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twistedkite

Member Since 26 Nov 2001
Offline Last Active Yesterday, 03:29 PM
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Topics I've Started

Owenshire: The Enough We Share Apiece [AKA "The Last R.E.M. Song] [AKA Untitled Gre...

10 May 2013 - 02:36 PM



Prologue: In honour of Green's 25th Anniversary

WAV:
http://www.filedropp...t2013unmastered

Instrumental:  http://notboundtofol...strumental.html

Rob: What’s cooler than finishing up an old R.E.M. song based on a one-off live cover? How about creating a full song from a discarded instrumental?  It’s no secret R.E.M. have their fair share of instrumental songs, both as B-sides and demos. Most are what they are: silly experiments (“Tricycle,” anyone?). However, every now and again a great track arises that makes you scratch your head and say “why didn’t Michael finish this!?” One such example is “Untitled Green Instrumental #1 (AKA: The Last R.E.M. Song).” Rumour has it that by 1988 R.E.M. were very sick of the ‘R.E.M.-sound’ (hence Buck’s foray into Mandolin playing…and history). Green Instrumental #1 was informally dubbed “The Last R.E.M. Song” as a playful (or maybe exasperated?) label acknowledging that the band could churn out these minor key, 3 minute ditties in their sleep. [Incidentally, Peter Buck once said he could write songs like “Driver 8” “in [his] sleep”—to which I reply: please do!] Anyway, when I heard this way back when the Green demos leaked, I kind of came up with my own melody for it (which I've now substantially revised), and when I approached Clive with the idea of me writing lyrics from scratch if he worked up a proper instrumental, he was all for it.

In a way, (and somewhat ironic given Buck’s distaste for R.E.M. sounding songs) the chord structure of Green Instrumental #1 always reminds me of “Losing My Religion” just a little bit—check it out: they both have no real chorus and the middle 8’s seem just a tad similar. Hell, you can almost sing LMR’s lyrics over this song! As for my contribution, the lyrics have to do with a relationship that is breaking down—a long night of fighting that concludes at dawn (but without closure). [I’m assuming we’ve all been there]. I hope you like this—I had a lot of fun working on it.
[Lyrics below]

Clive: Like “Title,” this is another great abandoned song from the early Green sessions, cast aside probably because it sounds "too R.E.M." and didn't fit with the new experimental sound of Green, which I suppose it does:  it sounds like a song written by an R.E.M. fan so wrapped up in their favourite band that they are unable to come up with anything other than jangly minor-chord songs.

This one has no vocal from Stipe, possibly another reason why it was abandoned, maybe a vocal melody just didn't fit. So, once again, this is my attempt to perform and record the song as though it were actually recorded by the band. Of course there is a studio recording of this out there amongst bootleggers which would be superb if it were not for the extremely poor, compressed audio quality that renders the song quite grating.

Instrumentally it's fairly straightforward, drums, bass guitar, Peter's Rickenbacker centre-left and an acoustic guitar strumming in the far right.

The Enough We Share Apiece

Hearts
They break into little pieces
We sweep under the door
Rake over the coals
And we tore their holes
Through the tatters of aging

The reasons that rise and fall
Every evening
They take all this and more
Paint over the walls with
With our talk while we
Swap the ceilings for floors

I hold my end and you hold your end
Neither of us close enough to begin
I hold my act
This could be that
This could be the enough,
We share it apiece
What’s that sound?
We’re you speaking to me?
Was I mistaken?

Hearts
They break in two
Because of all the things
That we would not do
And we parse
And we pain
Misplace the parts
Exchange a win for a gain

I really used to admire you
Despite all the things
That you put me through
I’m a pawn  
You pretend
As we salvage remains in
Game that’s not worth playing.

I hold my end
And you hold your end
Neither of us close enough to begin
I hold my act
This could be that
This could be the enough,
We share it apiece
What’s that sound?
We’re you speaking to me?
Was I mistaken?

Ease up

Oh, I’m sorry (were you speaking to me?)
The curtain’s drawing (were you speaking to me?)
The hour’s dawning (were you speaking to me?)
Where no one is proud

Owenshire: Driver 8 (Harmonies) and Driver 8 (Traditional) [R.E.M. cover]

29 March 2013 - 09:38 AM



WAV 1:
http://www.filedropper.com/owenshiredriver8harmoniesremembereverymomentunmastered2013


WAV 2:
http://www.filedropper.com/owenshiredriver8traditionalremembereverymomentunmastered2013


Instrumental: http://notboundtofol...2/driver-8.html

Rob: “Driver 8” and “So Central Rain” occupy a special place in my R.E.M. memories. When I bought my first R.E.M. album—Eponymous—I was pleasantly surprised to discover those two songs on it, songs I’d heard on the radio before, but never knew they were by this band called R.E.M. In fact, I have a very fond (and specific) memory of hearing “Driver 8” while sitting in the back of my parents’ car. I couldn’t have been more than 9 or 10 years old. At the time I thought Mike Mills was saying “Drive Away.” Anyway, while I am pretty much sick to death of most of R.E.M.’s singles, I never really get tired of “Driver 8”—it really is the perfect R.E.M. song.

Our cover(s) of “Driver 8” occupy both ends of the spectrum. Some people prefer their covers more traditional and faithful to the original, while others like their covers to offer something new. Both perspectives are included here: The first is my ideal version of “Driver 8” with, yes, loads of harmonies, while directly proceeding this is the more traditional version. I don’t expect an outpouring of support here, but I am mildly curious which one people prefer. Thanks as always for listening.  

Clive: “Driver 8” is the quintessential mid 1980's R.E.M. song full of railway imagery and homesickness. It's also a fairly straightforward song musically and, taking the obscurity of Fables into consideration, relatively mainstream. They wrote the song I believe in 1984 and played it several times throughout the Reckoning Tour and, needless to say, it was a staple of their set during the Reconstruction tour but not played a great deal since. My cover is based on the Fables album version with the acoustic guitars quite prominent running alongside the jangly electric guitar and another of Mike Mills's driving bass lines.  

Owenshire: Kohoutek [R.E.M. cover]

13 March 2013 - 03:22 PM



WAV: http://www.filedropp...t2013unmastered
Instrumental: http://notboundtofol...arch?q=kohoutek

Rob: “Kohoutek” is kind of a polarizing song. Stuck in the middle of the second side on Fables, its lyric (to me at least) was completely indecipherable until I first read an unofficial version of it on the internet way back in the late 1990s. From there, I was absolutely, utterly, and, yes, completely stunned at how personal it was. Stipe has even admitted as much himself years later saying that it was a real gut-spiller of sorts, although I forget the actual source and quotation (sorry). This cover of “Kohoutek” is rather straight-forward—no extra harmonies or flourishes, save for me using my own name at the end instead of “Michael”—this just made sense to me, since the song is a personal song and it felt weird singing “about” Michael Stipe. As for how I feel about the song itself and the cover, I used to really like them, but now feel they are just “okay.” My love for all things “Kohoutek” goes in phases, it seems, like the comet itself.

Clive: It wasn't until I started practicing the guitar parts to this that I realised Peter Buck is using drop D tuning on his guitar in a similar way to “Gardening At Night” and, much later, “Until The Day Is Done.” Instantly it sounded right and also provided the key to getting the riff during the middle 8 sounding right - note how I'm reluctant to refer to this as "a guitar solo" because I feel it falls just short of qualifying as one. Another feature of the song I picked up on was the volume of the acoustic guitars; they're quite a prominent feature in the song so I went along with this too. Finally, please note, the bass lick before the start of the third verse is actually there on the Fables Of The Reconstruction version; it's just that it's so buried in the mix that it took the 25th Anniversary Fables demos CD to make me realise it even existed!

Owenshire: Moral Kiosk [R.E.M. cover]

30 January 2013 - 03:35 PM



WAV: http://www.filedropper.com/owenshiremoralkioskremembereverymoment2013unmastered
Instrumental: http://notboundtofollowsuit.blogspot.ca/search?q=moral+kiosk

Rob: I’m not sure how many of you are curious about the recording of these covers. I will say this: if you’ve ever heard from other bands how certain song are difficult to get right, boy have I a story for you. “Moral Kiosk” was one of those songs. Vocally, it seems deceptively easy: some verses and some shouts for a chorus. Most of the time I sing 3 or 4 takes of a song. The first is the warm-up and then I pick and choose the best parts from the other 3 takes. Not so with “Moral Kiosk.” What you hear here is take 8 (with a little of take 2 in some spots). [Incidentally I recently read that Billy Corgan recorded something like 20 vocal takes of “Zero,” so I guess I’m doing better than that…]. Anyway, “Moral Kiosk” was such a pain in the ass to sing that by the end of the ordeal I kind of hated the song. However, Clive’s wizardry for the chorus really saved it for me. I’m not going to stand here and say that our cover even approaches the majesty of what R.E.M. and their producers did on Murmur, but for me, what began as a horrible cover (vocally, anyway) turned into an above average cover. It is what it is. Consider this a curiosity.

Clive:  Another difficult Murmur song to cover. I consider it a compliment to Don Dixon, Mitch Easter and the band that I had such difficulty recreating the sound of this song. I also fail hopelessly at recreating, what I refer to as, the second middle 8, I have no idea what Peter Buck is doing here, some kind of variation on a G chord I think. Anyway, I consider “Moral Kiosk” one of the under-rated gems of Murmur: it's hidden away between two classic songs and it's really obscure lyrically, and even instrumentally it's quite complex. In fact, there are a lot of really complex songs on Murmur, “9-9” being another one. It's incredible that these complex, mature songs came from a band in their early twenties.

Owenshire: Theme From Two Steps Onward [R.E.M. cover]

14 December 2012 - 06:43 PM



Prologue: It was a little over year ago this month where I, frightened that murmurs.com would be offline for good, decided to spill the beans about a 40 song REM cover project that a friend of mine (recording all the way in the UK) and I cooked up together.  This “project” initially began as a 15 song set of rare and/or lesser known REM songs, which then expanded to 30 songs, which then turned into 40 (in honour of the band’s last greatest hits release). It began with a loose tracklist, one which is now moot because—the truth is—we just keep making covers. We have no idea which ones will sound the best, the most unique, or the most typical. It’s a project that won’t be done until it’s done; and yet, it’s not the destination, but the journey. Anyway, I want to thank (again) the many people who have supported these covers: the facebook likes, the Youtube subscribers, and (of course) the anonymous lurkers who appreciate what we’re doing. Thank you all. I may be the voice and catalyst for this entire project, but, as always, I want to state my most profuse appreciate for the wonderful Clive Butler—a man who has fulfilled my REM karaoke fantasies more than I could have ever dreamed.

WAV File: http://www.filedropp...t2012unmastered
Instrumental: http://notboundtofol...ps-onwards.html

Rob:  As my love of REM grew I came to hear about the songs that were never released. In the late 80s/early 90s (ie: pre internet) these songs took on a slightly mythic status. A title alone could be evocative enough to imbue a song with meaning. Anyway, one time at a record show in the mid 90s I was fortunate enough to buy the bootleg CD These Days (for a whopping $40, I might add) which—fortunate for me—had the demos of “Bad Day” and “Theme From Two Steps Onward” tacked on to the end of it.  I liked both songs immediately—gratified to finally hear them—however, I loved the former more than the latter. “Theme” was pleasant enough, yet its course lacked the urgency (for lack of a better word) that I wanted (or expected) it to have. Anyway, repeatedly listening to this song along in my car (transferred to a cassette tape, no less), I decided to sing a counter-melody over the chorus—a type of Mike Mills part that never existed. This was my personal little duet with Michael Stipe. Who could have guessed that some 20 years later I’d be able to put these parts together over a fairly (if I do say so myself) respectable cover of the entire song? As for the ending, what can I say? It was sung once (in homage to Stipe’s yowls at the end of the demo included on And I Feel Fine). It is what it is—a work-in-progress ending to a song that was never finished by a band that I adore.

Clive: “Theme From Two Steps Onwards” is, and always has been, my favourite unreleased R.E.M. song ever since I first heard it when I bought a VHS of the 1985 Rockpalast show back in 2000. Naturally I was delighted when a studio recording appeared on the And I Feel Fine release although, in hindsight, I think the live version is a better performance of the song: for one thing, Stipe's singing is frequently off key in the studio version. I’m not sure why this song didn't end up on Lifes Rich Pageant as it's classic R.E.M. yet slightly quirky with a fantastic bass line. I've heard rumours from a friend that there is a recording in existence with a horn section during the outro which makes sense because this could be what Stipe is emulating with his strange sounds at the end of the song. I don't know whether it was the song or the spirit of the band at the time but I get the impression Stipe was bored of this one. Despite preferring the live version, my cover is predominantly based on the studio recording with the dual bass line, which I love, and the little country-style guitar riff in the bridge.
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