Bloc Party Producer Set to Helm REM Album

Today, March 12th, is quite the day for REM and, by extension, April Wright. First off, the Athens quartet will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (which is a dubious honor, I think, but hey, it's an honor nonetheless) by Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder. The ceremony airs tonight, 7:30 CST, on VH1 Classic.

Second, NME reports that REM has hired Jacknife Lee (the man behind Bloc Party's half-classic, half-shite A Weekend In The City ) to man the boards for the band's new, tentatively untitled album. More Details Here.

Third, as mentioned in the NME report, the original REM line-up have recorded their first song together since 1996. It is a cover of John Lennon's "#9 Dream," and will be available for download from Amnesty International on Tuesday, March 13th (tomorrow). We'll let you know how the song turned out.

(Jonathan Graef)