New Album Summary

OK, yesterday’s article was followed by a little bit more information on the new album, so I thought I’d sum up what we know. This could very well be out-of-date by tomorrow morning, but let’s see:

– Earlier this year, Beck told Rolling Stone, “We’re not going to get sidetracked. This one might be coming out sooner than people would think — definitely this year.”

– In that article, Beck refused to name who he was working with as his producer (some initial reports said it was Nigel Godrich). We have since learned that Beck has teamed up with Danger Mouse! How’d that happen? Beck’s longtime friend/band leader/bassist, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, worked with Gnarls Barkley, and set them up.

– An article about Danger Mouse in Rolling Stone said he had been tirelessly working on the new Beck album in early March.

– As I said yesterday, some news leaked out that the album was imminent, a quick release in the next month or so.

– Now we’re getting little hints that the album is full of collaborations, including one with my future girlfriend, Cat Power. There were earlier reports that Beck was in the studio (prior to Danger Mouse getting there), messing around with Jamie Lidell. That, I guess, is another possibility for a collaboration. Anything else is just pure speculation at this point.

– Beck’s touring band (i.e., Wounded Cougar) helped out a little on this record, but not much.

– And finally, Beck’s first quote about the album from here: “Beck describes the new set as the most concise collection of music he’s ever created. “The goal was 10 songs, 30 minutes, every song over before you want it to be. No fast-forward material. Anything that gave us any trouble was scrapped. There’s no fat on this record whatsoever.”

Stay tuned for more!

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4 Responses to “New Album Summary”

  1. guerolito says:

    News on Pitchfork:

    No title, release date, tracklist, or cover art just yet, but that Danger Mouse-produced, Cat Power-assisted Beck LP will indeed be coming at us a whole lot sooner than we thought a week ago. Clocking in at just over a half an hour, the ten track LP is due “this summer” from Interscope in the U.S.

    Given how much we don’t know about the project at this juncture, let’s take an inventory of the rest of what we do know. Sez a press release: “The result [of Beck and Danger Mouse’s collaboration] is a tightly assembled group of songs that range in lyrical tone from introspection and social commentary to off-the-cuff wordplay and lighthearted humor.”

    So it’s a Beck album, then.

    And the music? “Musically, the album’s ten tracks vacillate between economy and experimentation, hybrid and pop classicism, while consistently manifesting Beck and Danger Mouse’s shared interest in psych-rock, folk, electronic minimalism, and orchestration.”

    So it’s a Beck album, then.

    Beck’s forthcoming summer tour? Still all laid out and ready to roll since our last report.

  2. MikeC says:

    New album september 20.
    info on site
    http://www.beck.com/

  3. Alex says:

    i thought it was gonna be a quick release.

  4. Alex says:

    aw phew, nah it will be before september no doubt, if u look down the news section, that’s when he plays the Hollywood Bowl, and tickets go on sale this month.

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