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.

Discoverer 49: new indie findings

It's Sunday, so here are the weekly band proposals for your listening pleasure!

Ex Cops. We begin in Brooklyn with a duo: Brian Harding (ex Hymns) and Amalie Bruun (from Minks, band already highlighted on this Discoverer series). Born as Ex Cops in 2011 they released a homemade EP. A first single, "“You Are a Lion, I Am a Lamb” b/w “The Millionaire”, followed last April, before signing with Other Music Recording Co. Transformed into a quintet they took to the studio to record "True Hallucinations", their debut album, out now. And what a debut this is. A kaleidoscopic indiepop lesson, delicate and joyful, vintage but modern, strangely moody but full of hooks. Indispensable.

I Was A King. If you also believe Teenage Fanclub is not just a wonderful band, but also a group that mankind needs, here's a name for you. A trio coming from the adorable Norway, they formed in 2006, releasing their debut album "Losing Something Good for Something Better" a year later. In 2009, thanks to the buzz, they assaulted the States with "I Was A King", followed by "Old Friends" in 2011. And then came "You Love It Here", with the help of (attention) Norman Blake and Robyn Hitchcock, released, just in Norway, in late 2012. It's a tragedy, because this is such an incredible pop masterpiece. Pop music lovers, please listen them.

Plumerai. Sure, is not the first time I got into a band thanks to a female voice. Active since 2004, this Bostonians have gone through several line-up changes, four EPs and three records including 2011's "Your Guilty Prize", after which they added the Parisian Eliza Brown on vocals. With her on board (plus a new drummer) joining foundational members Martin & James Newman, they released their latest LP, "Mondegreen", past November. Eliza's powerful, sweet, breathy and mysteriously haunting vocals (I imagine her stealing hearts while singing at some jazz club) give a very unique counterpoint to the indiepop, with a dark twist, somewhere in between shoegaze and post-punk, band sounds. Seductive music.