On today's mix...
R.E.M. - Accelerate (2008)
The Breeders - Mountain Battles (2008)

90's survivors and 50-pushers R.E.M. and the Breeders both surprised with new releases this year: R.E.M. by releasing an album that wasn't terrible and the Breeders by releasing an album at all.

R.E.M.'s Accelerate isn't exactly a return to form, but it's nice nonetheless, a kind of gift to everyone who's stuck with them through mainstream blandness. The changes are simple but effective: louden up, keep up the pace, and cut down the runtime. Album opener "Living Well Is the Best Revenge" is more than a throwback to "Radio Free Europe"; it's a fierce declaration that they're not dead yet. It's also the album's best moment, though the next few tracks maintain the energy and freshness. If none of these songs stick quite like their early material, the lyrics may be somewhat to blame. "Supernatural Superserious" has a title that begs your love, but the chorus of "and you cry and you cry and you cry and you cry" isn't the most inspired. Similarly, Stipe's call to "kick it out on the dancefloor like you just don't care" on "Man-Sized Wreath" and his declarations on the closer that "I'm not gonna go until I'm good and ready" and "I'm gonna DJ at the end of the world" feel forced. Accelerate is not a great album given what R.E.M. have already accomplished, but it's an appreciated effort nonetheless. It's evidence that R.E.M. really do still care about making music and that maybe their best isn't all behind them.

The Breeders, of course, have never enjoyed quite the absolute acclaim of R.E.M. It's not to say they haven't had their fair share of love--they have--but critical reception has always been muddled by three things: 1) Kim Deal is part Pixie, 2) the output and line-up of the Breeders is so inconsistent that it's difficult to imagine them as a truly functioning band, and 3) "Cannonball", a single so spectacularly untoppable--and so wildly different than the rest of their output--that all other releases are inevitably disappointing. Forget those things. Mountain Battles is a masterpiece and might be an clear contender for album of the year were the Deal twins not so content to wallow in its reverb. At 36 minutes, the Breeders somehow manage to produce the epic masterpiece the title suggests and barely break a sweat. Where R.E.M. chose to pump up the energy, the Breeders sound like they could've recorded this album in their sleep--their really, really awesome sleep. The sound here is so familiar and spare that it's difficult at first to realize what an accomplishment this is. Their other albums were so inconsistent, the listener equivalent of mining for gold in a shapeless dreamland--usually with the end result of pilfering out the treasure onto mix cds and forgetting the rest. But halfway through Mountain Battles, it really hits you: every song here is that one you've been waiting for. Whether it's the fucked up drumbeat on "Bang On", the eerie build of "We're Gonna Rise", the chanting on "Istanbul", the German and Spanish tracks, the poppy "Walk It Off", or the nearly a capella title track, it's always exciting. And it's especially impressive because it's so spare, so unnoisy, so seemingly effortless. They don't have to pump up the amps to show their emotional range, and they don't need an orchestra either; the Deal sisters are warriors and never has it come across so strongly as on Mountain Battles. They close the album by noting that they're "thinking of things to do." Hopefully, they'll consider making another. It's nice to see a band peak at 20, and if fewer seemed to take note of this success than R.E.M.'s, it's only because they were thrown off to hear from them in the first place.

Accelerate: 6/10
Mountain Battles: 10/10