So, bad news everyone: I’ve been dealing with a really nasty ear infection over the past week and a half which is made it difficult for me to even listen to music, much less write anything. Normally, there’d be a Pressing Concerns today, and if you’re looking for weekly recommendations for stuff that comes out Friday, I can point you towards albums from the Mountain Goats, Why Bother?, Public Opinion, and Ceremony that I heard and enjoyed before I got afflicted with my current condition. Hopefully I can write about them and some other new music soon.
In the meantime, I wanted to get something up on the blog for Thursday, and I have this list of my fifty favorite R.E.M. songs I made a few weeks ago when I was bored and thinking about R.E.M., as I often do. They’re one of the best bands! Part of why I wanted to do this was because I’ve always felt like R.E.M.’s “hits” are for the most part subpar compared to the whole of their output and not representative of them: this list is me attempting to back up that claim (you’ll see a few “big ones” on here, but hardly all of them).
Of course, here’s a playlist featuring these songs (Spotify, Tidal). I just started a round of antibiotics, so hopefully things clear up soon and we can return to regular Rosy Overdrive broadcasting.
50. Let Me In
49. Try Not to Breathe
48. Monty Got a Raw Deal
47. Strange Currencies
46. Feeling Gravitys Pull
45. Why Not Smile
44. Me in Honey
43. Driver 8
42. I’ve Been High
41. Life and How to Live It
40. Leave
39. Letter Never Sent
38. Exhuming McCarthy
37. These Days
36. Near Wild Heaven
35. Talk About the Passion
34. Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)
33. Catapult
32. Maps and Legends
31. Electrolite
30. Find the River
29. Wall of Death
28. The Flowers of Guatemala
27. Imitation of Life
26. How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us
25. Pilgrimage
24. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite
23. Falls to Climb
22. Circus Envy
21. Wolves, Lower
20. I Believe
19. Shaking Through
18. Nightswimming
17. Sitting Still
16. Binky the Doormat
15. Bad Day
14. So Fast, So Numb
13. Green Grow the Rushes
12. Supernatural Superserious
11. What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
10. New Test Leper
9. Disturbance at the Heron House
8. Ages of You
7. Man on the Moon
6. Cuyahoga
5. Finest Worksong
4. Harborcoat
3. Gardening at Night
2. Fall on Me
1. Radio Free Europe
Rosy Overdrive 