adios REM

REM were one of my favorite bands of the 1990's... they seemed for me like the biggest band of that time, and even though nirvana had made "alternative" music the mainstream, REM had been digging away at the underground for many years prior... out of time was my first REM record... country feedback is still one of my all time favorite songs... automatic for the people came out just as i was breaking up with my first ever girlfriend... so that became a soundtrack to my despair... i was lucky enough to see REM play a couple of times... once in auckland in the early 90's with grant lee buffalo and crowded house, which was an epic show... and then again in london where their support act was wilco, who were touring summerteeth, and who were fast becoming one of my favorite all time bands... after seeing wilco open i didn't think anyone could top that, but then REM came out with song after song that i had almost forgotten i knew, and that had long ago been etched into my soul... REM were, and always will be, one of those special bands that changed my musical landscape and influenced me more than i care to admit... these ones go out to the band i love...