REMember Every Moment: the rarities playlist

Five years without these guys...

Back we're be belong. At Walter's Bar-B-Que, Athens, Ga. Photo: Laura Levine

Of course, I had to do something at the Blog, so the idea of a R.E.M.'s playlist seemed the easiest option (If I write about the band I would so emotional and most probably, couldn't finish). It will come shortly sure, but I decided to go for a different option as well. Offering you another kind of "best-of", with my favourite "rarities", plus a few Michael Stipe's collaborations (it's amazing how he can transform a pop song into something irresistibly haunting with so little (check his contribution to Patti Smith and Maria Taylor's tunes). Yes, I included the group cover of the silly yet lovely 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' and the even dumber 'Love Is All Around' because I just love Michael's yodelling and his "paa-parapapa" at the end.

I guess it's just a different way to go back and remember the times spent hunting for that hard-to-find single or that unofficial recording at the record shops of carrer Tallers (I swear there were music shops back then). Or waiting impatiently for the Fan Club Single to arrive each year. Or just getting frustrated in front of the computer for that never-ending shitty download (I'm talking about the pre-Internet and early web days, folks) of that live cover to be completed. So I guess this is not exactly a playlist about music "greatness" (although 'Photograph', 'Happiness' or their version of 'Wall of Death' are personal favourites). It's more an excuse to indulge myself into so many R.E.M. memories, which so frequently tend to be best-music-related memories... As Michael Stipe said, R.E.M. means Remember Every Moment. For so many people, luckily...

And here's the aforementioned 'Happiness', as it's not available on Spotify.