“Arabian Nights”! Classic Beck Vultures weirdness. I wanted to point everyone to the interview Beck did with Andre 3000 and Big Boi of Outkast, where he said this song was inspired by them. I couldn’t find it on the web though: here’s the relevant part which I’d quoted over on Ghost:

“I’m gonna send you a B-side that I did a couple years ago that was very influenced by ATLiens. It’s called “Arabian Nights”.” He then said it was his tribute to them.

I’m still waiting for Beck and Outkast to collaborate!

Newtron

[15:50:58] arabian nights: i always wish this was the song from aladdin
[15:51:03] Oh I come from a land, from a faraway place
Where the caravan camels roam
Where it’s flat and immense
And the heat is intense
It’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home
[15:51:16] Arabian nights
Like Arabian days
More often than not
Are hotter than hot
In a lot of good ways
[15:54:34] actually this song’s pretty badass as it is. just not as badass as aladdin
[15:55:14] it taught us all about lazer vizaginal rejuvination

Ghost:PICTOGRAM TIME!

Next up: “Are U Positive?”!!

“Aphid Manure Heist” is that goofy karaoke thing in the middle of <i>Stereopathetic Soulmanure</i>.  I don’t know who sings it–I don’t think that’s Beck.  The music sounds canned.  Anyone have any idea where the phrase “aphid manure heist” might come from?  The lyrics are all wrong too, it’s a cover of a Waylon Jennings song called “Amanda.” Enjoy that!

OK, sorry for the break–I was out of town for six weeks. Thought I could maybe continue to manage this at nights, but turns out, working for a Presidential campaign takes up all your time. :) Anyway, we’re back. Sort of… “American Wasteland” did not really inspire the BeckFreaks.

Vitamin.Deb:

I don’t remember which one it was, but after one of the L.A. shows earlier this year Groove asked Ghost how it was and he said “Beck played Devil’s Haircut.” I had to laugh, because although I’m sure it wasn’t his intention, in my mind his joke validated my opinion. WHICH IS. That I am sick sick sick of “Devil’s Haircut.” Yeah, I said it. I never tire of hearing Loser or Where It’s At, but for some reason I can just barely stand to listen to DH anymore, recorded or live. It’s the only song I skip on Odelay. ALL THAT SAID – I love this remix. It infuses the song with a megaboost of energy and then when it’s over – as the DJ notes – we’re ready to move on to the next song. Ohhh, yeah.

AlmostAGhost

Ha! Well I guess I have to respond to that. I do have a love/hate relationship with “Devils Haircut.” It is my favorite Beck video! It is the lead-off track on my favorite album of all-time! It is so cool. But I also like to mock it, for Beck playing it at every single show he does, and it always sounds exactly the same. And sometimes I just skip it when I listen to Odelay, just like Deb. It is always there. (“Where It’s At” doesn’t bother me at all; I look forward to it at all the shows I go to.) So I am sometimes unfair with “Devils Haircut.” And then at those Nokia shows I just went to, I’m not exaggerating… “Devils Haircut” was one of my 2-3 favorite songs of the 2nd night! Sounded amazing! Rocked so hard. The riff was so perfect, and all those little bass turnarounds. So I make no sense with the song, I’m inconsistent and a hypocrite. I hate it. I love it. Anyway I should save more of this rant for “Devils Haircut” when it comes up.

“American Wasteland”–I find this remix so mysterious. I don’t know who that is sampled at the beginning. I don’t know whose idea it was to make this song a pure punk rock blast of energy. I don’t know if a band played the song, or if it was remixed somehow on a computer to get that way. I could probably look this stuff up in the liner notes, but I like the mystery.

Ooh yea! “Aphid Manure Heist” is up next!

“American Car” is not a Beck song, per se, but a song by Bean. Beck sings back-up only. It’s a fun track, kinda goofy.

Here’s a note from Steve Moramarco (Bean), who, yes is the guy who threw up.

Bean:

Well, first thing is that it really isn’t a “Beck song” but merely one where he lends his vocals to the bridge… I had an acoustic duo called Hill Of Beans (we have a song “Satan, Lend Me a Dollar” which was the inspiration for “Satan Gave Me a Taco“) and my partner in the band was out of the country living in Spain. Beck and I were friends, doing the folk scene together and our friend Gus [Hudson] (who put out Beck’s Stereopathetic Soulmanure and the Bean/Beck 7″ [“MTV” –ed.]) was doing an album of car songs. Beck recorded a tune, and I asked him to sing on “American Car” as well, which he obliged.

Newt:

:Right off the bat – I don’t really like Beck’s part in this. I think it’s kinda the worst part of the song. BUT the song PERSEVERES.

This song is by far the best one on A Hot Wild Drive in the City. For one thing, most of the songs on the comp are, if I may say so, just terrible. Beck’s song ‘Put It In Neutral’ is pretty cool and dark and awesome, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the rollicking fun and excitement of ‘American Car’. ‘AC’ is the type of song that gets stuck in your head for three or four days and you don’t even mind. Those honking car horns, handclaps, and angry yet happy vocals just get me — wait for it — all revved up.

Ok, so speaking of car puns / metaphors, I have a story to tell. One time in high school I was in this Media class and we had a project for which we had to watch a number of related movies and write / present an analysis of them. I analyzed a bunch of movies that were written and/or directed by Don McKellar. The main theme that came out of them was one of journey, and a couple were actually road trip movies. When I had to do my presentation in front of the class I felt like being cheeky, so I tried to include as much car imagery and metaphor as possible. Every other sentence was a pun or a cliché. To me, this was absolutely hilarious. Unfortunately, nobody else in the class noticed and I just looked like a boob who was giggling for no reason.

Sorry that story was kinda lame. I’m a little drunk now, maybe I could have told it better sober. It was funny at the time, I swear.

Zigga zigga wow wow wow.

Vitamin.Deb:

This song reminds me of my college days, of too much time spent then with males who were neither boys nor men, and who were both infuriating and endearing.

Up next: “American Wasteland”!

“Allegretto Per Signora” is a short Ennio Morricone jam that his band would play to intro a number of shows on the Odelay tours.

I was not expecting a huge response for this song, but was pleasantly surprised. As a live song from the mid-90s, it must have triggered a lot of good nostalgia for the classic Beck years.

Newt:

Morricone is amazing. I love this track, I’m so happy Beck’s band started playing it. It’s so fucking rad. It reminds me of fantastic, crazy European films from the 60s and 70s. Here are some fantastic, crazy European films from the 60s and 70s that I love:

– Danger: Diabolik
– Zabriskie Point

Check this: http://www.youtube.com/user/FunkySoundtracks

Bebo:

All I can say about this tune is. AMAZING. I just listened to the original, and I have to say that Beck and Band (I guess it’s really the band for this) really stay true to it. Few notable changes/additions that really make this tune a live gem: (1) the brass menagerie (If there was someway I could reunite these guys with Beck, I’d do it in a heartbeat. Who’s with me?) adds some jazzy fun to the funky tune, (2) Smokey on guitar and announcing Beck’s return in his smokey sounding voice (I’m drooling right now as I listen to this), (3)the more upbeat/fastpace of Beck and Crew’s rendition. Totally a great pick for a little intermission while Beck I am sure went to “refresh” himself. Would love to hear this song played again some day.

Vitamin.Deb:

How lovely for me to be rejoining the oeuvre festivities with this treasure, after a travel-and-illness-induced hiatus. I know many of the frx have already heard all or parts of this tale, but this is a good place for me to record it for posterity…

Odelay came out the week that I graduated from UC Davis in June 1996, and the summer that followed was one of the worst of my life for various reasons that I won’t bore y’all or myself again with. I bought the CD when it came out, but never listened to it much until the fall, when – again for various reasons – things really began to look up for me. I’d moved away from Davis after graduating, but I was moving back for a good job. I remember listening to the CD on repeat in my friend Nathan’s truck while he was helping me with the move. I made some good friends at the new job and was starting to feel human again. 1997 arrived and I heard Beck was gonna be comin’ to town on Feb. 13.. I kinda flipped out; I think Odelay had really become tied up in my mind as an integral part of my recovery from the previous year’s despair, and I knew I had to go to that show. I remember walking with Nathan down G Street in Davis to Tower Records to buy two tickets. He wasn’t going to be able to go though, and I remember telling him that I’d met this cute guy at work and I was thinking of inviting him to go. I did, he accepted, and all these years later he’s my baby’s daddy. (Haha, it’s still a little strange for me that I can legitimately use that expression.)

I’ve got lots of vivid memories from the show, all of which were intangible for a very long time until I discovered the hub a few years ago. When I realized that there was actually a recording of it, I kinda flipped out. Again. That bootleg, super-crappy audio notwithstanding, is my most treasured hub download. Bringing us to the tune at hand, “Allegretto Per Signora” (or TV in the Kitchen, as it’s called on this particular recording). Being able to relive that charge of excitement and energy, triggered by DJ Swamp’s Are You Ready? and then built into a funky frenzy by this one… it’s just, it’s so linked to so much joy for me that it makes me bust way more than a little.

ARE YOU READY TO ROCK THIS SHIT TONIGHT??!?!?!?

Always, Beck. I can funk legit.

Cato:

So, I believe this is the first time I have heard this song. I may have heard it years ago, but I can’t remember.

In listening to this song, I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard it before as this was not anything like what I was expecting. I was expecting something a bit more mellow, closer to something that would be found on Mutations, but I was pleasantly surprised. It is also shorter than I expected, but is fabulous none the less. When the song initially started it seemed as if it were not going to have lyrics, but then, suddenly there is this incredible introduction to beck. I love how the crowd goes crazy, it makes me want to be there… I’m only over 10 years too late, and at that time, I don’t think my mother would have let me go to Santa Cruz, and she sure as hell wouldn’t go with me.

Looking at the date of this reminded me that that was around the time I started getting into beck. I was 14 and all the other girls my age were into the Backstreet Boys, and N*SYNC. They thought I was weird. They probably would still think that I am weird. But I probably have maintained a better taste in music. I am sure of this.

:) This is a fun song, and I have to share…here it is. Though to be honest, I have no idea what show this particular recording is from–it’s the only mp3 of it I had on my computer, and it was unlabelled. I believe it to be this show, but don’t have my CD of it handy to compare. Anyway, enjoy.

Next up, “Already Dead”!

Not a Beck song, this is Beck’s remix of Bjork’s “Alarm Call” from her album Homogenic.

The only other relation I can think of between the two is this photoshoot from which I’ve included a couple of photos. I can’t recall if there was an actual dual interview or not.

As for the track itself:

AlmostAGhost:

I’ll be honest. I have this CD single, but not only do I have no idea where it is, I probably haven’t listened to it since I bought it whenever it came out (and I don’t even remember when that was exactly–I think I was living in Boston at the time, so maybe 2001 or so?). So I haven’t quite lived with this song like I have most the other Beck ones we discuss. I vaguely remember some sound effects that Beck used, but fear I’m mixing that up with a different Beck remix. Could I be more useless here today? I’ll make up for that in the next paragraph.

I did, however, just *ahem* obtain *ahem* a copy of the track and am about to listen to it right now! Enthralling, I know! The track starts out spacey, like the theme to Star Trek. Now Bjork is singing “this is enlightenment” and Beck puts some electronica and some piano behind her. Beck talks nowadays (for Modern Guilt) about keeping his songs simple, cutting out the extra chaff, getting to the core of a song. This remix is nothing like that. The beats are still going, and I am getting used to them and their clutter by now, but I can’t say I love it. There does not feel like there was any sort of cohesive idea behind what Beck was doing, and neither was it done in a cool “throw in the kitchen sink”-Odelay-collage way. I guess it falls somewhere in between those two. Now Bjork is singing about a mountaintop as Beck drops some Spanish guitar flamenco-style on there, whoa where’d that come from? I’m no fucking Buddhist, but this is enlightenment!

Oh yea, turns out those effects I was thinking of in the earlier paragraph are from a different remix–but I have no idea which one.

Newt:

Homogenic is not my favourite Björk album (though it’s a close second behind Post) and ‘Alarm Call’ is not my favourite track on Homogenic. Similarly, I don’t tend to love Beck’s remixes and the ‘Bjeck Mix’ is not my favourite remix that he has done. What I’m trying to say is this: ‘Alarm Call (Bjeck Mix)’ is a steaming pile of mediocrity. I don’t actively dislike anything about it, but I definitely don’t find much to like about it either.

Actually, scratch that. Here’s what I like about it:

• The name: “Bjeck” is a fun blend, and came years before Brangelina and Bennifer and all those things.
• The latin themed last 45 seconds or so. Fun!

That’s it! Didn’t Beck and Björk fight it out in Celebrity Deathmatch?

Here’s a shitty picture I drew:

Björk’s whole face is really screwed up there, as is her whole body, but I really didn’t feel like redrawing it.

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:

Download me. (file removed)

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