UP

UP (1998) by R.E.M.

Well yeah, this is the thing: one of my favorite albums of all-time. From the first song, (the introductory "Airportman") to the last ("Falls To Climb").

It's been a while since I listened to it and a few days ago I felt this huge urge to sink into it's universe. And even if I've listened to it from start to finish so many times in the past, I found myself discovering new corners, new sounds, what can I say, it blew my mind how much further UP can take me..

I mean this album is so inspirational you just hit play and you are off for such an unpredictable journey. So many secrets.. Tiny sounds on the backround, huge noises and feedbacks in the foreground, obscure sounds and hidden melodies travel back and forth while you listen to the music and colors, lights, images start to form.

And then, there's the other thing. One more element that makes this album so great. The lyrics. Michael Stipe is definitely one of my favorite lyricists. All his work up to the point R.E.M. released UP is "amazing". But, with UP for me he just hit the "exceptional " mark.

What is kind of ironic is the fact that the band was in a very difficult place at the time they made this album, since the 4th original band member, drummer Bill Berry, had just left the band and the remaining 3 were even considering splitting up. Well. the music press really didn't like the album but the music press loves OASIS so, I rest my case.

But enough with the talking, it has already been 3 hours since I started this post and frankly talking/writing about music is a very very difficult task for me to achieve without losing my patience/my mind/the point. Sooo, back to the music. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post each song and I mean EACH song of this album is a song that I love. Here, I have made a selection of 4 songs (2 audio files and 2 videos, "Daysleeper" being one of the best videos ever made), but honestly I could have chosen anyone of the songs on the album..

R.E.M. - "The Apologist"



R.E.M. - "HOPE"



#"Daysleeper" directed by The Snorri brothers:



#"Suspicion", live version of the song, recorded at Ealing Studios in London, England:

STRANGE OVERTONES (PART III): BRIAN ENO

I have spend many hours listening to Brian Eno albums and still there is a huge list of Eno works that I haven't listened to yet. This fact gives me a sense of sweet anticipation and excitement.. I know that I won't like everything (that's only normal, we are talking about 15+ albums), but I also know with certainty that I'll stumble upon many many moments of greatness and beauty...I'll make this a tiny post because it's impossible for me to include all of my favorite Eno songs out of 30+ years of a career in music making. So, as always 3 is the magic number:

#From the 1975 album "Another Green World":

BRIAN ENO - "St.Elmo's Fire"


#From the 1980 album "Ambient 2/The Plateaux of Mirror":

BRIAN ENO AND HAROLD BUDD- "First Light"


#From the 1990 album "Wrong Way Up":

BRIAN ENO AND JOHN CALE - "Spinning Away"




[MISC NOTE: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS REFERENCE TO ONE OF TBT ALL TIME FAVORITE ALBUMS: "ANOTHER GREEN WORLD" BY BRIAN ENO]

STRANGE OVERTONES (PART II): DAVID BYRNE

A post about David Byrne....Well...I think 3 songs, 2 links (his blog and his online radio) and 1 video will say more about the wit, humor and genius of the man, than anything I could possibly say:

#An "interview" from 1984 to promote the Jonathan Demme - Talking Heads concert movie "Stop Making Sense":





#From the 1994 album "David Byrne":

DAVID BYRNE - "Sad Song"



#From the 2004 album "Grown Backwards":

DAVID BYRNE - "Glass, Concrete and Stone"



#From the 1991 soundtrack "The Forest", score to the 1988 Robert Wilson theater piece of the same name:

DAVID BYRNE - "Machu Picchu"