from Murmers.com (Joey mention in last line):

R.E.M. fans have been buzzing about a new drummer working with the band. Bill Rieflin has been recording with R.E.M. in Vancouver and also played for their three-song set there on December 14. The Vancouver Province newspaper described him in an article as “R.E.M’s current drummer.”

Rieflin, formerly of Ministry (1986-1994), is an accomplished musician who has worked with the Minus 5. Along with fellow musicians Lesli Dalaba, Greg Gilmore, Jeff Greinke, and Trey Gunn, he founded a “musician-friendly” label, First World Music. He recorded a solo album, Birth of a Giant, in 1999, and collaborated with Chris Connelly on Largo in 2001. He has worked with a myriad of other artists and bands, including the Revolting Cocks, Nine Inch Nails, Chris Cornell, KMFDM, and Robert Fripp.

As Bertis Downs told Murmurs, "Mike, Peter, and Michael are hard at work with Pat McCarthy and Jamie Candiloro in the studio in Vancouver and have used some additional musicians so far in the sessions: Scott McCaughey, who has worked with the band all the way back to 1994, and Bill Rieflin, a drummer who Peter knows from Seattle and who has played with a wide variety of great musicians, from the Minus 5 to Robert Fripp to Ministry. Both these guys are wonderful additions to the creative process and super people as well."

Joey Waronker, who first worked with R.E.M. on 1999’s Up, toured with the band, and played an integral part in the recording of Reveal, has been recording with Ima Robot on their new album for Virgin Records.

Damn! Are we hard up for some Ima Robot news or what!!! Is April here yet?

How cool that they are getting credits for Ima Robot. The ball is starting to roll. But it still makes me laugh that we get excited over just the name being mentioned.

I like that they say their "new" album..It just sounds like a band that has made a lot of albums make "new" ones, you know? It's not new..It's, uhh..Their break-out album! That's what they should have said!:D