REM - Live from Austin, Texas

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 4 / 12 / 2010

intro

Anthony Strutt examines R.E.M's new seventeen song DVD, which comes from American TV show, 'Austin City Limits', and was filmed at the time of their 2008 album 'Accelerate'

There have been a number of live R.E.M. DVDs and videos over the years, but this latest one, which was recorded on March 13th 2008, is probably the first to feature an uncut TV broadcast. It comes from America's long standing TV music show, 'Austin City Limits', which has a history something like 'Later...With Jools Holland'. It lasts 72 minutes and shows R.E.M. previewing their then unreleased new album, 'Accelerate'. This is the perfect Christmas present while we wait for their fifteenth album which due in the Spring is called 'Collapse Into Now', and features twelve new songs for which the track listing is 'Discoverer', 'All the Best', 'Uberlin', 'Oh My Heart', 'It Happened Today', 'Every Day is Yours to Win', 'Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter', 'Walk It Back', 'Mine Sell Like Honey', 'That Someone is You','Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I' and 'Blue'. There are no extras and no back stage interviews, but the film features instead eight new songs from that then new album and stunning versions of nine others, all of which show the band at ease with themselves. The songs shine bright and there is just enough sparkle in each to show off what makes a decent song. It doesn't get much better than this.