One of the more anticipated releases from this year’s rich Record Store Day trove was a widely-bootlegged March 1991 almost impromptu live set from R.E.M., playing under the hilarious pseudonym Bingo Hand Job.  There are a couple of reasons I was stoked to get a copy: 1) the fairly limited number of copies pressed (3000 in the US); 2) R.E.M. was a band I sadly never got to see live, and 3) at the time, the band was not quite the biggest band in the world, though they were sure on their way.  So the chance to hear them in a really loose, mostly acoustic setting (they cover Love Is All Around, for crying out loud) was too good to miss.

[Craft Recordings]

The Borderline is a pretty legendary London club – holding only about 300 people, it’s pretty intimate.  You can get a sense of the room from the acoustic space generated from this recording.  For a bootleg recording, it’s not too bad.  I honestly don’t think they’ve cleaned it up at all, but it doesn’t matter: muddy sonics didn’t hurt Murmur, after all.

R.E.M. in 1990 (JA Barratt/Photoshot/Getty Images)

This is still the early R.E.M. I love so much – the songs on this two-disc set span their entire catalog up to that time.  The band is clearly loose and having a great time (as is the well-lubricated crowd), and the fun extended to the band members’ pseudonyms (Michael Stipe =“Stinky,” Peter Buck =“Raoul,” Mike Mills = “Ophelia”, Bill Berry = “The Doc,” as well as guests Spanish Charlie (Peter Holsapple of the dBs), Conrad (Billy Bragg) and Violet (Robyn Hitchcock).  As Mike Mills said recently, “” too concerned about being a professional band.”  Thank god for that.  If you can track down a copy of this at a not-insane price, (copies are going on eBay right now for about $75(!)) get it. 

Tracklist:

Side A

1. “World Leader Pretend”

2. “Half A World Away”

3. “Fretless”

4. “The One I Love”

Side B

1. “Jackson”/”Dallas”

2. “Disturbance At The Heron House”

3. “Belong”

4. “Low”

Side C

1. “Love Is All Around”

2. “You Are The Everything”

3. “Swan Swan H”

4. “Radio Song”

5. “Perfect Circle”

Side D

1. “Endgame”

2. “Pop Song 89”

3. “Losing My Religion”

4. “Get Up”

5. “Moon River”