Reckonings & Olive Branches: New R.E.M. Live

Live digital-only EP as a teaser to be followed by a full-length concert album.

By Blurt Staff

This just in from the R.E.M. camp. Meanwhile, watch for a full review of the Reckoning reissue at BLURT later this week.

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On July 7th, look for "Reckoning Songs From The Olympia," a 4-song digital ep, available for download at iTunes and other online outlets. The live release follows on the heels of the Reckoning Deluxe Edition, which was issued on June 23^rd, and includes "Harborcoat," "Letter Never Sent," "Second Guessing," and "Pretty Persuasion," from the band's Working Rehearsals at Dublin's Olympia Theatre.

"Reckoning Songs From The Olympia," will give fans a sneak peek at R.E.M. Live At The Olympia, set for an October on Warner Bros. The 2-CD set features songs from R.E.M.'s storied five-night stint at the Olympia in the summer of 2007.

The live sessions, produced by Jacknife Lee, capture the energy and excitement surrounding R.E.M.'s so-called "experiment in terror," an unprecedented move in the band's career, in which they debuted and simultaneously ironed out several new tracks each night before sold-out audiences. Eleven of the tracks would come to form the basis of Accelerate R.E.M.'S 14th studio record which later shot straight to number one in 7 countries; the live sessions, carefully referred to by the band throughout as "working rehearsals" rather than shows in the conventional sense, also included songs from the band's deep back catalog - "olive branches" in Michael's parlance - from some of the band's earliest albums: Murmur, Reckoning, Fables of the Reconstruction, Lifes Rich Pageant, and Document.