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Beck news update

Friday, November 16th, 2012

Hi Beck fans!

So a lot has been happening, and as I like to every so often, thought I’d recap.

1. Song Reader: this comes out in a few weeks. I’ve seen a bit more of it than has been released so far, and I assure you, it’s very entertaining, even if you’re not a musician. You can start using songreader.net and get a preview copy of one of the songs, and start uploading your versions (if you use Youtube). If you don’t want to use Youtube, you can always send Soundcloud or mp3s or any other non-musical things to us computergirls@whiskeyclone.net and we’ll put it on our Song Reader tumblr: whiskeyclonenet.tumblr.com.

2. Beck’s final “mini-tour” of 2012 is almost over, he’s been doing a handful of shows in Australia this week. He mentioned in an Australian interview that he hoped to go back out some more in 2013, with his band (JMJ, Smokey, Roger, Joey). (PS. Beck, please give that band a name.)

3. Production work: Beck continues to be a music producer. He did a couple of songs with Dwight Yoakam for his new album, also assisted Bat For Lashes in getting her album straight (though he only ended up adding to one song on her final album). I’ve heard he’s working with Jenny Lewis and a couple of others.

4. His own work: In some Australian interviews, Beck indicated again he wants to finish the album he began in 2008, but never finished. (Think this was Rococo but maybe a different one.) He said he just has to find time between all his production duties. Otherwise, there’s no news here. I was hopeful that a new album would synergistically be released at around the same time as Song Reader, but seems not. More patience!

5. Whiskeyclone: Also, I’m adding all the song titles from Song Reader into our database, whether or not Beck actually wrote music/words for them. (There’s a lot of titles in the art. You’ll see.) Just wanted to play along, like they’re legit Beck songs, and I hope people create them! Watch the tumblr! But I do realize that this will make the giant list of songs on AlmostAGhost completely unwieldy (if it wasn’t already). I’ll get that re-organized soon into a more readable list! Sorry. Also hope to redesign the home page soon, have a cool Song Reader-inspired idea for it.

Anyway, enjoy Song Reader and be sure to share all your recordings/writings/art that are inspired by it!

Posted in Beck, News, Song Reader | No Comments »

Beck Stuff 2012

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

Hey, long time no post. But I figure–if Beck’s not going to do anything, why should I? Haha j/k.

Anyway, as you probably heard, Beck is lined up to headline the Sasquatch Festival up in Washington this May. Justin Meldal-Johnsen is lined up to be in the band, and who knows if it will lead to more or just be a one-off evening or what. Stay tuned!

(UPDATE A DAY LATER: Beck does have another show lined up for May 27, in Bend, OR. Still unclear if this is just a little Sasquatch run (same area of the country in the same weekend) or something more ambitious. The Bend show is with Metric, info here.

Can’t remember if I posted here on this before or not, but this Youtube user has been posting clips from a Beck show in 1992 or 1993. One of the clips is video from the actual performance of “Ozzy” that is on Stereopathetic. It’s amazing! There’s also a few unknown songs up there, like “Weak Ass Shit,” “Know I’m Gonna Make It,” and one I called “Crushing The Cantaloupe.”

Lastly, over the past few years, even though Beck hasn’t been releasing anything, he has been registering new compositions to the copyright song database. There’s a handful that remain unknown–I hesitate to imply a new album from these, but they must be from something!

“Curfew” – ended up in I Am Number Four but wasn’t on the soundtrack so we haven’t heard it

“City Of Refuge” / “Iron Horse” / “Jacksontown” / “Tournequit”: all four of these were registered at the same time; they seem blues-influenced by their titles. “Iron Horse” ended up in the TV show Sons Of Anarchy, so perhaps Beck gave them 4 bluesy songs? I’m just speculating here. A short clip of “Iron Horse” is on Youtube, other 3 unheard.

That leaves:
“She Coulda Done Better” & “Looking For A Sign” & “Constellation” (registered around a year ago)
“Cities” & “Spiral Staircase” & “Touch The People” (registered recently)

So again, I hope these are a sign that some sort of music is coming soon… :)

Posted in Beck, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, News | 1 Comment »

Upcoming Works

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Hi, Beck freaks. Every once in awhile, I like to summarize the upcoming releases and news. As I’ve said on here before, we’re not really a news blog in a normal way, but like to keep you up with everything (and especially the things, say, Pitchfork may not know about).

The last couple of years, we know Beck has been extremely busy. And since there’s been no shows, that means lots of records! While there’s nothing concrete about any new Beck albums, there are a lot of upcoming things to look forward to. In no particular order:

1. Jamie Lidell Compass: A few years ago, Jamie opened a tour for Beck, and they’ve done some unreleased tracks together (and Record Club 3). When he was starting his new album, Beck called and asked if he needed production help, and they spent a number of sessions working on tracks. The album is done, will be released on May 18, and Beck is on about half the tracks (producing, writing, playing instruments).

2. Tobacco Maniac Meat: The lead guy of the cool electro group, Black Moth Super Rainbow, has a few solo albums. His new one is out on May 25, and Beck added vocals and lyrics to two tracks: “Fresh Hex” and “Grape Aerosmith.” Here’s a story about the collaboration.

3. Scott Pilgrim soundtrack: A movie is being made of the comic/graphic novel series, Scott Pilgrim. I haven’t read it, but it concerns a lot of bands. Beck has provided the music for one of the bands, apparently recording a ton of two-man garage band rock tracks with Brian LeBarton for it. The movie is out in the summer, not sure what’s planned for the soundtrack, which was compiled by Nigel Godrich.

4. “Life During Wartime”: Beck and Devendra Banhart perform the title track to the upcoming Todd Solandz film, Life During Wartime. (It is not the Talking Heads classic of the same name.)

5. Record Club 4: The great third Record Club just finished, and beck.com says that the fourth will return in a couple of weeks (and with “big surprises”). Keep checking Beck.com for that!

6. John Martyn tribute album: Beck has covered John Martyn in the past, in the early 2000s, he used to do “Go Easy” live on occasion. Martyn unfortunately died last year, and Beck is giving a version of “Stormbringer” to an upcoming tribute album. He recorded this in Nashville a few years ago, when he and his band stopped in and did a bunch of covers (he put a Lee Hazlewood cover up on beck.com once from this sessoin). I have no other info about when the album will be released.

7. The full cover of Sonic Youth’s album, Evol seems to have been forgotten. I wonder what happened to this? Last April, a vinyl single came out from it (“Green Light”), but nothing else has been mentioned since. Some reports said it was to be on cassette only. Where is this, I’m dying to hear it!

8. Beck was in the studio recording last November or so, according to beck.com. No mention on what exactly.

Those are the ones worth mentioning–there’s other old recordings that seem to have just been for fun (direct-to-vinyl studio experiments and stuff), and are probably long-gone.

If anyone hears anything else, or recalls anything I’ve forgotten, let us know!

UPDATE: Thanks Scott, I don’t know how I forgot about this! About a year ago, we got a free mp3 saying it was from the lost 2nd K Records album, and a promise that more was coming. This hasn’t happened yet, and nothing else has been heard from it or of it! How frustrating.

Posted in Beck, beck.com, Brian Lebarton, Evol, Jamie Lidell, News, Nigel Godrich, Releases | 2 Comments »

New Details on Beck / Sonic Youth RSD 7″

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

In a recent Matador blog post, there seems to be a hint that the aformentioned Beck / Sonic Youth split 7″ may be released in several different colors, each being split amongst the 2500 total copies. If this is the case, it may make finding each color very difficult given the highly limited nature of this release. We will continue to bring you details as they emerge.

UPDATE

It has been confirmed via the above Matador blog, that there will be an ultra limited amount of colored 7″s distributed randomly around the nation. The colored versions will be individually numbered (inside the sleeve). So if you can… buy two to increase your chances! ;) Happy hunting

– breathmint

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Posted in Beck, Evol, News, Releases, Sonic Youth, Thurston Moore | 8 Comments »

Beck / Sonic Youth Split 7″ (Covering Each Other)

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

In celebration of the 2nd annual record store day, Matador is offering three new records in limited edition runs of 2500, and lucky for us one of them is a split 7″ with Beck and Sonic Youth, respectively performing covers of one another.

OLE-865-7    Sonic Youth – “Pay No Mind” (Beck cover)  b/w  Beck – “Green Light”  (Sonic Youth cover) 7″

Details: http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/2009/02/02/coming-april-18-matador-sonic-youth-jay-reatard-pavement-beck-wanna-know-why-cant-every-day-be-record-store-day/

Thanks for the tip delta!

– breathmint

UPDATE: added link to DiscoQ

UPDATE: New Details?

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Posted in News, Releases | 6 Comments »

The Information Deluxe Edition Vinyl Delayed

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

I just wanted to pass along some info on the yet to be released deluxe The Information vinyl package from A+R. Apparently there has been a delay due to remastering. Copy of email below.

– breathmint

Dear Customer, 

Thank you for your purchase of the Deluxe Edition Vinyl Package of Beck’s The Information. We are writing to inform you that there is a slight delay in the shipment of your order due to the remastering of this album for vinyl, which has been done exclusively for this release. As of now, we expect the new shipping date of your order to be January 15, 2009, although it is possible that your order may ship before the end of December. We sincerely apologize for this delay, and hope you will understand that it is a result of our intention to provide you with the highest quality product. 

If you would like to cancel your order and receive a full refund of the purchase price, please reply to this email and we will cancel your order.  If you would still like your order, there is no need to respond and we will send your order as quickly as possible, along with a tracking number to monitor the shipment progress.

Thank you for your understanding and support. 

Best, 

A+R

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Posted in Beck, News, Releases, The Information | 3 Comments »

Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat

Monday, September 22nd, 2008

Lately Beck has been covering Bob Dylan’s ‘Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat‘ at his shows. In a recent blog entry from Brian Lebarton, we learned that Beck’s cover would be released somewhere soon. Now, we have more details:

Duffy, Hot Chip, Rufus Wainwright and Beck are amongst the artists donating tracks to the new War Child album.

Titled ‘Heroes’, the charity album features a unique collaboration between music legends and contemporary acts.

Artists including Sir Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson and Bob Dylan have been asked to select a classic track from their back-catalogue and then personally choose a favourite contemporary artist or band to cover the song.

Confirmed to appear on the record so far are Duffy covering Paul McCartney’s ‘Live and Let Die’, Hot Chip taking on Joy Division’s ‘Transmission’, The Kooks doing The Kinks’ ‘Victoria’ and Beck re-working Bob Dylan’s ‘Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat’.

Brian Wilson has also nominated Rufus Wainwright who will be performing a medley of tracks from his legendary album ‘Smile’.

Sir Paul McCartney said of the project: I think Duffy’s version of ‘Live And Let Die’ is great – I was really impressed. The breadth of talent on this project is amazing; it’s great that so many people gave their time, energy and support to this initiative. I urge everyone to support War Child.”

‘Heroes’ will be released on November 24 through Parlophone Records. All proceeds will go directly to War Child.

Source: Gigwise

So there you go, people.

Posted in Beck, News, Releases, Tron | 2 Comments »

RECORD DROP UPDATE…

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008

**This just in from the front lines on the U.S. release date of Modern Guilt**

Breathmint reports that his local Indie record store is giving away a 7″ (Side a: Chemtrails/Side b: Vampire Voltage No. 6) with the purchase of Modern Guilt.  Further investigation finds that this phenomena is probably widespread.  So, for some extra goodies, head over to your local Indie record store and pickup the new album.

Checkout http://www.thinkindie.com/ to find ant Indie record store to you.  And as always, it would be best to call and make sure the store has the bonus 7″.  Also, supply is most likely very limited, so move fast.

Happy Beck Day/Modern Guilt Day to you ALL!

**Update 7/9:  Even though websites for Indie stores have advertised this promotion, reports seem to point to a delay in shipment for these 7″s in the U.S.  When one of these turns up, let us know.

Posted in Announcements, Beck, Modern Guilt, New Album, News, Releases | 3 Comments »

More On The Guilt

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

Modern Guilt will have a bonus track on iTunes, called “Vampire Voltage No. 6.”

All the songs are credited to Beck, except “Walls” which DangerMouse co-wrote, and there’s a sample on it by Piot & Guiot.

Still no idea what happened to “Beggar’s Shoes.”

Beck played two shows last week, and cancelled a third (due to illness).

A few new dates were added to the North America tour in August/September:

August 21 – Reno, NV with Devendra Banhart
August 22 – San Francisco, CA Outside Lands Festival
August 24 – Bend, OR
August 27 – Victoria, BC with Band Of Horses
August 28 – Vancouver, BC with Band Of Horses
August 30 – Seattle, WA Bumbershoot Festival
September 19 – San Diego, CA Street Scene Festival
September 20 – Hollywood, CA with Spoon and MGMT
September 27 – Austin, TX ACL Festival

hopefully more will get added soon… Europe tour starts in a week or so too…

Posted in Beck, Danger Mouse, live show, Modern Guilt, New Album, News | 7 Comments »

Modern Guilt Stuff

Wednesday, June 11th, 2008

So over the last week, there’s been a little bit of news here and there, thought I’d provide a summary.

Two weekends ago, Beck sold tickets on Saturday morning to a show here in LA Monday night. It was at his usual pre-tour warmup club, The Echo (he’s done this 3-4 times in the last few years). On Monday afternoon, the show was cancelled, citing scheduling conflicts. Also there were unsubstantiated rumors about that Beck was unhappy that there were scalpers scalping the tickets for obscene amounts. Either way, show didn’t happen.

Then last night, Beck and his new band finally played The Echo. There was not very much advance notice to fans, tickets weren’t sold. The LA Times, after the fact, called it “invitation-only.” They played a bunch of hits, and 4 of the new songs. I’ll put more on the show on Hijacked Flavors when I get a chance.

Beck’s new band is guitarist (Jessica Dobson (who makes music as Deep Sea Driver), Bram Inscore on bass, Scott McPherson on drums (who played with Elliott Smith), and Brian LeBarton is back on keys (until Wounded Cougar takes off again). Welcome to the new band members!

The album, by the way, is thus:

1. Orphans (with Cat Power)
2. Gamma Ray
3. Chemtrails (listen to it on beck.com!)
4. Modern Guilt (watch Beck play it live at the Echo last night here!)
5. Youthless (also the name of an old poetry zine Beck made as a kid)
6. Walls (with Cat Power)
7. Replica (apparently drum-n-bass-y)
8. Souls Of A Man
9. Profanity Prayers
10. Volcano

Not sure what happened to the song “Beggar’s Shoes” yet; it could be “Soles Of A Man” maybe?

Also… expect the album in about a month (or so I’m told; it could change).

Posted in Beck, Bram Inscore, Brian Lebarton, Cat Power, Jessica Dobson, live show, Modern Guilt, New Album, News, Scott McPherson, The Band | 8 Comments »

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