REM Draft Discussion Thread

[Lucky]

Elysian Fields is a street just off the French Quarter, from the river to Lake Pontchartrain. It's also a small town in Texas and the setting for A Streetcar Named Desire.

[Erik]

My "album":

BLEED THE SKY

Side 1:

01) Star 69
02) Can't Get There from Here
03) Fall on Me
04) Try Not to Breathe
05) Hyena
06) Flowers of Guatemala

Side 2:

07) Bang and Blame
08) Crush with Eyeliner
09) Imitation of Life
10) The Wake-Up Bomb
11) Just a Touch
12) Leave

[Erik]

Heh, Be Mine was one of the other ones I was considering.

[bryanbutler]

i'll make my last pick tomorrow at some point. i'm too tired tonight to think, after a 6 hour drive, and then two hours dealing with a mess-up with the hotel room for the boys and i. sigh.

i can almost guarantee it's going to be off of Dead Letter Office. i listened to that album on the way up here to denver today, and there are many good songs to choose from, and i don't have any from it yet.

coming into this draft i was determined to not pick two songs from any one album. i knew there were enough good ones that i could do that, and i knew it would force me to listen to the newer stuff. i succeeded, and didn't have to take a single one i was even the slightest bit unhappy with.

the only song i really got snaked on was gardening at night. damn you DMT. but wolves, lower is a good substitute.

i feel like i took You Are the Everything a bit early - it probably would have been around later in the draft. but it is absolutely one of my favorite R.E.M. songs, and i didn't want to face it getting taken out from under me.

otherwise, damn happy with what i ended up with. i probably won't have time to post my album order until monday - just too much going on this weekend to even think about it.

[johnnya24]

Heh, Be Mine was one of the other ones I was considering.

I'm glad you picked Imitation of Life. Can't believe that lasted until the very end. And the video was the first Harlem Shake

[johnnya24]

Pogues missed this one ... Collapse is so damn good.

[johnnya24]

So here's a pretty insane playlist of undrafted songs

How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us (New Adventures)
Man-Sized Wreath (Accelerate) ... really wanted to pick this
Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter (Collapse Into Now) ... and this
Walk It Back (Collapse Into Now) ... errrrrr ... and this ... especially this, this is one of my favourites
Voice of Harold (Dead Letter Office) ... surprised the early REM guys dropped the ball here
Final Straw (Around The Sun) ... the other stand out from Around The Sun
Houston (Accelerate)
Oh My Heart (Collapse Into Now) ... Houston and Oh My Heart are connected, both about NO, the later referencing the former
Tongue (Monster) ... surprised it wasn't picked
Camera (Reckoning) ... dito
Romance (Eponymous) ... errrr ... dito
Hope (Up) ... Leonard Cohen given a nod as co-composer due to the structure similarity with Suzanne
Discoverer (Collapse Into Now) ... rocks!
Departure (New Adventures) ... inbetween Leave and Bittersweet Me ... the guitar sound like the blueprint for The Hold Steady
I've Been High (Reveal) ... this is really nice
Sing For The Submarine (Accelerate) ... check out he live version of this below
Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I (Collapse Into Now) ... this is great
Revolution (B-Sides Collection)
Old Man Kensey (Fables of the Reconstruction)
The Lifting (Reveal)
Why Not Smile (Up) ... again, really nice little song
Mine Smell Like Honey (Collapse Into Now) ... this rocks out too
Crazy (Dead Letter Office) ... another one that surprisingly didn't get picked
Low Desert (New Adventures) ... always reminded me of the Stone Roses, well John Squire's guitar playing anyway
Letter Never Sent (Reckoning) ... this is one of my favourites from Reckoning ... well the whole record is a favourite to be fair
Disappear (Reveal)
All The Best (Collapse Into Now)
Falls To Climb (Up)

[johnnya24]

Sing For The Submarine

This is brilliant ... the whole show (25 mins) the above clip is taken from (can't find an embed on Vimeo)

[Lucky]

So here's a pretty insane playlist of undrafted songs

How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us (New Adventures)
Man-Sized Wreath (Accelerate)
Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter (Collapse Into Now)
Walk It Back (Collapse Into Now)
Voice of Harold (Dead Letter Office)
Final Straw (Around The Sun)
Houston (Accelerate)
Oh My Heart (Collapse Into Now) ... Houston and Oh My Heart are connected
Tongue (Monster)
Camera (Reckoning)
Romance (Eponymous)
Hope (Up)
Discoverer (Collapse Into Now)
Departure (New Adventures)
I've Been High (Reveal)
Sing For The Submarine (Accelerate)
Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I (Collapse Into Now)
Revolution (B-Sides Collection)
Old Man Kensey (Fables of the Reconstruction)
The Lifting (Reveal)
Why Not Smile (Up)
Mine Smell Like Honey (Collapse Into Now)
Crazy (Dead Letter Office)
Low Desert (New Adventures)
Letter Never Sent (Reckoning)
Disappear (Reveal)
All The Best (Collapse Into Now)
Falls To Climb (Up)

How the West Was Won was the other song I was debating for the final pick. I love the jazzy piano interlude, and Peter Buck plays a solid bass guitar. It would have been my "hidden" track, one of the least "REM" of the REM songs.

Houston was high on my list, too. Unusual, but compelling.

I really liked Alligator..., too. The video was great. Who was the girl?

Had I not taken so many from Up, I would have grabbed The Apologist.

Binky the Doormat probably didn't deserve to be left on the heap.

[Lucky]

So, here it is:

Just Another Band From Athens

Side 1:

01) The Great Beyond
02) Horse To Water
03) Disturbance at the Heron House
04) Daysleeper
05) You
06) Oddfellows Local 151

Side 2:

07) Ignoreland
08) Suspicion
09) Finest Worksong
10) At My Most Beautiful
11) Lotus
12) Country Feedback

Hidden Track: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us

[Stephen]

So here's a pretty insane playlist of undrafted songs
Letter Never Sent (Reckoning) ... this is one of my favourites from Reckoning ... well the whole record is a favourite to be fair

Sheep took it in round 11.

[johnnya24]

Sheep took it in round 11.

That idiot didn't update the Draft History list!

[johnnya24]

Had I not taken so many from Up, I would have grabbed The Apologist.

Binky the Doormat probably didn't deserve to be left on the heap.

... and I didn't even include those two on the undrafted playlist (added now)

[Long John]

Voice of Harold was the other one I was considering for my last pick. Classic REM tune and one that I would have jumped on if I didn't like West of the Fields so much.

While I'm really happy with the album I put together, it would have been quite different if I had been in from the beginning.

[johnnya24]

I really liked Alligator..., too. The video was great. Who was the girl?.

Peaches sang on the song, so I assume it's her in the video ... but it kinds doesn't look like her, though depending on which video you watch, she never really looks like herself. Her music is mostly electronic, but it's all over the place. She's a bit like Goldfrapp (if you've heard of them) ... I like some of her stuff, but I wouldn't classify myself a fan.