Xmas Magazine Covers From Yesteryear – MICHAEL STIPE 1994
Xmas mag covers from the past
MICHAEL STIPE
Xmas issue NME
December 1994
Legend goes that Stipe lost his religion after seeing that NME Christmas cover.
Michael Stipe
MICHAEL STIPE Who Turns 65 Today About Post-R.E.M.
4 January 2025
Stipe was born in Decatur, Georgia, US on 4 Jan 1960. Happy 65!
KRISTIN HERSH Shone In The Darkness With Her Entrancing Solo Set In Brugge, Belgium
KRISTIN HERSH
Brugge, Belgium.
25 April 2024
Although I was sitting on the first row in the middle, just in front of Hersh‘s sheeny eyes shining in the dark, I closed my eyes for at least half of the set. It felt then as if Kristin was actually playing/singing inside my head, really. Her singular, slightly hoarse voice and her elegant and exquisite acoustic guitar play were even closer than they already were.
Solo, without any visual or electrically charged distractions on the podium, the audience was totally focused on Hersh. I’ve been to countless concerts, big and small, in my life but
I never experienced such a trance-like silence.
Hersh‘s setlist was a mix of Throwing Muses songs and solo ones, including a couple
of last year’s arresting Clear Pond Road album. Except for that magic pearl Your Ghost (feat. REM’s Michael Stipe) from her 1994 solo debut LP Hips And Makers the setlist wasn’t a ‘best of’ whatsoever. I guess her heart and soul picked the songs.
In between magnific musical moments, Hersh showed her talent for being a deadpan sit-down comedian. Her stories about a goldfish with a mustache named Freddie Mercury, about getting crazy over flies and mice in the house instead of searching for a home in nature, and about the rude songs her parents sung to her as a kid were actually hilarious and fitted in perfectly in the whole performance.
A special artist, a special night in a special town.
CLEAR POND ROAD
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Kristin Hersh: Story – Solo Albums – Instagram
Quote Of The Day – MICHAEL STIPE About TOM VERLAINE
R.E.M.’s frontman Michael Stipe about the late Tom Verlaine.
(Image on top: artwork for solo single ‘Drive to the ocean’)
MICHAEL STIPE Goes Underground On SUNDAY MORNING
Daily electricity to load your batteries
26 December 2021
Last September I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground and Nico came our way, with a battery of big rock names honoring the iconic New York City band
and more specifically their debut masterpiece LP of 1967.
As it goes with these sorts of albums, some are good, but most of them are dud. But
here on this tribute of an (almost) uncoverable band several interpretations actually
sound damn fine. Like Sharon Van Etten turning into a ‘Femme Fatale‘, Iggy Pop & Matt Sweeney trashing ‘European Son’, Kurt Vile running, and The National‘s maestro Matt Berninger with ‘I’m Waiting For The Man‘.
My favorite: Michael Stipe doing the LP’s opening
track, the Reed/Cale classic Sunday Morning.
Sunday morning and I’m falling
I’ve got a feeling I don’t want to know
Early dawning, Sunday morning
It’s all the streets you crossed, not so long ago
C’mon, Michael…
The full tribute…
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(photo Stipe: cover of his single ‘Your Caprious Soul’)
Quote Of The Day – R.E.M. Frontman MICHAEL STIPE About His i-Pod
7000 songs x 3 minutes (average duration) = 521.000 minutes = 12.600 hours = 252 days
That will keep Michael quiet for some time…
Turn Up The Volume’s 20 KNOCKOUT TRACKS Of The Month – SEPTEMBER 2021
Turn Up The Volume‘s 20 Knockout Tracks for September 2021!
A stream of rattling rippers, jagged jams and romantic reveries.
All together on Spotify…
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Track by Track…
‘Hertz’ by AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS (Australia)
Blustering blast from their second smoking LP Comfort To Me
with punked-up Amyl, as we know her, on an adrenalin rush.
Join her wild ride…
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‘Queen Of Swords’ by TYPHOID ROSIE (Brooklyn, New York)
Rousing Riot grrrl Rosie Rebel and her riff-racing rascals go full steam ahead on
the tense title track of their smoking new album. If you want to know more about this lively gang check the recent interview Rosie Rebel did with Turn Up The Volume right here.
Start your own moshpit…
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‘Leave Me Dry’ by ILA (Belgium)
With this new standout, ILA reveals a total turnover in resonance. She rocks, raves, and rolls backed by steamy wall-of-towering turbulence. Mind you, the heartfelt fervency, personal turmoil and vocal vehemence are still intact. Can’t wait to find out if this is actually another page in her magical music book.
Turn it up…
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‘I Know You Know’ by LORE CITY (Portland, Oregon)
A highlight of Participation Mystique, the fourth longplayer by this most thrilling duo with Laura Mariposa Williams‘ bewitching voice as the heroine. Her psychedelic, gothic,
far-out, and at times wailing timbre magnetizes and hypnotizes while wandering in an orchestral space. Learn more about these intriguing artists in their recent interview
with Turn Up The Volume.
Discover and enjoy…
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‘Spirit Power And Soul’ by JOHNNY MARR (Manchester, UK)
“It’s a kind of mission statement. I had an idea about in electro sound
with gospel feeling. In my own words, an electro soul anthem.”
It’s a pithy psych jam, with spirit, power, and soul of course.
Here comes Johnny…
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‘The Aftermath’ by BEECH (Belgium)
This Belgian quartet brings Scottish daydreamers Teenage Fanclub to mind. Combine this with the band’s slacker rock sensibility and jingle-jangle jives and what you get is a tingling tune. It’s called pop-ular music.
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‘My Drug’ by DAILY WORKER (Austin, Texas)
The alter ego of Texan prize-winning poet and guitarist Harold Whit Williams.
This is a sickly sticky dope tune, one that makes me smile from left to right
and back. One shot of this, and you’ll jump around the room like a kangaroo
on speed.
Feel the vibrant vibe…
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‘Sometime’ by THE HIGH LOVES (Toronto, Canada)
This has everything a perky pop pearl needs. Play it in the morning, in the evening and every hour in between and at the end of the day you feel so much better and most of all it’s a truly helpful way to process a breakup. So much cheaper than therapy.
Press play to change your mood…
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‘Regrets’ by TIDAL WAVE (Toronto, Canada)
Regrets floats on layers of shoegaze guitars and fervid vocals while growing to an engrossing level of electrifying epicness when the glowing chorus kicks in. Trust me,
a couple of spins and you’re addicted. Fact!
Here’s why…
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‘Medicate + Alleviate’ by LIONS OF DISSENT (Wolverhampton, UK)
The fever of The Verve‘s urban hymns, the sassy swagger of Oasis in slo-mo
with 60s organs and the fervent flair of 90s Britpop. The final result is obvious.
A bittersweet blistering symphony. Touchdown!
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‘Young Foxes’ by ULTRA SUNN (Brussels, Belgium)
The darkwave tandem is on depeche modus with this shadow-dancing single from their brand new, second EP Body Electric. Expect booming beats, doomed drones, eerie vocals, and a repetitive bass synth riff that sticks as first-rate glue. A club cracker!
Put your black leather jacket on and shake your booty…
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‘Big Boy Games’ by TEROUZ (Montreal, Canada)
This riveting ripper starts with a mid-tempo drum-driven intro, gliding quickly into
a swing and sway your hips chorus, followed by a moment of reflection. The whole
process repeats itself and gets slowly but surely under your skin. You’ll love every
second of this electro roller coaster.
Here‘s why…
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‘I Miss It’ by JODIE LANGFORD (Hull / East Yorkshire, UK)
This young, outspoken, and observative artist – a female Mike Skinner – reflects the dreadful freedom-restricting sentiments of the past lockdown times in her new word rap waterfall jam. An intoxicating and groovetastic house stomper making you euphoric now that you can freak out again in nightclubs.
Hip, hop and pop this way…
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‘It’s Fine’ by BLACKOUT ORCHESTRA (UK)
“It’s Fine” examines themes of jealousy and insecurity in open relationships.”
Not an easy issue to write a song about, but embedded in an ebullient earworm like
this, it’s fine. Impossible to resist this tremendously infectious corker spinning around like forever inviting you to pirouette yourself dizzy while duet vocals push the pace. No pause, no breathing space, no interval, always straight on.
One spin and you’re hooked…
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‘Wytch Lych’ by VAZUM (Detroit, MI)
Sonically this surreal saga wouldn’t be out of place on a Gary Numan album. Lyrically it’s like an ode to the unknown eternity. In my imagination Wytch Lych resonates like a funeral hymn, celebrating the imperishability of the soul. Stunning vocals, striking synth shadows, and an overall spellbinding impressiveness. Top stuff!
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‘Case History’ by LOSSLINE (Manchester, UK)
When I listened to this new little pearl on Spotify for the first time, it was followed
by the title track of the upcoming LP of The War On Drugs. I swear I thought that
it was another Lossline song. It was that melancholic guitar glow that confused
my ears. It wasn’t until Adam Granduciel‘s voice came up that I knew it wasn’t
the Manchester duo.
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‘I Don’t Live Here Anymore’ by THE WAR ON DRUGS (Philadelphia)
See track above. The moony title track of the new upcoming album, out 29 October.
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‘Lights In The Expanse Of The Sky’ by DREW FIVE (London)
Close your eyes, relax and imagine you’re floating into space where Spiritualized‘s mastermind Jason Pierce lives while playing this hallucinatory ambient trip on your headphones.
The sky is the limit…
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‘Freedom’ by CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS (France)
French songstress Héloïse Adélaïde Letissier returns with two new songs,
with this one as my favorite. A slow-burning and emotive humdinger with
a gospel-like choir.
Enrapturing…
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‘Sunday Morning’ by MICHAEL STIPE (US)
Last Friday ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror – A Tribute To The Velvet Underground’
came out with a cast of big names honoring the iconic band’s 1967 debut LP.
It’s impossible to top the classic original Sunday Morning (sung by Lou Reed)
but Michael Stipe‘s is pretty impressive.
Have a listen…
See/hear you next month, music junkies…
TIME-OUT! Michael Stipe About The American Idiot
REM‘s maestro MICHAEL STIPE about that American Idiot in the White House…
MICHAEL STIPE & BIG RED MACHINE Dropped New Melancholic Piece ‘NO TIME FOR LOVE LIKE NOW’
New sonic impulses…
15 June 2020
Ex-R.E.M. frontman MICHAEL STIPE is gearing up to release his solo debut LP. So far
he shared two sensitive songs, Capricious Soul and Drive To The Ocean.
And here’s another new one featuring BIG RED MACHINE, with The National’s Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver’s Jusin Vernon. NO TIME FOR LOVE LIKE NOW is a melancholic reverie bringing R.E.M. moodiest moments to mind like the brilliant ‘Everybody Hurts‘.
Tune in here…
Also on Spotify…
MICHAEL STIPE Turns 60 Today And Celebrates It With New Second Solo Single ‘DRIVE TO THE OCEAN’ …
Daily fuel to load your sonic batteries…
4 January 2020
MICHAEL STIPE, former singer/songwriter, frontman and the face of R.E.M., one of the most successful alternative bands in history, turns 60 today. He was born on 4 January 1960 in Decatur, Georgia, US. Although it looked as if Stipe retired from making music – although he helped some musical friends here and there – after R.E.M. split in 2011, he decided to come back, on his own, solo.
He told Spin in an interview: “Eighteen songs are already ready. For five years, I’d had a clean break from music. Now I’m writing, composing, and recording all by myself and for the first time”.
His magnificent debut solo single ‘YOUR CAPRICIOUS SOUL’ came out last October.
A mostly electro, motorik driven humdinger with sensitive vocals by Stipe. A mesmeric beauty with all proceeds going to the climate activism group Extinction Rebellion.
If you missed it here’s the clip…
And today on his 60th birthday Michael Stipe launched his second solo single, called ‘DRIVE TO THE OCEAN‘. A moody and reflective ballad about driving to the ocean while enjoying what’s on the radio, wrapped in a melancholic and wistful melody.
Listen and watch here …
You can download the track on Stipe’s website right here. This time all proceeds go to Pathway To Paris, a nonprofit organization dedicated to turning the Paris Agreement into reality through finding and offering innovative and ambitious solutions for combating global climate change.