Happy Fun Wednesday Time!

That's right, today we have an R.E.M. retrospective.



I may well be the only person in the world excited about R.E.M.'s upcoming album, "Accelerate," but so be it. More Stipey for me!

I have been an R.E.M. fan for nearly 20 years (bearing in mind that I was 18 months old when they played their first show in Athens, GA), and even though the musical climate has changed around them, I've never lost my enjoyment for their music, old and new. I guess I'm in the minority that still finds them relevant. "Wolves, Lower" was one of their early singles:



I've always loved their ability to write lush melodies, and I adore them live:



("Green Grow the Rushes" is maybe my second-favorite single off "Fables of the Reconstruction.")

They've never shied from political dialogue:



No one comes near the melancholy of some of their work in the '90's...



...or even some of the whimsy:



And their love songs - "At My Most Beautiful," "Strange Currencies," etc. - ache with an earnest naivete:



Here's an underrated single, "Leaving New York," off the maligned (and undeservedly so) "Around the Sun:"



Do I really have to wait for April for the new album? Sigh.