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Mr Beck Hanson. Shady-cool vagabond cat of rock.
Slinking in through a genre’s side door unnoticed
with 3-day-stubble and matted hair, clicking his
fingers just so they know he’s there, slipping
some of the internal décor into his swag bag and
strolling out the front door, probably en route
to some shifty bar downtown. Master of ceremony,
master of most of what he does. Utter star. Prince
for the modern age. And, so far, over the years
disappointments are few and far between, not really
worth bothering with. From the grunge-transcending,
stoner, low-mileage student-rock of ‘Mellow Gold’,
to the updated rough-edged eclecticism of ‘Odelay’,
the fuzzy desert acoustica of ‘Mutations’ and
the funk and soul waterbomb of colour that was
‘Midnite Vultures’, there’s always been more than
enough of Beck’s energy going spare to top up
your mojo. So much so, in fact, that it would
be churlish if we didn't offer some of you good
readers some. Whether it's because we're celebrating the fact
that Sea Change has just been nominated
for a Grammy award as Best Alternative Music Album
(a ceremony is due to take place Sunday, February
23 at Madison Square Garden in New
York City) or whether it's simply because we fancy
the pants off the little tikester, Crud Magazine
has got hold of a signed collection of Beck goodies:
the 5 major releases, some limited edition remix
albums, and some rare cover art for the Sea Change
release. Here's a small reminder of what this human slinky
is all about.
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RECORD: MELLOW GOLD LABEL: DGC/Bong
Load Custom Records RELEASE DATE:
March 1st, 1994 PRODUCERS: Beck Hansen,
Karl Stephenson, Tom Rothrock, Rob Schnapf
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THE NOIZE: Beck's first major label
album. Made with $200 bucks. Originally
titled "Cold Ass Fashion". Handsomely manages
to reconcile the grunge aesthetic of its
day with the inpenetrable psychobabble of
the white trash space-cadets. Loser became
the official anthem of its generation. White-boy
hip-hop meets 4 string folk nonsense. Defining
elements: the fuzzy vocal, the fuzzy guitar,
the daft as a brush stream of consciousness,
the funky slop of stand-out track 'Beercan'.
DID YOU KNOW? The sample on Loser:
"I'm a driver, I'm a winner, things are
gonna change, I can feel it" is from Steve
Hanft's film "Kill The Moonlight". Steve
also directed the video for $300, don't
you know.... |
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RECORD: ODELAY LABEL:
DGC/Bong Load Custom Records RELEASE
DATE: June 18th 1996 PRODUCERS:
Beck Hansen, Mike Simpson, John King, Tom
Rothrock, Rob Schnapf, Mario Caldato Jr,
Brian Paulson. |
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THE NOIZE: The original follow-up
to 'Mellow Gold' was a set of lo-fi acoustic
songs that later emerged as the inspiration
for 'Mutations'. Instead, Beck went to work
with the Dust Brothers, Mike Simpson & John
King and managed to turn out over 30 tracks,
11 of which ended up on "Odelay". Defining
moments: the effete 50's vocal sample leading
into the hard thumping bass run of 'Devil's
Haircut'. DID YOU KNOW? Devil's Haircut was
originally titled "Electric Music for the
Summer People". This album won a 1997 Grammy
for best alternative music performance and
was nominated for album of the year. "Where
It's At" won the Grammy for best male rock
vocal performance. |
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RECORD: MUTATIONS LABEL:
DGC/Bong Load Custom Records RELEASE
DATE: November 3rd, 1998 PRODUCERS:
Beck Hansen, Nigel Godrich |
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THE NOIZE: An album of various songs
Beck had lying around over the previous
four years done live in a studio with his
touring band. Some songs were recorded during
the "Odelay" period, but Beck felt they
didn't fit in with that record, so he redid
them here. Defining elements: cherished
by anyone familiar to his early effort,
One Foot in the Grave. Bossa nova rhythms,
psychedelic clouds, langurous plucking and
Baroque strings. And on top of the that
you have the harpsichord and the beautiful
'Nobody's Fault But My Own' . DID YOU KNOW? The original "Static",
which Beck played quite frequently before
discarding it, and using the title for the
Mutations version is said to be superior
to the version on this album. Bummer.. |
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RECORD: MIDNITE VULTURES LABEL:
DGC RELEASE DATE: November 23rd,
1999 PRODUCERS: Beck Hansen, Tony
Hoffer, Mickey Petralia, The Dust Brothers
(John King, Mike Simpson) |
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THE NOIZE: Beck's 4th major album
and recorded at his home studio. Johnny
Marr plays guitar on 'Milk and Hone'y. and
Beth Orton sings back-up on Beautiful Way.
The album also includes the first official
recorded debut of 'Debra' a tour staple
since 1996. Beck is said to have recorded
the song for Odelay but decided it didn't
fit in. Defininign elements: the unearthing
of a massive Prince collection and soul
and funk of 'Peaches and Cream'. DID YOU KNOW? Limited 500,000 were
pressed in digipak format. When Beck first
performed the song 'Hollywood Freaks' in
1998, it was originally titled "Jockin'
My Mercedes". |
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RECORD: SEA CHANGE LABEL: DGC/Interscope
RELEASE DATE: September 24, 2002
PRODUCERS: Beck Hansen, Nigel Godrich |
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THE NOIZE: Reunited with Nigel
Godrich for the first time since 1998's
'Mutations', the mood is consistently serene,
from the gentle, delicious 'Golden Age',
through the quiet resignation of 'Guess
I'm Doing Fine' to the lightly skipping
daydream of 'Lost Cause'. Sea-Change tips
the scales again in favour of the ponderous,
sepia toned glory of bluegrass psychedelics
as far removed from the "Vultures"
album as Beck's own fault-line consciousness
is from our own mundane reality.
The album forces you to slow down and admire
the sunset. It may be slow, it may be a
longer haul still back home, but you'll
be glad you persevered. DID YOU KNOW? 'The Golden Age' was
originally titled "These Days", "These Days
(I Barely Get By)", and "Barely Get By",
said to be a reference to the George Jones
song of the same name |
For more info visit:
http://www.beck.com
Crud Magazine© 2002 |
