Mike will host Xfm's "Live Hour" tonight at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday (UK time). He'll be playing tracks from LIVE AT THE OLYMPIA. 

Michael, in the meantime, will be on NPR's "All Things Considered" where he'll be discussing LIVE AT THE OLYMPIA with host Weekend Edition host Guy Raz.  Tune in for their conversation today at 5:45 p.m. ET and stop by NPR now for a PREVIEW.

Also, if you're in Athens, don't forget about the Listening Party at the Rialto Room at Hotel Indigo tomorrow night at 6 p.m.  Tickets are going fast, so you may want to reserve yours now at athensmusic.net.

Finally, onlineathens.com has an interview with Jacknife Lee who discusses LIVE AT THE OLYMPIA with Julie Phillips.

With the release date of LIVE AT THE OLYMPIA just under a week away (Oct. 27th), we are pleased to announce that NPR.org is hosting an exclusive "First Listen" of the entire 39-song record beginning today.  Visit npr.org now and have a listen...

To watch the This Is Not A Show trailer and find screenings near you, click here.

Crooks and liars Late Night Music Club was the first to post the video for Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars), the latest add from the forthcoming CD Live At The Olympia, due out October 26th... Check it out below:

A pre-release listening party will be held on Monday, October 26th at the Rialto Room at Hotel Indigo in downtown Athens to celebrate the release of R.E.M. LIVE AT THE OLYMPIA.  The listening party will benefit Community Connection of Northeast Georgia & Family Connection/Communities In Schools of Athens.  Advance tickets and event details are available at athensmusic.net or therialtoroom.com (tickets are $12 advance and $15 day of show).  Doors for the event are at 6:30 p.m., and the event will begin promptly at 7 p.m.

Highlights of the Listening Party include a preview of R.E.M. LIVE AT THE OLYMPIA album and a screening of THIS IS NOT A SHOW, a 59-minute film directed by Vincent Moon and Jeremiah who previously worked with the band on the video for Supernatural Superserious, Ninetynights.com, and Six Days.

As in past instances, there will also be a LIVE AUCTION featuring items signed by the band:

*R.E.M.-signed Rickenbacker electric guitar (360 Jet-Glo model  like the one Peter Buck plays) & case
*R.E.M.-signed album artwork proof for Murmur and Reckoning vinyl reissue
*R.E.M.-signed limited edition poster from R.E.M. LIVE AT THE OLYMPIA, plus...
*A night in the Hotel Indigo's premiere 3,000 sq. ft. Rialto Suite with pool table, baby grand piano & other amenities
*A raffle and exclusive pre-release party t-shirts & tote bags for sale designed by Grammy-nominated artist Chris Bilheimer

HOTEL INDIGO DETAILS:
The adjacent Hotel Indigo will also offer special room rates of $89 for Sunday, October 25 and/or $113 (includes 2 tickets to the listening party) for Monday, October 26. $10 of each night's rate will be donated to Community Connection of NE GA & Family Connection / Communities in Schools of Athens. For these special rates, contact Hotel Indigo at 706-546-0430 and ask for the R.E.M. Pre-Release Party Package.

For more information about the release party, contact Jeff Montgomery at 706-380-8269 or jeff@athensmusic.net.

**Please note that the band will neither perform nor be in attendance at the event.

We've posted the trailer for This Is Not A Show, the bonus DVD to R.E.M. Live At The Olympia on our myspace page. Watch it now, just below the widget...

On October 27th, R.E.M. will release R.E.M. LIVE AT THE OLYMPIA, a two-CD set featuring 39 songs from the band's acclaimed 2007 working rehearsals in Dublin, Ireland. 

"Live At The Olympia" ventures back to the first week in July 2007, when R.E.M. set up camp at the venerable Olympia Theatre in Ireland's capital city and tested new material over five nights before fired-up, capacity crowds comprised of fan club members, friends, family, and fans from all over the world who were party to R.E.M.'s so-called "experiment in terror."  "We were just trying to do something we hadn't done before," said guitarist Peter Buck, "which meant there was no relaxing during the set. Every second we were playing something we didn't know all that well. Which was kind of good... there were all kinds of terror elements going on during that show."

The music on "Live At The Olympia" was produced by Dublin native Jacknife Lee who, along with R.E.M., co-produced the band's 14th studio album, ACCELERATE, which subsequently shot straight to number one in nine countries.  Many of the eleven songs on ACCELERATE appeared in some form or fashion at the Dublin rehearsals, and R.E.M. LIVE AT THE OLYMPIA is an opportunity for fans to hear and experience those songs at one of the earliest stages in the developmental process.

In addition to the new material, the band also served up twenty-nine other songs, many of them rarely if ever played, culled mainly from the band's storied IRS years, ranging from the 1982 e.p. Chronic Town to 1983's Murmur up through 1988's Document.  

A special edition 2 CD & DVD set will contain a film of the Dublin shows by Vincent Moon and Jeremiah, who previously worked with R.E.M. on Ninetynights, Six Days, and the video for Supernatural Superserious.  For more on the forthcoming release, fans should be sure to visit remdublin.com where audio for "Driver 8" is currently streaming.

For a non-touring/non-recording summer, things are somewhat lively at HQ, with the RECKONING 25th DELUXE EDITION re-issue, the RECKONING SONGS FROM THE OLYMPIA Digital EP and the upcoming LIVE AT THE OLYMPIA Double Live Record coming in October keeping us busy and on our toes.

RECKONING was a wonderful record at the time (yep, 25 years ago says the calendar) and the songs have surely stood the test of time, with the most recent R.E.M. tour including 8 of its tracks at some point or another.  So we decided to put out a little taste of what is to come with the OLYMPIA album by releasing 4 of the 6 RECKONING songs playing the band during the 5 night residency (mainly because they sound so good we wanted people to hear them sooner than later).  We are hearing good reaction from iTunes and other digital services worldwide, and it is cool to hear recent versions of beloved songs like Pretty Persuasion and the rarely-played Letter Never Sent. A recent review that captured it pretty well is from a site called Consequences of Sound, and another on No Ripcord. You might have already seen the stellar reviews the Deluxe Edition garnered in Pitchfork and Pop Matters.

The bonus record comprising the band's 1984 show at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago is receiving a lot of attention-- it has always been one of the most heralded bootlegs among those who know, and thanks to the gracious generosity of the good people at WXRT , we were able to include it in this special package.

We also have streamed Harborcoat on REMHQ and some film footage that has surfaced of several of the RECKONING songs (continuing on the theme). These scenes from Dublin were shot by the estimable Vincent Moon, and his colleague Jeremiah, of Takeaway Shows , Supernatural Superserious, and Ninety Nights fame (not to mention all their other amazing work with everyone from the National to Arcade Fire and the Shins, et al). One other interesting link to pass along on all things Olympia is the little poll on the indespensible Murmurs.com. There are certainly lots of songs to choose from over the course of the five-night stand, and of course like most things, everyone has an opinion-- so weigh in over at Murmurs.  And for further news on LIVE AT THE OLYMPIA, return to REMDublin.com which has been revived for its third incarnation as chronicler of all things R.E.M., Dublin and the Olympia shows (and now record).

This time last year we were in Dresden by the river-- and seeing art and enjoying that city's amazing urban life.  This year, a little slower pace in the world of R.E.M., but with the upcoming record, there will be some good times ahead.  And the demos the guys did a few weeks ago will once again turn into some special songs-- just a guess (but there is precedent).

Happy Summer-- it's going fast!

- Bertis

p.s.  I am not going to be in London this weekend or Minneapolis next week, but if I was I would be going to see these guys:

Robyn Hitchcock and other luminaries coordinated by Joe Boyd in a celebration of English folk music:
and
Christopher O'Riley plays an eclectic program of Radiohead, Elliott Smith and R.E.M.