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).

1. First, and most intriguingly, Beck’s long-time musical director/bassist/friend, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, has reported that he will not be in Beck’s bad on the upcoming Modern Guilt tour. Only Brian Lebarton, the keyboardist, from the Guero/Info tours remains. If you’ve seen Beck live at all since 1996, you’ve probably seen JMJ and his fro–the only times he wasn’t in the group was on (some) of the Sea Change tours. There were 4 Sea Change tours: Beck toured alone, with the Flaming Lips, with JMJ in Australia, and then with a new band without JMJ for the summer of ‘03. Also during 2005, JMJ was not in the band, but he rejoined them in 2006. JMJ’s bass mastery, leather outfist, and general bad-assness will be missed, but really, new bands = new sounds = exciting new shows.

No word yet on who else is joining. One rumor is that one of the members of Islands was asked to drum (Beck’s been a fan for a few years, they have a remix on Guerolito), but he said no. More info on all that as we find out.

2. Next, and I find this absolutely fascinating. Over on Beck’s myspace page, recently his Top 8 Friends were changed to 8 ancient Greek figures: Alexander The Great, Archimedes, Protagoras, Aristotle, Sappho, Archaenus, Socrates, and Pythagoras. And, on their myspace pages, their only friends are Beck and Tom (the Myspace guy). So clearly, Beck (or at least his marketing team) had something to do with it. But why? Is it some indication of what the album marketing will be like? Maybe someone’s just being random? Is it some play on the ancient figures with modern guilt? A quick Google search indicates that “modern guilt” may have some connection to Greek philosophy, and/or existentialism (my thoughts on Beck and existentialism are a constantly growing list, but that’s another post). Hopefully more clues about what’s behind all this is forthcoming, or maybe it’s just a bit of random nonsense, I dunno.

I know this is a Beck blog but screw it, Wounded Cougar–the greatest band of all-time–Beck even thinks so*–has t-shirts for sale, and you need one.

 http://woundedcougar.bigcartel.com/product/eye-patch-bikinis-white-t-shirt

 Also, buy their CD here:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/woundedcougar

It’s the holiday season!  WUCU your friends and family with these gifts.  The more you buy, the more likely the band will be to record a second album!

 *He hasn’t said this, but can you prove he disagrees?

“Timebomb” was nominated for a Grammy award, in best solo rock vocal performance.  Beck’s competition is Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Lucinda Williams, and John Cougar Mellencamp!

Let’s play “connect-the-artists”!

It was reported a number of years ago that there was going to be an Allen Ginsburg Unplugged episode, and his band was supposed to include Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, and Beck.  Ginsburg died before it could happen.  I am not sure if this was a rumor that hit the news or actual plans were under way for it to happen. Also, McCartney has used Nigel Godrich as his producer a few times, like Beck. Beck semi-goofed on the song “Hey Jude” once on stage; and claims he played when he busked as a kid.

At one of Neil Young’s Bridge School Concerts, Beck shared a bill with Bruce Springsteen, ending the night on stage with him (and a million other famous people), singing “Rockin’ In The Free World.”

Both Springsteen and Mellencamp inspired “Heartland Feeling, a song borne out of a meeting with Bruce’s manager who wanted Beck to tap into a “heartland, Mellen-type of feeling.”

I can’t think of much for Lucinda Williams, besides both Beck and she have covered Nick Drake’s “Which Will.”

Have a good day, class!

Hello, sorry for the lack of updates, but Beck’s been quiet.  But there’s a few new things to note here.

 1. “Timebomb”–a song Beck has played live a few times–will be a digital single soon, according to the .com.  No word on when exactly, or where (probably iTunes, as Beck’s album covers are all over iPod commercials).  Hopefully there will be b-sides!  “Timebomb” is a fun song.  There will also apparently be a 12″ vinyl version too.

 2. So for a while we’ve heard about the Deluxe 10th Anniversary version of Odelay.  It has not happened, and it has been 11 years since Odelay was released.  But I’m told that Odeluxe is still being worked on, and a release is still planned.  Stay optimistic!  (There’s also plans for another deluxe version of an older album, but I can’t tell you which one quite yet!)

 3. Beck recently put up a nice tribute to Jeremy Blake on .com, and promises a tribute to Ingmar Bergman soon.  I guess there is a reason to go to beck.com now!  Keep using the site for things, Beck.

 4. Beck’s been in and out of the studio for the last few months, doing different things.  I posted about some of them before on here.  It is still, as usual, up in the air what will come out and when.

5. Also Beck’s band has released an album (Beck’s not on it).  They’re called Wounded Cougar, and you need the record.  Even if you are not interested in hard rockin’ facemeltin’ heavy metal, you probably do want to support a bunch of amazing musicians putting out their own records completely independently.  Go to their myspace for info on how to get the record.

JMJ has posted a new blog on his MySpace and his web site. Of note for Beck fans:

Just back from Beck Japan/Australia run, probably the final leg of touring in support of “The Information”. It was pretty fantastic. Lots of rocking, good meals, riding bikes, seeing temples, shaking hands, taking photos, going to clubs, and long flights. Got some super cute and bizarre presents for my Zelly. Good to be home, but it’s always sad to me to put the final button on an album cycle. I always wish there was more….

Starting on new Beck album in fairly short order…in fact, I’d say we’ve actually already begun a while ago.

There’s more there, so go read the whole thing.

Bonus link: Brian Lebarton has been putting up a ton of awesome pics at his Flickr page.