After reading Frank Bruno’s Armed Forces, and now J. Niimi’s Murmur I am starting to appreciate the artistic scope of serious pop music. I guess I’ve always appreciated pop music, but after reading these two books which show the dedication that went into realizing the songs in the studio by adding sounds layering and maintaining themes and motifs holistically throughout the process-which is often reflected in song order and cover art as well. Somehow I can’t say that I would be as impressed with a careful rendering or say, a Brittany Spears recording session, which I guess is a case of disposable pop versus artist who are trying to create art for the ages. I think R.E.M., like Costello before them, has succeeded in doing that, they still sound timeless and vibrant today 20 years after hey were first conceived. Murmur and Reckoning were two albums I got into after discovering them during the Life’s Rich Pageant Tour of 86’ (I declined to joined my co-workers from Chuck E. Cheese to make the pilgrimage to Seattle to see them perform live-it wasn’t until earlier this year in march that I was able to finally see them live). However, this cassette tape, along with The Smiths ”Meat Is Murder”/Sex Pistols “Anarchy In The U.K.”, among others (especially The Replacements), represented the young adult soundtrack of my life.
Niimi starts out discussing the early days of the band and their recordings, of which The Chronic Town EP preceded the recording of Murmur. This is followed by a discussion of the actual process and the specific atmosphere of recording Murmur with engineer/producers Don Dixon and Mitch Easter. In the next section, Niimi discusses the album track-by-track and note-by-note. Then he goes into detail concerning the themes and motifs, which are present. For example, how southern gothic is expressed through the lyrics, music, and album artwork and graphics. There are more specific dsicussions about interpretations and lingusitic interpretations of the lyrics. I found the book to be informative, thought provoking, and entertaining-a must for any R.E.M. fan.
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