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January 2, 2008

R.E.M.'s New Album Gets Title, Website

We saw and heard a lot from R.E.M. in '07 -- between their Live videos and our homage, it seemed like Stipe & Co. were never far from our thoughts. On this first official blogging day of '08, seems like that trend's continuing into the New Year: It's official that the Athenians' 14th album, recorded in Vancouver and Dublin and produced by Jacknife Lee, will be titled Accelerate, and should be out in April. Those of you paying attention to R.E.M. '07 ought to remember the role Dublin's Olympia Theatre played in their live video. According to NME:

Confirmed tracks for the album include 'Until The Day Is Done', 'Living Well Is The Best Revenge', 'Mr Richards', 'Staring Down The Barrel Of Middle Distance', and 'I'm Gonna DJ', a regular in the band's set on their 2004/2005 world tour.

Frontman Michael Stipe said the guitar-driven LP is "the fastest we've made in 20 years".

He told Q: "I think the songs on 'Around The Sun' are great, but in the process of recording we lost our focus as a band. Now, that focus is back. And it's razor sharp."

As sharp as a Jacknife? So far we've heard "Until The Day Is Done" with Anderson Cooper accompaniment. The album website they've created in conjunction with Vincent Moon is pretty sharp, too. Here's a screen grab. More details after the jump.

Man, on the Moon! Ninety Nights will stream a new 30-60 second video for the next ... ninety nights. Reportedly, the videos will only be hi-res for a day -- after that, they're archived low-res style. So far it looks less street-walking Take-Away and more like Vincent's shadowy work for the National (Wait, did R.E.M. get this idea from A Skin, A Night?) It's still early, so who knows where this'll go, but promises to at least be worth the bookmarking. Today's video features blurred, car-passing prettiness: Folks waiting on a curb, looking expectantly at smeary vehicles. Wonder if it'll all add up to some cohesive narrative at the end.

Posted at 10:02 AM
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11 Comments

WONDERFUL News!!!!

I can't wait!! Thanks for the heads up, though I did love the last 3 albums (one of the few people who did), I'm looking forward to hearing the next evolution of the REM sound!

WOOP!

Peace, love, & LPs,
Tsuru
tsururadio.com

Posted by: Tsuru at 01/02/08 10:20 AM | Reply
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coachella 08, here they come.

Posted by: mike at 01/02/08 10:39 AM | Reply
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I tapped out at 40 episodes,here is the last

http://streamos.wbr.com/download/wbr/forcemass/rem90def040_vp6_720x404_1000.flv
I haven't figured out how to get the high def versions...yet

Posted by: djb3dhead at 01/02/08 11:15 AM | Reply
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I've heard the new record, and rest assured, it rocks hard and should be huge. Very similar to New Adventures In Hi-Fi in terms of sound, with great songs, big tasty riffs, a lot of fire and passion, nice touches here and there that recall other R.E.M. "eras," and Michael's voice at its absolute best -- it's all there. Their best work in a decade, for sure.

Posted by: Frank at 01/02/08 1:38 PM | Reply
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How, pray tell, Frank, have you already heard the new album?

Posted by: kidacomputerok at 01/02/08 10:03 PM | Reply
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I'm friends with a major member of the REM camp, and we took a spin around Atlanta in early December while he played the newly-mixed (but not yet mastered) record for me in his car. At that point, the working title of the album was "Big Life," so I was surprised to see that it will be called "Accelerate," but I think the latter better fits the sound of the record.

Posted by: Frank at 01/05/08 9:42 AM | Reply
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It was also going to be called radio ventriloquist..I heard..

Posted by: cheese at 01/11/08 9:35 AM | Reply
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Frank... not jealous at all :)

lol

Posted by: ash at 01/11/08 11:05 AM | Reply
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Frank; what a load of BS.
rem Athens

Posted by: baddoggy at 01/12/08 3:07 AM | Reply
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after up reval and arround the sun they go back to more direct and louder stuff. maybe in the direction of new advenventures in hi fi and monster but it will be different r.e.m always modyfi the sound from record to record but i love those harder songs like i took your name (on the live in dublin dvd) or so fast so numb so i think its a change in the right direction

Posted by: exstatic peace at 02/01/08 5:03 AM | Reply
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"Accelerate"...Great name for Fresh/New R.E.M. stuff :)

Posted by: High at 02/07/08 7:29 AM | Reply
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