R.E.M.
Chronic Town

Yes, R.E.M. are the ones from “Losing My Religion” (damn you, MTV), they're also the ones from “Imitation Of Life” (damn you again, MTV), and yes, they're also the ones who… blah, blah, blah. But raise your hand if you know a song called “Gardening At Night”. Many will already be asking, “Where did that come from…?”; let me explain straight away: legend has it that the inspiration for this fantastic song came from watching a man busily pruning his garden in the middle of the night. It's just one of the 5 songs that make up this EP, which was the launching pad for the career we all know (thanks, MTV). “Wolves, Lower” begins with Buck's classic arpeggios bordering on strumming and with Mills' pronounced bass and a shout; the atmosphere is certainly not party-like, Stipe “mumbles” some verses (“distrust yourself, don't get caught”), but in the chorus, the music changes: the voices intertwine, clash, chase each other, then calm down, leaving room for another somber verse. The next “Gardening At Night” is, as usual, composed of arpeggios, acoustic and electric guitar; indeed, the peculiarity of this EP is that it’s chock-full of guitars! The drums are tight and effective, as is the bass, and here Stipe’s voice almost touches falsetto. “Boxcars” starts silently and explodes without exaggeration; the melody is beautiful, Stipe sings again in pseudo-falsetto, the chorus is one of the best: the effect that the two voices create is frightening, and the front man even allows himself to raise the tone at the end. “100000000” is the most cheerful, the vocal timbre is strong and powerful, the bass and percussion as usual hide the other components, and the guitar plays three chords at most. Then comes the final “Stumble,” which is the most complicated track on the EP; here, we finally admire some “evolution” in Berry’s rhythm and percussion with sudden semi-drum solos, and finally, Stipe bids farewell to the listeners with a spoken verse in an extremely low tone. The only flaw is that to listen to this EP, you would have to purchase the useless collection of b-sides “Dead Letter Office.” But, what can we say? Thank goodness in 1982 MTV wasn’t yet interested in R.E.M.!