So hot on the heels of Beck’s collaboration with Charlotte Gainsbourg comes today’s news that he appears on the upcoming album, Compass by Jamie Lidell.
Lidell, of course, is on the current third Record Club, which should be wrapping up soon (there’s one track left on the album, unless they did some of the CD bonus tracks). I’m told there will be a fourth Record Club, but have no idea who is on it or what they covered. I have some theories based on who was in Los Angeles 6 months ago, but we’ll wait and see. :)
Lidell first entered Beck’s circle when he opened one of the Information tours. Lidell would often play with the band, as well as doing sets with them in spontaneous bar shows. Since then, the two have recorded together occasionally (we know about this and this but both are unreleased). Nothing had been released until Record Club 3. Also appearing on Compass is Brian LeBarton, James Gadson, Feist, and Nikka Costa (who is married to Wounded Cougar guitarist, Justin Stanley, so I’m hoping more WuCu is on there too).
UPDATE: A couple of hours after I wrote this, Beck.com notes a bit more about what his involvement was with this record: “Beck worked last year with singer Jamie Lidell on his new forthcoming album The Compass. He produced, recorded and co-wrote songs, as well as performed on several others. Sessions began early last year and continued in the summer. The album will be out in May but you can hear the first song “The Compass,” which was recorded by Beck at Oceanway Studios (where Sea Change and Mutations were done) and features him on acoustic guitar and percussion. “