R.E.M.

I have to start with R.E.M. I have listened to their albums over and over again. I actually know the names of their songs instead of the song number on the cd. I used to dance around to them in college and save my money to buy their bootlegs(I miss saving all my money to buy bootlegs).

When I was in elementary school your dad was in college. One weekend he brought home a mixed tape of some of the best music I had ever heard. It was the beginning of what would be my journey away from mainstream music.
One song in particular that stood out to me was It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I feel fine). It used to freak me out that someone could sing so many words in such a short span of time. I also felt a little weird that the kid was playing around in an abandoned house that eerily resembled the one that was behind Granny's house. I think once you hear this, it will be your mission to figure out all of the words. I remember sitting by my tape player rewinding it over and over again so that I could write down all of the words. This was before the internet and actually being able to type in a name of a song and instantly finding lyrics. It was a long process but totally worth it in my book.

Thus began my love affair with R.E.M. I have never had the opportunity to see them live but I swear that I will remedy that. Considering the only musician that made it down to our tiny town back in the day was Tiny Tim, I haven't attended as many concerts as I would like. (Fancy tidbit...I saw Tiny Tim perform in a 3 ring circus that Granny had free tickets to. I believe the name of it was the Great American Circus. So random and weird.)
I don't really appreciate their music too much after the GREEN album but you may. Another fancy tidbit...the cover of the GREEN album is actually bright orange. The reason is that if you stare at bright orange long enough, you will see green when you look away.

Other R.E.M. songs that make me leave my seat:






I absolutely love Kate Pierson and Michael Stipe together. We will talk about Kate Pierson another day. You should know about her too.

Here's a list of someone else's favorite R.E.M. songs. Do with it what you will...as long as dancing is involved at some point.

A little background

The idea behind this blog is that I am giving you (my niece) the gift of music. For the next 52 weeks I will be introducing you to new bands, old bands, different genres, and different eras of music. There will be music to listen to for different reasons. There will be music for different occasions. The point is to expose you to as much music as I can in one year. This is something that I wish someone had done for me when I was your age. At the end of the year I will give you all of the mp3s of the songs I have chosen here.

At least once during this next year, you & I will attend a concert together of my choosing.
At least once during this next year, you & I will have a dance party.
At least once during this next year, I will blow your mind.

Now I'm just putting the idea of new music in your head. It's up to you to figure out what you like, what you don't, what you want to explore further. Feel free to comment and tell me what you think, or don't. The point is, we get to listen to some really cool music together.