A World Away, Drive, Country Feedback.. .
Each one completely different from one another, each one beautiful.
A little like the records, from the first to the last.

Let's get back, to the last.

We were saying, how is it ? I was saying: I don't know.
I don't know because it ain't a rock record, it ain't a pop record, it ain't a verse chorus verse record, it ain't a radio record (with perahps the exception somehow of the first single), most of all it ain't the record you expect, and this is good.
It happened often with their records, very often, and when it didn't happen they were records without a certain ''bite'' (Reckoning, Document, Reveal), without an electric curiosity that listening it made crawl out of head and mouth a "what the fuck?" with a smile printed, on the latter, anyway.

For sure 'Arond The Sun', like all the R.E.M. records, it's a marvellous record.

And it is so for a number of reasons, even silly, even onomatopoeic, like that 'MMmm-mm' incipit of The Outsiders or those 'Yeah' in the already cited masterpiece of the record, The Ascent Of Man.
Another reason is sense
the sense pervading the alchemys of those not-anymore-that-young guys, in four like in three ('cause 'a dog with three legs is still a dog, only has to learn to walk') and the weaves, tracks of the records
Sense, a thing so impalpable and so full of sense, for instance;
'cause a record is never just a record, it's also how Michael loads with timbre and tone a ride of "I Told You, I Love You' singing Leaving New York live.
You may disagree on all this, like you may, if you could, agree that the piano on 'Make It All OK' never was as beautiful as when I heard it the first time ever that song was played by R.E.M., in a soundcheck in Hamburg, and I'm sure both me and you would agree that even in different times the beauty is completely intact.
A beauty that seems always almost there to fall on the ground, fall apart, and then it lifts from the ground, takes off (like in the ending of Outsiders, or in the ending of the ending in the title-track).

It's a beautiful record, more beautiful than the last R.E.M.: more wanted, searched for, found, more spontaneously given.

Softer and stronger.

It's a human record, the most human record R.E.M. ever done, and has human tops like human falls of tone, take Wanderlust ('cause in R.E.M. records there's always a song that i don't like, lately, Parakeet, Beachball, and now this one), take the likely next single Aftermath and take.. erm, I can't thing of more, maybe later, or maybe I'll even love those two I said.
I don't know, like I was saying I don't know a lot of things, and I am yet to discover other ones, even having heard way more than once all this record; for sure there are some hidden things, like on the other hand there are some merciless suave, sassily sweet..
the so delicate melodies, the synthetic and soft beats, the tapering and suffused guitars, the singing of Michael, what Michael sings;
it must take some guts for the greatest lyricist that I know of, cut-up genius more than anyone (sorry, William B.) to sing the words I was telling about before and make them of an out-of-the-way strenght, just like it was the most complicated riddle he ever put on record.

In short, all that I never expected.
In short, all that I really wanted.
The album I am not sure yet of how it is,
but I am sure that I will lsten to it again, and again.

[Nimrod's Son]

Yes, but is it quiet?

[shaniqua]

hey, eyesy. my parents scored front row tickets for the rem show in ottawa.

[Rockin' Cherub]

Originally posted by eyesbomb
then take all the other songs that make this the most beautiful band to exist, like E-bow The Letter, Losing My Religion, Carnival of Sorts, the Lifting, Half A World Away, Drive, Country Feedback.. .
Each one completely different from one another, each one beautiful.
[/b]

omg, so fucking true

go carnival of sorts GO!

[CherubDaydream]

i got half of the album so far and it sounds just like "Up" so quiet would be a fitting expression

[Rockin' Cherub]

Originally posted by CherubDaydream
i got half of the album so far and it sounds just like "Up" so quiet would be a fitting expression

awesome. i love up.

[CherubDaydream]

Originally posted by Rockin' Cherub

awesome. i love up.

me too

[C33]

isn't it called around the sun?

[Rockin' Cherub]

Originally posted by Crestfallen33
isn't it called around the sun?

it is.

[Winnipeg_creg]

Originally posted by eyesbomb
thing that if on the other hand nobilited by the necessary cure, capacity of listening, of hearing brings to forget the lack of crazy tracks, fast, brings to take out the sense from it and all that you want it's that same calmness.
[/b]

I've been thinking about boring records that gets good after you listen to them 400 times in a row. I used to do this back in my Radiohead/Smashing Pumkins/blur fan years.
Let's say that a person who's not prone depression starts to listen to Machina 24/7. At first, this person doesn't like the record at all, but after a while, the brain starts to find positive things about the sound, just so the person won't get sucidal because of the constant, depressing nature of the music. Then, you start to produce rationalizations "i must be doing this because it's entertaining, there's no other sane explanation". You start to believe that the record is good, and it actually IS good, in a way, but you could have listened to a good record 2 times and had the same results.

[Rockin' Cherub]

Originally posted by Winnipeg_creg


I've been thinking about boring records that gets good after you listen to them 400 times in a row. I used to do this back in my Radiohead/Smashing Pumkins/blur fan years.
Let's say that a person who's not prone depression starts to listen to Machina 24/7. At first, this person doesn't like the record at all, but after a while, the brain starts to find positive things about the sound, just so the person won't get sucidal because of the constant, depressing nature of the music. Then, you start to produce rationalizations "i must be doing this because it's entertaining, there's no other sane explanation". You start to believe that the record is good, and it actually IS good, in a way, but you could have listened to a good record 2 times and had the same results.

this whole text has a critical undertone in it. there's nothing wrong with not liking an album, listening to it like 400 times and liking it then.
it's just there's musicthat has to grow on you, and believe me, if you never had done this kinda thing you'd still listen to bad mainstream pop music just because it's fucking "easy listening". the brain needs challenges.

[Winnipeg_creg]

Originally posted by Rockin' Cherub

this whole text has a critical undertone in it. there's nothing wrong with not liking an album, listening to it like 400 times and liking it then.
it's just there's musicthat has to grow on you, and believe me, if you never had done this kinda thing you'd still listen to bad mainstream pop music just because it's fucking "easy listening". the brain needs challenges.

I'm sorry if that had a critical undertone, i just used this guys review as an excuse to write about something i've been thinking about, so it's not an "attack" or anything.

I agree that there's music that grows with each listening, i don't think anyone here would have a different opinion about that. I'm specifically talking about that some artist, radiohead for example, actually gets more credit than they're due, because people tend to listen more times to their records before they decide weather they're good or bad. Radiohead has done some great "growers" in the past, so it's not stupid to listen to their new records a lot, but on the other hand you might have gotten more pleasure if you moved on to something new blah blah etc.

[Rockin' Cherub]

Originally posted by Winnipeg_creg


I'm sorry if that had a critical undertone, i just used this guys review as an excuse to write about something i've been thinking about, so it's not an "attack" or anything.

I agree that there's music that grows with each listening, i don't think anyone here would have a different opinion about that. I'm specifically talking about that some artist, radiohead for example, actually gets more credit than they're due, because people tend to listen more times to their records before they decide weather they're good or bad. Radiohead has done some great "growers" in the past, so it's not stupid to listen to their new records a lot, but on the other hand you might have gotten more pleasure if you moved on to something new blah blah etc.

it's cool you mention radiohead because they seem like the ultimate growing-on-you band to me. but you know, the first time i listened to ok computer i didn't like it at all. and it only took me like 2 or 3 more listens to realize how great this is.
in the end, as long as you're happy with what you're listening to it's alright because that's what music is and always was all about.

[smashingjj]

this album fucking sucks. i heard maybe 2 or 3 half decent songs.

zzzzzzzzzz