That’s right, one of the all time best debut albums is getting reissued and remastered for its 25th anniversary. R.E.M.’s Murmur will be out November 25th via Universal. It will include essays from producers/geniuses Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, as well as former I.R.S. executives Jay Boberg, Sig Sigworth, and Carlos Grasso and expanded liner notes. Those who look for official lyrics (like myself) will have to wait and see, as there as no official announcement yet.
Now a big question would be “what’s on the second disc?” The answer, a show from June 1983 at Larry’s Hideaway in Toronto. This show I’ve owned for quite awhile and loved, and it contains almost all the songs from Murmur, a few from Chronic Town, early versions of “Harborcoat” and “7 Chinese Brothers” (from Reckoning all appear, as well as a version of “Just a Touch”, which wouldn’t show up until 1986’s Life’s Rich Pageant. However, the full show is not included, but only 16 of the 20 songs are. Those cut are “Wolves, Lower”, “Moral Kiosk” (both of which opened the show) and an early version of “Pretty Persuasion”. “Moon River” is not on the tracklist, but I assume it is at the beginning of “There She Goes Again”.
Let’s hope this can be put on vinyl and that they remaster and expand Chronic Town, Reckoning, Fables of the Reconstruction, and Life’s Rich Pageant.
Tracklisting and dates after the jump:
Disc One (this should be etched in your mind):
01 Radio Free Europe
02 Pilgrimage
03 Laughing
04 Talk About the Passion
05 Moral Kiosk
06 Perfect Circle
07 Catapult
08 Sitting Still
09 9-9
10 Shaking Through
11 We Walk
12 West of the Fields
Disc Two (Live at Larry’s Hideaway 1983):
01 Laughing
02 Pilgrimage
03 There She Goes Again
04 7 Chinese Bros.
05 Talk About the Passion
06 Sitting Still
07 Harborcoat
08 Catapult
09 Gardening at Night
10 9-9
11 Just a Touch
12 West of the Fields
13 Radio Free Europe
14 We Walk
15 1,000,000
16 Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)
Tour Dates:
10.24 – Dallas, TX – Nokia Theatre #
10.26 – New Orleans, LA – Voodoo Music Experience
10.29 – Bogota, Colombia – Parque Simón Bolívar (with the Mars Volta)
11.01 – Buenos Aires, Argentina – Club Ciudad (with Bloc Party, The Kaiser Chiefs, and The Mars Volta)
11.03 – Santiago, Chile – Movistar Arena (with The Kaiser Chiefs, Jesus & Mary Chain, Mars Volta)
11.04 – Santiago, Chile – Movistar Arena (with The Kaiser Chiefs, Jesus & Mary Chain, Mars Volta)
11.06 – Porto Alegre, Brazil – Zequinha Stadium (with Nenhum de Nós)
11.08 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Arena
11.10 – São Paulo, Brazil – Via Funchai (with Wilson Sideral)
11.11 – São Paulo, Brazil – Via Funchai (with Wilson Sideral)
11.14 – Lima, Peru – Jockey Club del Peru (with Travis, Cemeterio Club, Los Turbopotamos)
11.16 – Caracas, Venezuela – Festival (with Travis, Entre Nos, Fauna Crepuscular)
11.18 – Mexico City, Mexico – Auditorio Nacional
# with Old 97’s
-Ryan N.
