SOUNDTRACK: R.E.M. “Superman” (1986).
Even though R.E.M. is all about Michael Stipe, “Superman” is one of my favorite R.E.M. songs. I know it’s a cover, and I know the lyrics are kind of dumb, but there’s something about Mills’ singing voice that I love (I often think his backing vocals are the strongest parts of R.E.M. songs).
Stipe didn’t like the song and refused to sing lead. This gave Mills his debut lead vocal appearance. You can hear Stipe in the background–he sounds great, too. A total throwaway song that is awesome.
By the way, the original by The Clique, which I never listened to before, is very strangely clipped in the vocals. I was sure that the band was not American by the vocal delivery, but apparently they’re from Austin. Huh.
I know I should have picked Voivod’s cover of “Batman” for this post, but how creepy is that R.E.M. cover?
[READ: July 21, 2012] “The Only Human Superhero”
I have it in my head that I might one day read all of Jonathan Lethem’s works. Although I’m not all that sure I like him that much. (There’s so many Jonathan’s writing, I can’t keep track of who I like). He has 18 entries on this blog (although I see that none are for his novels). Nevertheless, I must like him pretty well.
Anyhow, this article is a one page thing about Batman The Dark Knight. This was written before the terrible, horrible, unimaginable tragedy in Colorado, so there is no insensitivity about it. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 