Archive for August, 2008

The Beck Oeuvre: Song #8 “Ain’t Your Time To Go”

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

This old song did not pull out much response from the FRX. We’ve got another cool photo from Momma (“like a driftwood in the night that was washed up by the light”), and you can download the song at the end.

Everything I would reflect on the song is over on the Ghost page. These KCRW shows, they’re must-hears. They are goldmines of Beckness, full of these wordy, rambling folk songs that he used to do so well. It was digging into these performances and the gems within that directly led to satisfy my musical obsessiveness, and eventually kick off this site.

Momma:

Like a driftwood in the night that was washed up by the light of the moon that bleached my bones then sent me to the pile

Download me. (file removed)

Next up, Beck’s cover of Elliott Smith’s “Alameda”!

Whiskeyclone Feature Wishlist

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

Hello.

I’ve been working on a number of updates to the site lately. It’s basically a complete overhaul from scratch. It’s going well, but there’s not a specific launch date that I have in mind.

Anyway, I’m going to be putting in a lot of new features. Most of these are things that I’ve wanted to see on the site for awhile, or that tie it together more. Some of them are things I’ve thought of, some are things Ghost requested, and some have been requested by other BekFRX.

My question is this: what features, elements, or sections would you like to see added to whiskeyclone.net? Your ideas can be as general or specific as you like, wild and crazy or mundane. I can’t promise they’ll all make it in, but I’m definitely curious what you guys think. So sound off in the comments, and be creative!

Just Announced: Beck Concert In San Francisco on Sunday

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

Go to Beck.com/tour for details

Sorry for the late notice, I just learned of it; it appears tickets are sold, but maybe someone can get lucky. Or, I suggest just going down to the place anyway, they may let you pay at the door…

New Gamma Ray Remix

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

[13:52] <almostaghost> http://stereogum.com/archives/mp3/new-beck-gamma-ray-pocket-mix_017121.html

I like it, but not as much as the original

The Beck Oeuvre: Song #7 “Acropolis Now”

Monday, August 25th, 2008

This odd little recording is next up! It was only released, when it was streamed on beck.com a few years back. This post is a little long so let’s just get started:

Funkatron:

I don’t get to dine out on this one much, but I thought it worth sharing with the people who it would appeal to most.

Back in September 2006 I got to interview Beck for the second time, this time in connection with The Information, and this time face-to-face, after the phoner we’d had in 2005. Not only Beck, but also Justin [Meldal-Johnsen], who sat with us on the 40-minute interview, making it the first time I had to interview two people at once. We spoke about a few of his songs, and I might go back to those bits later on The Oeuvre, but for the moment let’s see is anyone cares about this, ha ha..

After chatting a lot about The Information, we got to talking about the back catalogue and Beck mentioned having piles of old cassettes from the early 90s laying about. I thought that maybe some sort of rarities collection could be compiled to take care of all of this stuff.

“I’m like any musician,” he went on to say. “There’s just, there’s – you’re – the way the music business is structured, you sort of get one shot every year or two. I mean that, every two or three years to put out a record. And you’re inevitably going to end up with a lot of extra stuff that you don’t really know what to do with, or it’s not, you know, the record company won’t put any interest in it, or what-not. I started to put stuff up on my website.”

It sounded like “Acropolis Now” to me, which had been posted online just a few months before, so I thought perhaps this was a good time to bring it up. Beck sort of trailed off with, “Yeah, that was my, uh, concept band…” while Justin gave it an enthusiastic, “That’s the shit!”

Beck: “That’s something I’ve been working on for years.”

A concept band?

Beck: “Well, just sort of a concept. I wouldn’t say it was a band. I did this, uh, performance art piece years ago, uh, where I was recreating, sort of, Yanni at the Acropolis concert? Gone horribly wrong [laughs]. So, it – “

Justin: “My fondest memory. Ever.”

Beck: “Yeah. We all sort of dressed up in these New Age clothes, and I had a sort of headset mic going through a robot voice and… I think we had, like, porpoise sounds. And it just escalated into more ridiculousness, and then the whole thing about how dolphins and technology were gonna save the world. And then a giant dolphin with a giant phallus comes out and starts having sex with this giant cardboard computer we created. And then we chainsawed DX7s and then it’s… over.”

That sounds insane.

Justin: “That does sound insane.”

Beck: “Yeah, it is. ’Cause I, I think at the time I was thinking, there was so much of this sort of [Justin laughs] You know, growing up with punk rock and, you know, what’s the most underground – what’s the most extreme thing you can do?”

Justin: “Yeah, yeah.”

Beck: “And it was kind of – in the 90s it was getting piercings and tattoos, and bands wearing, like, masks. Kinda taking it so far, and it was sort of becoming so, uhm, such overkill, and it was losing the effect of shock. And so I, I got to a point – one time we were in Texas somewhere in a rental car, me and the band. And, uh, Enya came on the radio and we all started – and then we said, “Turn that fucking shit up!””

Justin: “Turn that shit up!”

Beck: “We turned it all the way up so that the speakers were distorting and exploding, and it just sounded like the heaviest shit you’ve ever heard, and we were all banging our heads. And that’s probably where the idea came from. Heavy New Age.”

I guess the dolphin thing’s interesting, since Beck had also played what’s become known as “Touch Dolphins” in Amsterdam in June the same year. The best thing about this whole “Acropolis Now” part of the interview, however, is that they were both laughing throughout – Justin in particular – yet totally committed to the idea behind it. That it only ended up online for a short period of time for no fee is testament, I guess, to how prolific Beck is, and that he clearly just pounds out the music for his own sake. Not many people would go to the bother of full costumes, props and stage design for something no one else is going to see? I kind of feel that, in that respect, he’s much like Prince, who records umpteen full-production videos in Paisley Park for his own enjoyment. Pharrell Williams once said Prince, “He will continue to make great records as long as he wants to. A man like that cannot be stopped,” and I think there’s a definite parallel to be drawn somewhere.

Vitamin.Deb:

When this first showed up at beck.com, I listened to it once, laughed, and promptly forgot about it until now. On this listen, I got a much heartier laugh out of it and it sort of gave me a mini-anxiety episode. It’s just very evocative of that feeling of bliss I get when my baby falls asleep –everything’s good, lah-de-dah, flowers and rainbows, and then BOOM, I sneeze really loud, or my husband drops something on the kitchen floor, or a car alarm goes off outside – and she wakes up. Waaaahhhhhh!

Brian LeBarton (Beck’s keyboardist, on his MySpace around the time this was recorded):

Twas a wondrous week of Yanni and Cannibal Corpse.

Newt:

Some thoughts as I listen:

More like aCRAPolis now! Ohhhh burn!

Nah, I’m just kidding. This song’s alright, I guess. This is the kinda thing I would expect people to release on their websites: far too weird and far too crappy for a real release, half-assed production, etc. It isn’t that it’s bad, really, it’s just that it’s…I dunno, filler?

Most of it is pretty I guess. I kinda wonder who is playing the piano or whatever, and if any of the piano bits were written/planned, or if the person was just kinda jamming on it.

Actually, this kinda reminds me of the little date interlude things (“11.6.45 / 8.4.82 / 8.6.82”) that Beck did, only more modern. Beck has better technology and equipment, but he’s still just kinda fucking around and playing with sound and stuff. This is like Stereopathetic 2006.

I was about to write that the song was longer than I thought, and that it should have been over by now. Then I realized I had it looping. Heh.

AlmostAGhost:

I wrote a drabble (a story with exactly 100 words):

“Acropolis Now”

We’re here! The cruise across the Mediterranean has finally arrived. The sea air would do us good, and the chance to experience Greece? Excitement. This Greek trip was a long time coming.

Visions of history – The Olympics! The Parthenon! Aristotle! Yanni!!! — swam around our minds. It was a beautiful sunny day. Where to first? Clearly, it had to be the Acropolis, now. The cab ride was not long, stopping at the hotel could wait.

The real journey began—halfway around the world, headed to the Acropolis. We arrive, the impressive building before us. A strange man approaches, carrying a…. AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!

And finally, if you haven’t heard the song, here it is for download. (file since removed, sorry!)

“Ain’t Your Time To Go” from one of Beck’s legendary KCRW shows is next!

Beck in Reno and Outside Lands

Friday, August 22nd, 2008

First, the Reno setlist. Devendra Banhart opened, and played a couple songs with Beck. Our own Vitamin.Deb was there, and from whom I got the setlist:

Devil’s Haircut
Nausea
Timebomb
Loser
Girl
Minus
Que Onda Guero
Black Tambourine
Soul of a Man
Modern Guilt
Gamma Ray
Nicotine & Gravy
Youthless
Walls
Hell Yes (Ghettochip Malfunction)
Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat (with Devendra)
Hey Mama Wolf (with Devendra)
Golden Age
Lost Cause
Orphans
Where It’s At
Chemtrails
E-pro

Second, Outside Lands Festival… tonight. I’m a bit late on this, and am as annoyed as anyone, but apparently Beck’s set was webcast at attblueroom.com. GAH, missed it! Did anyone happen to watch and rip it? Please let us know: computergirls@whiskeyclone.net

UPDATE: Some clips of Outside Lands are already on YouTube. Watch and enjoy!

New mashup: Beck vs Young Joc

Thursday, August 21st, 2008

Yr Party is Dying posted a new Beck vs. Young Joc mashup. Download it here.

This isn’t terribly exciting, but I came across it and thought some of y’all might be interested.

The Beck Oeuvre: Song #6 “Ace Of Spade”

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008

Throw the chicken! Break the wine!

This song, being the first we hit from the old tapes, has led to some reflection about the old tapes themselves. And a cool photo depiction of the song!

Newtron

There was a period of time — back in the day, after the Beck mailing list shut down — when I was cut off from the greater Beck internets. I had not yet discovered the Beck.com BBS and, even once I had, it still took me awhile to get into it and use it. I’m pretty sure I was in second year university when I finally returned to the Beck fold. One of the first things that I had discovered is that a new demo tape, Don’t Get Bent Out of Shape, had been unearthed (by Chonk I believe).

I love One Foot in the Grave (the album, though also the song). I love rare Beck stuff. Here was an entire album’s worth of brand new folksy, bluesy rare Beck shit! Hells yes! I was really stoked to discover this.

‘Ace of Spade’, among others on DGBOOS, caused my roommates at the time to ask “what the hell kind of tribal music” I was listening to. I guess through walls and closed doors the bassy recording, hard strumming, and occasional guitar thump sound like crazy tribal rhythms.

This is a darn good song.

AlmostAGhost

I was thinking I would note the bluesiness of this song, and especially the lyrics, here. But upon re-listening to the song a bunch of times, I’m struck instead by Beck’s voice. He does not do anything really noteworthy, it’s that half-talk, half-sing type of voice. But he also nails the youthful exuberance, which is certainly as much the joy of these early tapes as the songs themselves.

Momma

Vitamin.Deb

When I was a kid my dad had a ton of vinyl, and I loved watching him listen to his favorites on the turntable in our basement. He was, and still is, very much a Stones/Fleetwood Mac/Mamas & the Papas kind of guy. I adored that stuff and still do too, but it was just as fun to visit my friends’ homes and listen to various different kinds of music with their parents. My friend Joanne is the one who had the hippie parents who were into folk music. I don’t remember discussion of specific artists, but I’m pretty sure that’s how/where I first got familiar with Woody Guthrie.

“Ace Of Spade” reminds me of being at Joanne’s house, which always felt like a big hug when the music was on. And it always was.

This is where I get to out myself as a latecomer to being an uber-fan. I didn’t become an online-active Beck fan until after Guero came out. I found the hub then and downloaded like crazy, including the old tapes, but a lot of that stuff I haven’t really listened to since then. Finding this song again and listening to it for this project has put a big smile on my face. It reminds me of how much more open I’ve become again to different kinds of music through exploring Beck’s oeuvre and his roots. I think it’s phenomenal that this one man is like a musical village. I used to have to go from house to house as a kid to get exposed to different kinds of music. But through his life’s work, Beck’s kind of compiled so much of that and become a conduit for so many of us, leading us to seek out even more and to have many more musical adventures. I’m incredibly grateful to him for that.

Next, a trip to “Acropolis Now”!

Beck Warm-Up Show (August 19, 2008)

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008

Beck played a warm-up show tonight at the El Cid, a tapas bar/music venue near Silverlake in Los Angeles. The band has come together very impressively since their first warm-up shows prior to the Europe tour. They head out on a short west coast trip here tomorrow, before a fuller North American tour next month.

Beck covered “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat”–a classic Bob Dylan song. I’m told he recorded the song for some sort of compilation or project coming soon.

It was also nice to hear Beck play a bit of acoustic guitar on 3-4 songs, the last few times I’d seen him, he’d only played electric.

The El Cid setlist:

1. E-Pro
2. Modern Guilt
3. Timebomb
4. Nausea
5. Que Onda Guero
6. Gamma Ray
7. Mixed Bizness
8. Nicotine & Gravy
9. Youthless
10. Soul Of A Man
11. Replica
12. Girl
13. Minus
14. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
15. Hell Yes
16. The Golden Age
17. Lost Cause
18. Orphans
19. Volcano
20. Walls
21. Think I’m In Love
22. Chemtrails
23. Devils Haircut

The Beck Oeuvre: Song #5 “99”

Sunday, August 17th, 2008

Beck and Jack White, August 11, 2002

Hey, Beck and Jack White!  What’s that on your record player?

“99”?  Who is that?

Barbara Feldon

Oh I see.  From Get Smart“!  And you say you’re going to play it live tonight?

Beck & Jack play it live! (right click and save as!) (file removed)

Awesome!  What did the FRX think of the song?

Newtron:

Have you heard the original, Barbara Feldon version of this song? No?! Do yourself a favour and get it right now!

Who didn’t have a crush on Agent 99? Three groups of people: people that like dudes, people that didn’t watch Get Smart, and people that are dead. I am not a member of any of those groups! Venn diagram!

I think it’s great that Barbara Feldon recorded this song. It’s funny, and I assume it means she wasn’t uptight about being typecast as 99. When Beck and Jack White did this song, I spent some trying to find the original 7″ that Feldon released, but I guess it’s pretty rare (or at least hard to Google).

Unfortunately, Beck doesn’t really participate too much in his version — it’s pretty much just Jack White letting loose. However, how bad-ass is it that Jack White knows and loves this song, guys? Very bad-ass! I guess Beck’s lackluster additions are pretty funny.

almostaghost:

I know it’s the wrong “99,” but I wanted to include a picture of Anne Hathaway. <3

We’re done with the numbers!  Next song up: “Ace Of Spade”!