. . .the milkcrate. . .

Automatic for the People

In honor of R.E.M.'s induction into the Rock Hall of Fame, here are a couple clips from their first ever television appearance, on the David Letterman Show in October 1983: Radio Free Europe and So. Central Rain. Notice the painfully introverted Michael Stipe; this is the Stipe of my youth, who mumbled lyrics purposefully (and perhaps a bit abstrusely), leaving their interpretation up to the listener. NB also the fact that 'So. Central Rain' is so new that it does not yet have a name.

For me R.E.M. is essential to my personal growth, as I'm sure it is for many, many others. Listening to those early R.E.M. albums, esp., 'Murmur,' 'Fables of the Reconstruction,' and 'Life's Rich Pageant,' made me eager to experience the weird, wide world beyond smalltown Indiana. But it also helped me realize, perhaps paradoxically, and certainly more significantly, that place is important. Being from somewhere is important, a point of pride.

I didn't actually make it out to Athens, Georgia until just a couple years ago, but I got a pretty good sense of the place--gothic, lugubrious, dilatory, prideful and passionate--from those early R.E.M. albums. The Midwest isn't any of those things, so the discovery was all the more fascinating for me as a boy.

Here is a picture I took of soul food sage Weaver D.'s sign, which inspired what most people consider to be R.E.M.'s greatest album. (It's great, but I would probably vote for 'Fables' or 'Pageant.' And I've always said that 'Monster' was underappreciated.)

Ume

While I still think that The Black Angels, with their unctuous psych-rock, are poised to be Austin's next big thing--though I've heard them on Sirius Satellite Radio, so maybe they're already as big as they're going to get--I am currently enamored with Ume. I saw them play a too-short, but very rocking set last night. Think Sonic Youth, though less sonically dense, but just as wailing. Most of the spectacle comes from watching the lead singer and guitarist, who might be one hundred pounds with her jeans wet, thrash around. Their debut "Urgent Sea" is solid, esp. the opener "Wake."

I understand the urge that many contemporary bands have to move away from guitar-based rock towards the undiscovered countries they see in electronic soundscapes (or whatever), but that movement means straightforward rocking is becoming increasingly refreshing to find, esp. when it's done well. Guitar rock might be meat and potatoes, but meat and potatoes are good.