SOUNDTRACK: R.E.M.-Collapse into Now (2011).
“Discoverer” opens this disc with ringing guitars–not exact R.E.M. replicants, but familiar. And then Stipe comes in and the refresher course in R.E.M. begins. Collapse Into Now proved to be R.E.M.’s final album, and while some of their latter albums weren’t great, Collapse seems to revisit everything that was great about R.E.M. and tries to spread it all over this album.
The blueprints for classic R.E.M. songs form the structure of a lot of these songs, with chiming guitars, and Stipe’s recognizable vocals. “All the Best” sounds like classic R.E.M. (although Stipe’s delivery is more current sounding). It also fits in well with the faster songs from Accelerate and is only 2:46. But it’s “Überlin” that really sounds like a classic R.E.M. song. That notable guitar style with Stipe’s very specific delivery style. And then come Peter Buck’s harmonies. It sounds like a good outtake from, say, Automatic for the People.
Stipe tends to do a lot of his sing-speaking on this album (and i think the one thing I don’t like that much about the album is that early R.E.M. seemed to obscure Stipe’s vocals and lyrics a little bit, giving them an air of mystery. Whereas the newer records are all pretty well laid bare). So “Oh My Heart” has Stipe almost speaking his poetry. It’s got mandolin and Buck’s mildly annoying backing vocals (I’ve never thought that about his backing vocals before).
An Eddie Vedder cameo is utterly wasted on “It Happened Today,” you can barely hear him as all he does is backing crooning near the end of the song (and frankly the “hip hip hooray” chorus is lame). “Every Day is Yours to Win” is a pretty slow song. It doesn’t amount to much but the melody is really beautiful. “Mine Smell Like Honey” is a crazy bad title, but it’s a great rocking song, really hearkening back to classic R.E.M.–ringing guitars and Stipe’s vaguely disguised voice. “Walk it Back” is another slow ballady type song and is really pretty. While “Alliagtor_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter” is a rocker with Peaches singing and speaking backing vocals. “That Someone is You” follows up with another speedy track.
I tend to dislike the really slow R.E.M. songs, so “Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I” doesn’t do much for me. The disc ender, “Blue” reminds me of Out of Time‘s “Country Feedback” (I keep waiting for him to say “I need this”). And the Patti Smith backing vocals recall “E-Bow the Letter.” “Blue” is meandering and unfocused but Buck’s atmospheric guitars are quite effective, even if the song itself is nothing special. I don’t quite get the coda of tacking the opening chords of the album on to the end, but whatever.
So basically this album feels like some mostly great outtakes from earlier R.E.M. albums. And there’s really nothing wrong with that (well there would be if R.E.M. was still trying to release a lot of new music). But since the band was ready to call it quits anyway, it’s a nice recap of their career. True, I’d rather listen to their earlier records, but you could definitely throw most of these songs into a mix with the earlier ones and they would sound perfect.
[READ: October 25, 2014] Elmer
Elmer has a chicken on the cover. It also features this quote at the top of the book: “It’s the Great Filipino Novel, with chickens.” What to expect from this book? Well, chickens, obviously, but I never would have guessed what this book contained. Indeed, this book is pretty mind-blowing (in a good way).
It has a simple premise, which seems comical but is actually taken very seriously: what if chickens became “aware” and learned to speak? It sounds funny, right, but Alanguilan really explores this issue seriously–if a species of animal that we normally eat suddenly talked to us en masse, how quickly would we deal with this, and what would humanity’s reaction be? It tackles issues of slavery and racism and pushes them further. And while the “change” takes place in 1979, it addresses contemporary society with an inquisitive glare.
While there is some humor in it, this is a serious book.
Jake Gallo is a modern chicken (the book is set in 2003–two decades after chickens became “human”). He has just been rejected for a job, and he pulls the race card (this would be the hilarious reveal that our main character is a chicken). While he’s feeling sorry for himself, he gets word that his father, Elmer, is dying and he returns home to be with his mother and family. On the way home he runs into Farmer Ben, the farmer who helped to raise Elmer’s family. And he is genuinely glad to see Jake. Jake seems somewhat put off by Farmer Ben and declines his offer of a ride. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 