Welcome back to the “staff picks” shelf at The Riff. R.E.M.’s new album, Accelerate, is due out on Tuesday, April 1. In preparation for this event, Kiera’s selections this week (numbers 2 and 3 on the playlist) both have to do with the storied Athens band.
1. “Red and Purple,” The Dodos: Their March 18 release, Visiter, combines sort of a punk attitude (using shoes outfitted with tambourines) with, the band would probably hate me for saying so, pretty melodies, that I want to keep listening to.
2. “Orange Crush,” Editors: A mellow cover of R.E.M.’s classic. The Editors are British. Do they even have Orange Crush over there?
3. “Dazzling Display,” Steve Wynn: Turns out R.E.M. has an imeem playlist, and this one’s on it. Peter Buck + Dream Syndicate=pretty cool.
4. “Bodysnatchers,” Radiohead: I know, you’re tired of hearing about Radiohead, right? I’m recommending this track anyway. This song is revved-up tension that is pretty and strange at the same time.
