R.E.M TO RELEASE LIVE ALBUM, REISSUE RECKONING, WORKING ON NEW ALBUM

Well, it appears 2009 is shaping up to be another big year for R.E.M.. Via a news update on the group’s website, the Georgians revealed that they plan to release a new live album of their 2007 “Dublin Working Rehearsals” and a deluxe version of 1984’s Reckoning before the year is up. What’s more, R.E.M. already plan to start work on the follow-up to 2008’s Accelerate and are set to soon begin recording some new “exploratory” demos.

For the live album, the material is culled from a string of shows in Dublin in 2007, which came as a tour warm-up and as a way to test of material that would end up on Accelerate.

NOTES ON A DRIZZLY WEDNESDAY IN ATHENSTOWN

Even though the band has no plans to tour or record in 2009, R.E.M. fans will still have a lot to look forward to later this year as the guys plan to release both a live recording of the 2007 Dublin Working Rehearsals and a deluxe version of Reckoning. Word is that the Dublin package will be something very special including more than "just the music," although "just the music" those five nights at the Olympia was pretty incredible itself. No doubt the Reckoning reissue will be special too, as it will be done in the same spirit of Universal's excellent Murmur deluxe release in 2008. Look for the Reckoning reissue to come out sometime toward the end of Spring.

If you've read our recent interview with Peter, you'll also know that the guys have plans to get together in the next few months to begin working on some new material, which Peter refers to as "exploratory demos." We'll be sure to keep you posted on any developments.

...And since we mentioned it in the title of today's post, here's a quick homage, R.E.M.-style, to the rain:

BEHIND THE SCENES

Canadian animation/VFX house Crush has completed Hollow Man, a video for REM's single. Created in little over six weeks, the spot is a dizzying combination of camera effects and CG, with the visuals closely mirroring the song's lyrics and music.

Crush's creative director Gary Thomas says: "We first spoke to Michael Stipe at the end of February. He heard about us through the work we did last year for Doug Coupland’s new book, The Gum Thief. He wanted a video that was frantic and dense and not overly polished or fretted over.