Peter Buck participated in a great Q&A recently with Mojo about the deluxe edition of Murmur released late last year. I always love these things with Peter because he always shares a few nuggets about the past and talks so honestly that it reminds me why I love this band so much.
This time is no different. He even manages to put down Around the Sun again as “something you’d imagine someone doing a lot of crystal meth would do.”
Peter had always been kind of resistant to release live stuff, but you can tell how he’s mellowed on that lately since the band has released two live CDs in the past few years. I love his take on why the live show from Toronto included with the CD made sense as the choice of a representative sample from that era.
There’s no yelling or applause to get in the way of the recording. I’m pretty sure it was our first time in Canada and no-one knew who we were. That was pretty typical of 1983-84. We could play to 800-1000 people in New York and in Detroit we’d get 20.
He also delves into a lot of the technical aspects of recording the album and how producers Don Dixon and Mitch Easter already had future technology in their heads when they put the mix together. There is, naturally, a ubiquitous segment about the sound of pool balls in the background of “We Walk,” but also a few other nuggets that please the R.E.M. geek in me.
But the best part features Peter talking about what we can expect down the pike. Apparently, they don’t plan on stopping at this anniversary release. Look for a new version of Reckoning soon. I could care less about that, even though I can really appreciate the parts of Murmur that they brought out in the new mix. I like the notion that Peter wants to really please those of us who want the band to really embrace its past.
We’re already sifting through stuff from 1984, ’85, and there are also filmed elements… We’ve discussed putting all that stuff up on the web site, ’cos we’ve got copies of every performance that was ever filmed, and there’s a lot of ’em. I’d love to get all that stuff out there. The live thing is such an important element of who we were, and if you only know us from the records you’re missing out on more than half of what we were about. I’m sure the record company would have a nervous breakdown if they heard me talking like this, but it’s not the earning money thing that concerns me as much as the band entering history in as representative a way as possible. Come on, let’s see the weird Dutch TV performances with us lip-synching in make-up!
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