Beck’s Record Club is up and active!

It looks like that every week (on Thursday evenings), a new track will go up on beck.com. They are videos. So far, the first two tracks of Velvet Underground + Nico have been uploaded. There is also a url at therecordclub.com which looks like it will host the old videos from prior weeks.

You can also keep up via twitter alert at twitter.com/beck or twitter.com/recordclub

Also, there is apparently going to be an interview on Pitchfork.com with Beck sometime soon, so keep your eyes open for that.

So… Pitchfork has a bit more about the Record Club!

Sounds like more songs will be coming soon, and that Beck has been meeting up with various friends solely with the plan to spontaneously create and record covers of famous albums. They also make it sound like this was just pretty much for fun, to do in spare time. They also indicate that the bands’ (and his) official websites will be used to share the songs.

No hints yet what albums were covered (beyond VU & Nico of course). (Unlike Pitchfork though, we do know that it appears the Nico parts were covered by an Icelandic singer named Thorunn.)

I could be wrong as well, but I don’t believe the Sonic Youth - EVOL cover was part of the Record Club exactly. We’ll have to see in time.

So from what we know, we’ll need your help in keeping an eye on other band’s websites (MGMT, Devendra, or anyone’s really). Let us know if anyone hears or reads anything about these recordings in other artists’ comments or communities! You can email us at: computergirls [at] whiskeyclone.net

EDIT: Go to Beck.com for more word straight from Beck! (And a cool redesign!)

Since this is hitting up all over the web at all the usual music places now (Rolling Stone, thanks for the link), here’s the added info:

Record Club tracks will be released on beck.com. They will also sometimes go up on other artists’ sites if they were involved, but it sounds like always on beck.com for sure. The VU/Nico album is coming first, it appears, and a video for “Sunday Morning” is up now. Tracks will show up weekly! (Who wants to wait a week between tracks?!) Also, right now, I have not seen any info about HOW the songs are distributed? mp3 download? Or just like “Sunday Morning”–a flash video only? Please, Beck, make it downloadable!

No added word yet about what other records were covered, but as said reportedly Devendra Banhart, Jamie Lidell and MGMT have all participated (or will?). Beck says on his site they almost did Digital Underground’s Sex Packets! After all these years, we could have finally had a “Humpty Dance” cover!

UPDATE UPDATE: Record Club is now on Twitter!

Also one news site claimed that the Record Club also did a Talking Heads album.

A couple of months ago, I’m sure you recall, Beck released his One Foot In The Grave Deluxe album. He self-released it for the most part, and sold different packages on beck.com. One such superpack was the vinyl version of the Deluxe, as well as some other goodies (a totebag, t-shirt, etc.). The site said the vinyl would be shipped at the end of May.

A few weeks ago then, people started to get their packs. Included with all the listed stuff was a little black vinyl 7″ record, labelled “Record Club - Sunday Morning.” This had been unlisted and was a surprise addition.

Turns out, the song is a new studio recording of the Velvet Underground’s “Sunday Morning” (a song Beck had played live a fair amount over the years; mostly in 2002 or so). Beck recorded it in March or April of this year, and it was immediately pressed and then sent out with the superpacks.

I am told that there WILL be more Record Club vinyls, and probably soon! I am not sure how or when or where they will be available to purchase; this first one was basically a secret until it arrived. So keep an eye out and let us know if you see or find anything: computergirls@whiskeyclone.net

Also, one question–did anyone order the One Foot Deluxe vinyl + download set from beck.com? Did that package have a Record Club vinyl in it too?

UPDATE: The band on “Sunday Morning” was Beck, Nigel Godrich, Brian LeBarton, Chris Holmes, and an Icelandic singer named Thorunn. Well, from Chris’ own blog, he mentions here that they did the ENTIRE Velvet Underground & Nico album!

So, I cannot remember if I’ve ever mentioned this on here or not. But we had known for a little while that Beck was working on Charlotte Gainsbourg’s upcoming record, producing and writing it with her. He said once that he was supposed to help out on her previous album, 5:55 but was unable to (she did that album with Air and Nigel Godrich).

Of course, Charlotte’s parents are Serge Gainsbourg (a big influence on Beck) and Jane Birkin (who sang a song with Beck once!).

Recently while in Japan, Beck played the song “Paradisco” live, which I was told was a song likely for Charlotte’s album. Well today, Charlotte posted a short update on her myspace page which says the following:

Recording with Beck, new album due for release late 2009
Following Air, Jarvis Cocker, Neil Hannon & Nigel Godrich for 2006’s successful “5.55”, Charlotte Gainsbourg is currently working with Beck on the composition & production of her new album.

The album is scheduled for November 2009. It will feature at least 11 songs, titles including “In The End”, “Heaven Can Wait” and “Master Hand”.

This to be the first sort of official announcement about the record, previously it’s only been mentioned in some Japanese interviews, I believe. Here is her website and her myspace.

Hello,

Just a quick update regarding an email I got from beck.com regarding my order for OFITG expanded. The email includes an unreleased song (recorded at Dub Narcotic) called “The Way it Seems” as a thanks for ordering AND GET THIS that more details are coming on the “unreleased follow up to OFITG.” The attached mp3 is fully tagged including album specified as “K records 2.” Full email is included below, stay tuned for more details as they come in.

- breathmint

Beck

EDIT: i wanted to add a little bit about what we know about this, the long-lost Second K Record. Beck recorded One Foot up in Olympia for K in summer 1993, as well as a bit for it in January 1994. He released the album in June 1994. Then in July 1994, he was back up there for a couple of weeks on a short break from Mellow Gold touring, and recorded the follow-up. I was under impression these sessions were aborted, and not finished, but now it seems there is a full album’s worth ready to go. Old Beck.com Disko had listed 3 songs from the “2nd K Release”: “Buried Alive,” “Cold Brains,” and “Somewhere Far Along.” There were a ton of unreleased songs played over the remainder of 1994 and in to 1995, so I’d think any of those songs may show up here. (And some, like “Cold Brains,” could very likely have shown up on Mutations.) Like Mint said, stay tuned. - almostaghost

PS. I changed the title of this post, because really it has little to do with One Foot In The Grave deluxe! It is its own new thing.

Excellent job!

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

Bibbe Hansen (Beck’s mom) will join a panel of other artists (see below) for a spoken word performance session titled “Horribly True Confessions” at ATP on Sunday May 10.

Lydia Lunch

Martyn Waites

Jake Arnott

Cathi Unsworth

John Tottenham

More Info: 

http://www.atpfestival.com/Events/TheFansStrikeBack/News/0903101555.php

http://www.atpfestival.com/NewsView/0904141037.php

- breathmint

Tomorrow, April 14, is One Foot In The Grave Day!

Hell, let’s make it the whole week.

How much do you love One Foot In The Grave? Are you listening to it now (and why not?)? When did you first hear it? What do you think of the 16 (SIXTEEN!) bonus tracks on the new Deluxe version, out tomorrow, go buy it ASAP? What’s your favorite song on the album? Any old things you wish were on the Deluxe, but aren’t? (I’d die if there was a “Curses.” And what about that old “Static”?) If you could marry One Foot In The Grave, would you? Has a girl ever dangled carrots and made you feel embarrassed to be the fool you know you are?

Share your One Foot stories in the comments!

So a few of the music news sites are catching up to this release finally (Pitchfork, NME, etc.). I put the press release below.

NME had a slightly different tracklist, the title “Axe Ex” is now “Burning Boyfriend.” Sounds like the same song to me, just a new (better) title.

Also, some are now reporting that the release will be on Interscope, when initial reports were that it’s on Beck’s new personal label, Illiad Records. Beck’s deal with Interscope was reportedly finished in the US after the last album. So not sure contractually how things are working here. If anyone knows anything, I’m quite interested in this side of things, please share.

The album, needless to remind you, is out on Tuesday. EXCITEMENT LEVEL: not zero.

PRESS RELEASE:

BECK
ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE DELUXE REISSUE OUT APRIL 14

“One Foot in the Grave presents our hero as an earnest young student of vernacular American music, knocking off Guthrie-esque sing-alongs, loose-stringed slide blues, and originals that come off as the alternative-rock equivalent to folklorist field recordings…a loving tribute”. -ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Released barely four months after Beck’s 1994 debut Mellow Gold, the minimalist mutant folk collection One Foot in the Grave was a curveball that temporarily threw casual “Loser” fans off Beck’s scent while presaging myriad musical adventures to come in the form of 1996’s multi-platinum breakthrough Odelay. On April 14, One Foot in the Grave will be reissued in a deluxe format including 13 previously unreleased tracks from the original sessions and three more from an out of print 7″ only release, including an early version of “It’s All In Your Mind” from 2002’s Sea Change.

One Foot in the Grave was released in June 1994 on K Records, and was recorded by Calvin Johnson, founder of the label and proprietor of Dub Narcotic Studios. Sessions began in the fall of 1993, a few months into the existence of Calvin’s Olympia, Wa basement studio on a reel to reel 8 track. Musicians from local bands such as Built to Spill, Spinanes and Love As Laughter made appearances backing up Beck on half of the original album’s 16 tracks. Released with little to no initial promotion or fanfare, the record has grown from a cult favorite to one of the most highly regarded releases of the extensive Beck oeuvre, with tracks like “Hollow Log,” “He’s A Mighty Good Leader” and “Asshole,” which was covered by Tom Petty on his She’s The One album.

“I’d never worked with anyone so focused, or whose creativity flowed so freely,” Johnson recently recalled. “Songs altered structure and lyrics take to take, a fascinating process to witness.” The the deluxe reissue of One Foot in the Grave yields additional insight into the process by including the above-mentioned never before released originals and alternate mixes from these sessions.

The complete track listing is as follows:

ORIGINAL ALBUM:

1. He’s A Mighty Good Leader
2. Sleeping Bag
3. I Get Lonesome
4. Burnt Orange Peel
5. Cyanide Breath Mint
6. See Water
7. Ziplock Bag
8. Hollow Log
9. Forcefield
10. Fourteen Rivers Fourteen Floods
11. Asshole
12. I’ve Seen The Land Beyond
13. Outcome
14. Girl Dreams
15. Painted Eyelids
16. Atmospheric Conditions

BONUS TRACKS:

17. It’s All In Your Mind (K Records 7″)
18. Whiskey Can Can (K Records 7″)
19. Mattress*
20. Woe On Me*
21. Teenage Wastebasket*
22. Your Love Is Weird*
23. Favorite Nerve*
24. Piss On The Door*
25. Close To God*
26. Sweet Satan*
27. Burning Boyfriend*
28. Black Lake Morning*
29. Feather In Your Cap (K Records 7″)
30. One Foot In the Grave*
31. Teenage Wastebasket*
32. I Get Lonesome*

* never before released