Murmur

Certain Songs #1697: R.E.M. – “Shaking Through”

December 5, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Murmur
Year: 1983

. . .

File Under Opportune

Did you know about the joke that R.E.M. had running through their credits for their entire recording career? It had to do with their music publishing, which is why it’s super trainspottingy and utterly nerdy for me to know this. With Murmur, they decided to call their music publishing company “Night Garden Music,” which was “Administered throughout the Universe by Unichappel Music.” For nearly 30 years, on all of their studio albums absent one, exactly which world their Night Garden Music was administered would change.

I don’t remember when I discovered this, or if I read it in one of the many R.E.M. books I devoured in the late 80s / early 90s, but one of my goals as I write about them is to let you know what the variation is for each of their albums, as well as the one album where they — let’s face it, it was probably Michael Stipe who instigated this running joke — didn’t vary from the previous album.

This is just one of many public services of Certain Songs. You’re welcome!!

Certain Songs #1696: R.E.M. – “9-9”

December 4, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Murmur
Year: 1983

. . .

File Under Conversation

“9-9” just might be my favorite R.E.M. song . . .

I’ve always felt that the dissonant, offjointed “9-9” was the secret key to just how great Murmur was. Sticking it in the middle of side two, after all of the beauty of the first side and the rumble that started the second was like a statement of purpose: “yeah, we can do the soaring jangly songs, and we can do the lushly melodic ballads, but we can also do this weird-ass tone poem of utter incoherence.”

Oh, and I found out recently that I’ve been mispronouncing the title this whole time.

Certain Songs #1695: R.E.M. – “Sitting Still”

December 3, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Murmur
Year: 1983

. . .

File Under Par

Probably because it was one of their earliest songs, “Sitting Still” is perhaps the purest straight-forward rocker on Murmur, accomplishing two things at once: uptempo joy and wistful nostalgia, which is a pretty neat trick, actually.

“Sitting Still” was originally released as the b-side of the Hib-Tone “Radio Free Europe” single, and the take on Murmur is the same one they used for the single, absent a new Mike Mills bass part and some fixed vocals, which probably accounts for relative simplicity in terms of both the arrangement and the instrumentation.

Kicking off with a massive Bill Berry snare drum hit, followed by Peter Buck smashing ringing chords on his Rickenbacker and Mike Mills playing about 15 basslines at once, “Sitting Still” gets off to a rousing start which overcomes the fact that I still have no idea which Michael Stipe singing on the first verse.

Certain Songs #1694: R.E.M. – “Catapult”

December 2, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Murmur
Year: 1983

. . .

File Under Anything

First, a housekeeping note: The eagle-eyed among you might have noticed that I skipped “Perfect Circle” as I turn my attention to side two of Murmur. That’s because there’s a live version that I’ll be writing about in a few weeks that I love even more than the studio version, with its dual piano parts, echoed drum beat and backwards guitars. So don’t worry, we’ll get there.

In the meantime, let’s talk about one of more infamous roads not taken: the Stephen Hague-produced version of Murmur. Apparently the story goes that I.R.S. was a bit dodgy about having Mitch Easter — who’d already produced Chronic Town — produce the full-length. So R.E.M. agreed to go into the studio and do a song with Hague.

Certain Songs #1693: R.E.M. – “Talk About The Passion”

November 30, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Murmur
Year: 1983

. . .

File Under Passion

“Talk About The Passion” just might be my favorite R.E.M. song …

I mean, c’mon! We’re only four songs into Murmur, and the first three were “Radio Free Europe,” “Pilgrimage” and “Laughing,” for fuck’s sake. Any normal person would have to assume that it’s all downhill from there, but no, here comes Peter Buck, playing a circular, ringing guitar riff that instantly burrows directly into your soul.

Certain Songs #1692: R.E.M. – “Laughing”

November 29, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Murmur
Year: 1983

. . .

File Under Laocoön

Of course, one of the most famous things about Murmur has always been Michael Stipe’s slurry, hazy vocals, which often it nearly impossible to determine what he was singing. Obviously — most certainly in retrospect — this was an affectation, but it was also a brilliant affectation.

Of course in some cases, it was to obscure lyrics that were either underwritten or — in the case of “Radio Free Europe” — hardly existed at all. And then when you added in Mike Mills and Bill Berry singing countermelodies or harmonies, it would get even tougher. But, of course, those of us who had fallen very deeply in love with Murmur over the summer of 1983 wanted to know exactly what he was singing — not because we thought there were deep meanings, but because we wanted to be able to properly sing along in our cars and in our rooms.

Certain Songs #1691: R.E.M. – “Pilgrimage”

November 27, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Murmur
Year: 1983

. . .

File Under Momentum

“Pilgrimage” just might be my favorite R.E.M. song.

One of my sillier rules is that the second song on an album is the one that tells you exactly how great that album is going to be. Anybody can do a killer lead-off track, but if the second track is as good or even better, then you know that it’s time to dig in and enjoy the record. And I defy you to come up with a second song on an any album that’s any better than “Pilgrimage.” I guess maybe “Bargain,” or “Sway.” Maybe.

Though ironically, it was probably one of the weird, slower songs that initially put me off that first time I listened to Murmur, which is, of course totally and completely insane in hindsight, because “Pilgrimage” is clearly an absolute fucking masterpiece, an object lesson in both dynamics and vocal arrangements.

Certain Songs #1690: R.E.M. – “Radio Free Europe”

November 26, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Murmur
Year: 1983

. . .

File Under Transit

A lot of records, I don’t remember when I first heard them. The vast majority, actually. Murmur, however, is an exception. I heard it at the KFSR production studios in April, 1983. It had just shown up, and so we had to hear it this second. And upon first blush of hearing an album that is in my all-time top 5 — if not my all-time top 1 — I was . . . disappointed.

Gone was the rollicking electric tumble of Chronic Town, and instead, the songs were somewhat slower and more sophisticated. Hell, they had acoustic guitars and pianos and cellos! (Though no synths, thank the gods.)

Medialoper Bebop Episode 3: Conversation Fear

May 10, 2011 by Jim Connelly

On this week’s Medialoper Bebop, Jim, Tim & Kirk discuss the following:

Whether or not the huge popularity of Netflix Instant is making a dent in video piracy, and why Hollywood continues to drive people to, er, other methods of getting content, despite evidence that people want to pay for stuff.

Why fewer and fewer people are using browsers to access the internet, as Kirk & Tim have seen their digital lives reconfigure with the advent of the iPad.

And finally, we induct our very first album into the Medialoper Great Albums Hall of Fame — R.E.M. – Murmur. Of course. What else could it be?

All of this, and Coco Crisp! On an all-new Medialoper Bebop.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:44 — 33.7MB)

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