Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Various Artists, God is in The T.V. 2021.
God is in The T.V. is the record label of music and culture webzine godisinthetvzine.co.uk who are based in Cardiff Wales.
At the end of July this year they celebrated the 40th anniversary of R.E.M’s recording career by hosting a weeklong session encouraging bands and performers to contribute a track.
To their surprise R.E.M.’s social media got involved and the band were delighted to give the activity their blessing.
The week was a great success and the label ended up with 40 tracks from some well-known, as well as a lot of little-known, bands and artists – a track for each year of R.E.M.’s recording life.
The artists who contributed tracks to the project come from all over the world, Wales, London Edinburgh, Athens, Sweden, Japan and even Australia.
The diversity and quality of the tracks is wonderful with each band providing their own unique interpretation of R.E.M.’s iconic songs.
Michael Stipe the lead singer and songwriter of R.E.M. responded to the album by posting: “I’m listening now, and I’m blown away by the energy and the voices that are coming through this project – what an honour.”
R.E.M. band member Bill Berry responded with: “All of these renditions are noteworthy – enthusiastic thumbs up! So proud that younger groups got what we were goin’ for. Thanks.”
Peter Buck responded: “Tell ‘em it’s cool.”
I love these albums because they provide insights into well-known songs that offer a different slant.
I also love the fact that many artists chose to do lesser-known tracks like Hairshirt, Crush With Eyeliner, Sweetness Follows, Living Well is The Best Revenge, Let Me In etc.
There is naturally some overlap on the disc with multiple versions of some songs but this is immaterial to the enjoyment of the album.
In fact, it actually enhances it because it’s lovely to compare interpretations.
Congratulations to all the bands who participated and to God is in The T.V. for putting the project together.
