R.E.M.'s Micheal Stipe is about to release his long-teased solo song 'Future If Future' as a split 12" single with singer-songwriter Beatie Wolfe, Billboard reports. The disc will not be pressed on traditional polyvinyl chloride - the record will be the world’s first commercially available 12" made from sustainable bioplastic. It will be available for pre-order on Friday (September 2), in a limited run of 500 copies.

R.E.M.'s frontman made a list of music that was crucial to him at certain points in his life. The list is eclectic, folding in bubblegum pop, unvarnished folk, grunge, electronic music, and more. Pitchfork brings Stipe's music time-line.

"I can’t say that I thought this would happen, because it’s one of those things - you know, my 20-year old self or my 15-year-old self would never have thought that would happen" Aaron Dessner told Stereogum about working with Michael Stipe, since R.E.M. were such a bih influence on The National - "but more recently, it seemed like more of a dialogue". The band is quarantined now, which is a huge difference, for The National in particular - "we’ve played so many shows for 20 years, and now who knows when that will come back. One of the negative sides of a really intense arc as a touring band is there are big gaps in your memory because you’re so exhausted. It’s an amazing job, and we’re so lucky and grateful for that. But one of the things that is maybe sometimes bittersweet is you miss a lot of normal rites of passages and people’s birthdays and such".

Michael Stipe, Patti Smith, Cat Power, Rebecca Foon, Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ben Harper, Rain Phoenix and The Strokes bassist Nikolai Fraiture are slated to play Pathway to Paris’s 50th Anniversary Earth Day Festival on Sunday. Pathway will be livestreamed online via the organization’s Instagram page, on Sunday, April 26th (4 p.m. Haiti time, 9 p.m. Lagos time, 10 a.m. Monday Kiribati time).

Michael Stipe was on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert where he talked about his new photography book 'Out Interference Times', and how he felt the need to create art again, inspired by the eco-activists, so he made two new solo songs - 'Your Capricious Soul' and 'Drive to the Ocean'. He also described an occasion from late 90s when he told Donald Trump to "shut up" at a Patti Smith concert because he was talking too loud.

You rarely see a face depicted in Michael Stipe's photo book, instead Stipe shoots hands, arms, the backs of heads. “I didn’t even realise that until the book came out”, he says, “It might be a built-in shyness, although bringing a camera up automatically alters the experience of being with another person. I might have […]

American actress, musician, and singer Rain Phoenix shared her first single as a solo artist. 'Time Is The Killer' features Michael Stipe, it appears on a new release 'Time Gone', out today, and in arrives with a new video directed by Bobby Bukowski and Bradley Gregg (video here). A lot of connections among them - […]