Murmurs of Easter

R.E.M. was an absolute staple of my childhood. Stipe's mumbled, cryptic lyrics were a thing of great mystery that I spent ages trying to decipher. There were never lyrics printed in the inserts of the records. In fact, there was never much written in the inserts of the records at all. The only albums with any background were the two compilation albums: Dead Letter Office & Eponymous. The name of producer Mitch Easter appeared frequently on those two and of course appeared on Murmur & Reckoning, the two studio albums he produced.

Mitch Easter is a hard name to forget. It's got a great ring to it! Last week, the little cardboard box full of free stuff by the door of my favorite record shop in the country had a single record sitting in it. It had no jacket, just the plastic sleeve. However, the plastic sleeve did have the I.R.S. records logo on it. R.E.M. and Camper Van Beethoven were on I.R.S., so that was enough for me to pick it up.

The record = Afoot. The band = Let's Active. The leader = Mitch Easter.

This six song EP from 1983 went right out the door with me. When I got home it looked like it had never been played. I listened to it straight through, of course, it's only a little more than 20 minutes long. It was synthy, jangle-pop executed to perfection! I loved every second of it!

The following day, I returned to my shop to see if they had any cd's of Let's Active. They had one. A two-for-one combo of the first two Let's Active records: Afoot & Cypress. Apparently, it is a very rare cd and, as always, my little shop had it. And... as always... it was only $6! What a great find! It is catchy, pop-informed music with plenty of experimental and underground undertones! The murmurs of Easter aren't easy to find, but they're worth listening for...