Monday, August 18, 2014

How Can You Live Without These Records? R.E.M. - New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996)

A black and white photograph of a hot desert
New Adventures in Hi-Fi , 1996
Faro' rabbrividire un po' di gente, dicendo che New Adventure In Hi-Fi e' uno dei miei preferiti dei R.E.M. Forse sono fissato con i "dischi della maturita" quando si tratta di certi artisti e a volte adoro album che altri reputano minori o molto diversi dai primi. Questo e' l'ultimo con il batterista (nonche' fondatore) Bill Berry che aveva da poco rischiato la vita per un aneurisma celebrale e inizia un percorso di ricerca che culminera' con UP (1998) e Reveal (2001). In fondo lo possiamo considerare il loro White Album. Era il momento giusto per farlo. 

Ci sono dentro suoni obliqui, sinistri e inconsueti per i R.E.M. Per esempio nella desolante "How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us" che apre il disco. "Leave" inizia con una lenta chitarra acustica per poi trasformarsi in una sirena angosciante. C'e' Patti Smith in "E-Bow the Letter" a duettare con Michael Stipe in un'atmsofera tesa e inquietante. Il punk regna sovrano in "The Wake Up Bomb" mentre ritroviamo il pop malinconico e minimale a cui ci hanno educato in "Electrolite" e "New Test Leper". 

Per riassumere New Adventures in Hi-Fi e' una collezione di rabbia dispersa in una terra desolata. La copertina ne e' la perfetta raffigurazione grafica -- Una foto in bianco e nero presa da un autobus in corsa, come un pensiero sfuggevole. Anche se la quiete e la pacifica rabbia nascosta dietro di essa possono lasciare un'impressione molto vivida.

By Nichy D'Andrea

English after the Jump.


I might make some readers sigh by stating that New Adventures in Hi-Fi  is one of my favorite R.E.M. records. I suppose I have a thing for "mature records," while early fans consider the later albums secondary or not as good as their earlier material. The album was R.E.M.'s last recording with founding member and drummer Bill Berry, who almost met his demise in 1995 from a brain aneurysm. It starts a more experimental path that will have its peak (literally) with UP (1998) and Reveal (2001). In New Adventures in Hi-Fi, one can hear more oblique and abstract sounds that make me consider this as R.E.M's personal version of The Beatles' White Album.


The songs from New Adventures in Hi-Fi are more of a release of R.E.M.'s tradition of the college sound that made the band a household name. These tracks are more calculated in their experimentation of introspective composition
For instance, there is a desolate start to the first song on the album with "How the West Was Won And Where It Got Us". On "Leave," a soft acoustic guitar drops into an eerie, siren-like electric riff that haunts throughout the track. Patti Smith's voice competes with Michael Stipe's own in the tense melody of "E-Bow The Letter". A more punk-aesthetic can be found on "The Wake Up Bomb". "Electrolite" and "New Test Leper" demonstrate a more melancholic and minimal-pop feel to the album. 

To sum up, New Adventures in Hi-Fi is a collection of angst in a wasteland. The cover sums up the album's desolation -- A black & white image of a desert-stretch taken from the tour bus, almost intended as an afterthought but the stillness and quiet rage behind it leaves a vivid impression. 

-By Regina Smith

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