[pullquote quote="First official day of #6 practice; made Peter Buck play my fake-R.E.M. riffs and he didn't seem perturbed. Nor litigious."] On 2009′s concept opera ‘Hazards of Love,’ [lastfm]Colin Meloy[/lastfm]‘s [lastfm]Decemberists[/lastfm] recruited [lastfm]My Morning Jacket[/lastfm]‘s [lastfm]Jim James[/lastfm] to help out on vocals. Now the group is back in the studio, and this time, getting some guitar work from [lastfm]R.E.M[/lastfm].’s [lastfm]Peter Buck[/lastfm].

With R.E.M. currently in a holding pattern and Meloy being a marathon man, this should prove to be a very fruitful endeavor. As Pitchfork reports, Meloy recently tweeted about a practice session, writing, “First official day of #6 practice; made Peter Buck play my fake-R.E.M. riffs and he didn’t seem perturbed. Nor litigious.”

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Meloy’s been busy in other endeavors as well, namely working on two children’s books with his wife, as well as gearing up for two benefit show later this month — a solo outing at Portland, Ore.’s Ace Hotel on April 29 and a full-on Decemberists gig the at the Liberty Theater in Astoria, Ore. on April 30.