Members of the R.E.M. fan club got a yearly gift from the band around Christmas-time. For $10 a year, members got access to the perks of being in the club, but the most exciting part was the CD sent out every December, containing two unreleased tracks from the band.
"I just liked the idea . . . I was never in the Beatles fan club but . . . I really liked the fact you would get a weird thing in the mail every year," guitarist Peter Buck said. "So every year, R.E.M. put out a record. It was all material that had never been released anywhere else."
Finding actual hard copies from the releases, which occurred every years between 2008 and the band's split in 2011, can get expensive. However Buck told the BBC that he and his bandmates would look to release all of the songs in a compilation to raise funds for charity.
Among the rarities that have been released over the years include brand new singles, duets with other famed musicians (such as Radiohead and Neil Young), and covers (such as Television's "See No Evil").
Although the band is on friendly terms, fans shouldn't expect an R.E.M. reunion anytime soon.
"Right now, there are zero plans for an R.E.M. reunion. Absolutely zero," bassist Mike Mills said. "But the future is a strange place. We could all be hit by a meteor tomorrow, but I would consider it highly unlikely."
Buck is the only member currently touring, playing in Tired Pony along with Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol and Richard Colburn from Belle and Sebastien.
