**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.

newt (10:29:35): http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/50540-beck-signs-to-xl-recordings-in-the-uk

bebo (10:32:58): sounds dumb

bebo (10:33:05): i’m supposed to care?

newt (10:33:06): heh

newt (10:33:23): i think it’s interesting that he’s branching out to another label. i think his interscope contract is done

bebo (10:33:33): i don’t think it means that at all

bebo (10:33:45): he just needs a new distributor for the UK

newt (10:34:13): no i mean i think he had an agreement to do a certain number of albums with interscope, and i think that’s been completed. i’m not saying i think he’ll leave them

newt (10:34:26): but maybe he’s curious and now experimenting with dating other labels

bebo (10:37:53): but

bebo (10:38:06): was that not an agreement for distribution only?

bebo (10:38:14): and how do we know he’s almost donw with interscope?

bebo (10:38:19): where did you get that info

newt (10:38:52): i don’t know if it’s for distribution only, but xl is a label, right? not just a distribution company?

newt (10:39:15): and about the interscope thing, i kinda remember people talking after info came out, saying that was the last album he was committed to doing for them

newt (10:39:21): and if he wanted he could leave after that

newt (10:39:29): but i’d have to look it up, i don’t actually know for sure

OK, yesterday’s article was followed by a little bit more information on the new album, so I thought I’d sum up what we know. This could very well be out-of-date by tomorrow morning, but let’s see:

- Earlier this year, Beck told Rolling Stone, “We’re not going to get sidetracked. This one might be coming out sooner than people would think — definitely this year.”

- In that article, Beck refused to name who he was working with as his producer (some initial reports said it was Nigel Godrich). We have since learned that Beck has teamed up with Danger Mouse! How’d that happen? Beck’s longtime friend/band leader/bassist, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, worked with Gnarls Barkley, and set them up.

- An article about Danger Mouse in Rolling Stone said he had been tirelessly working on the new Beck album in early March.

- As I said yesterday, some news leaked out that the album was imminent, a quick release in the next month or so.

- Now we’re getting little hints that the album is full of collaborations, including one with my future girlfriend, Cat Power. There were earlier reports that Beck was in the studio (prior to Danger Mouse getting there), messing around with Jamie Lidell. That, I guess, is another possibility for a collaboration. Anything else is just pure speculation at this point.

- Beck’s touring band (i.e., Wounded Cougar) helped out a little on this record, but not much.

- And finally, Beck’s first quote about the album from here: “Beck describes the new set as the most concise collection of music he’s ever created. “The goal was 10 songs, 30 minutes, every song over before you want it to be. No fast-forward material. Anything that gave us any trouble was scrapped. There’s no fat on this record whatsoever.”

Stay tuned for more!

The Rolling Stone magazine is reporting here that Beck’s album could drop sometime in the next month. I have no idea how reliable this news is, but it is Rolling Stone. And Beck is of course friends with Radiohead/Nigel Godrich (who put out their last album quickly online) and Jack White (who dropped his Raconteurs album a week after it was announced). Also, even better, Danger Mouse–the producer of this album!–released the last Gnarls Barkley a few weeks earlier than planned. He’s also drawn a picture of Trent Reznor:

So, yea, more info should be coming very soon. Get excited now!

Let us know if you hear anything: computergirls@whiskeyclone.net

Newt’s last post is about the releases of Odeluxe, but I want to make a note about the music. It appears upon first early listens, that there’s various changes to a lot of the songs… which could just be a trick of remastering, or real additions, I’m not sure yet. For instance the vocals on “Hotwax” appear to be have another vocal, and I think there may be a more prominent keyboard line on “Novacane,” and that a few songs have slightly longer/different endings. Little stuff like that. Some close comparisons to the original version and the Deluxe version are necessary, and I definitely will try to do that. But help is needed, there’s a thread over on Stewoo.net about some of the differences, but if anyone notices anything on the Deluxe version that sounds funny/new/differently-mixed, feel free to post here in the comments, on Stewoo, or email almostaghost@gmail.com so we can start figuring out all exactly what Beck did to his masterpiece. :)

Also apparently Spin Magazine has a short sentence in it saying that Beck and Nigel Godrich are back working on the next album… dunno if that’s just a rumor or not, but there it is. Good news, that.

UPDATE:
List Of Things (this may take me awhile to do, but I’ll keep it here for now.)

1. Devils Haircut - I noticed no difference between Odelay and Odeluxe.
2. Hotwax - Deluxe version has what sounds like an extra vocal track during the verses.
3. Lord Only Knows - I think the versions are exactly the same, if anything there might be some remastering making some things (bass, percussion) a little clearer.
4. The New Pollution -  identical. (tho a commenter below noted the intros sounding different, I don’t hear anything.  can anyone get more specific?)

i just went to a couple stores and can confirm that there is no deluxe edition of odelay in stores in canada. at least, not today.

at hmv i was able to find out that there are some supposedly coming in next tuesday feb. 5 (this is kind of up in the air, though - hmv’s release dates are often iffy with this kind of thing). however, at a price of $40, and keeping that delay in mind, it seems like these are probably just american copies that are being imported. that means most stores won’t get them, and most that do will only have a few copies.

so fuck you, canada!

UPDATE: thanks to magnolia, who points out in the comments that umusic.ca, universal’s canadian site, lists a feb. 5 release date for odelay deluxe. so i guess it’s not an import, it’s just coming out a week later here.

Pitchfork is claiming that the above is the artwork for the upcoming Odelay Deluxe (which I’ve taken to calling Odeluxe).

How rad is that cover? It is impossible to improve on the awesome simplicity of the original cover, and the only way to even try is to go crazy doodling all over it.

UPDATE: They also claim to have the official tracklist now. Pretty much what we had before, but with Computer Rock added and a slightly different order.

DISC ONE

1. Devils Haircut
2. Hotwax
3. Lord Only Knows
4. The New Pollution
5. Derelict
6. Novacane
7. Jack-ass
8. Where It’s At
9. Minus
10. Sissyneck
11. Readymade
12. High 5 (Rock the Catskills)
13. Ramshackle
14. Computer Rock
15. Deadweight [short version]
16. Inferno
17. Gold Chains

DISC TWO

1. Where It’s At (U.N.K.L.E. Remix)
2. Richard’s Hairpiece
3. American Wasteland
4. Clock
5. Thunder Peel [New Pollution single version]
6. Electric Music and the Summer People [New Pollution single version]
7. Lemonade
8. SA-5
9. Feather In Your Cap [subUrbia / Stray Blues version]
10. Erase the Sun
11. .000.000
12. Brother
13. Devil Got My Woman
14. Trouble All My Days
15. Strange Invitation
16. Burro

UPDATE 2: noknowncure has pointed out in the comments below that 1) there is a UK release, and 2) play.com (a UK site) lists an unnamed bonus track. This could very well mean that the UK version will have Diskobox on it.

UPDATE 3: Ham points us towards the full art:

Our good friend Kristofer has recently acquired some previously-unknown Beck demos! Yeah! These are four-track tapes that are possibly - and this is Kristofer’s belief - the original tapes Beck recorded onto. They feature a number of songs that we’ve come to associate with the 1992 Demo and Don’t Get Bent Out of Shape, which appear to be compilations of this and other material (kind of like Fresh Meat & Old Slabs).

The first tape is labeled Are ??? U Positive. There’s a pic below - can anybody figure out what the mystery word is? Kristofer suggests “feeling”, as in “are you feeling positive”. What do you guys think?

Tracklist:

1. Are You Postive
2. I’ve Just Seen a Facelift
3. Trash Can
4. Mmmmmmmmmm
5. Fuck You Up & Get High
6. Tough Fuckin Shit

The second tape is labeled R-Marcel or R-Maxcel or B-Marcel or B-Maxcel or something like that. Any suggestions on this one?

Tracklist:

1. Satan Was Way Cool
2. Don’t Believe the Joke They Put on You
3. In This World
4. A Man Named Will
5. Whiskey Be Your Lover
6. Don’t Get Bent Out of Shape

Some other notes about the tapes:

• They seem to be from 1992, though R-Marcel or whatever might be from eariler.
• Both sleeves feature pictures of a young Beck. Are You Positive’s sleeve is regular paper, R-Marcel’s is regular paper covered in tape.
• It’s unclear at this point whether these songs are the exact same versions that we already have from other tapes. Kristofer will confirm shortly after the holidays.
• Kristofer will eventually share these on the hub, once he’s able to digitize them.

Post your questions, comments and suggestions and we’ll try to get everything answered!

Odeluxe January 29th woot

From rollingstone.com:

On January 29th, Beck will release a double-disc deluxe version of his 1996 album Odelay that includes sixteen B-sides and compilation tracks that haven’t seen U.S. release before, as well as two never-before-released songs from the album’s original sessions produced by the Dust Brothers: “Inferno” and “Gold Chains.” The second disc also includes remixes by Aphex Twin, Mario Caldato Jr. and U.N.K.L.E., plus “Burro,” a Spanish-language rendition of “Jackass” recorded with a mariachi band.

Woo! Inferno! Yes! Gold Chains? Ok, cool!

I’m hoping there’s more new stuff than that (original Debra?), but I’m happy enough that we finally get Inferno.

UPDATE:

From marketwire.com:

Disc One of “Odelay - Deluxe Edition” adds to that original album two never before heard Dust Brothers-produced tracks from the “Odelay” sessions, “Inferno” and “Gold Chains,” and “Deadweight” from the film “A Life Less Ordinary.” Disc Two’s 16 selections include “Thunder Peel,” co-produced by Mario Caldato Jr.; the U.N.K.L.E. (featuring James Lavelle) remix of “Where It’s At,” and Aphex Twin and Mickey P. remixes of “Devil’s Haircut” (titled “Richard’s Hairpiece” and “American Wasteland,” respectively). Also heard are the once international-only b-sides “Clock,” “Electric Music and The Summer People,” “Lemonade,” “SA-5,” “Feather In Your Cap,” “Erase The Sun,” “000.000,” “Brother,” “Trouble All My Days,” “Strange Invitation,” “Devil Got My Woman,” (a cover of the Skip James classic recorded at the original Sun Studios in Memphis before they closed their doors) and “Burro” — a Spanish language version of “Jackass” recorded with a mariachi band.

That pretty much covers the whole tracklist, so it looks like the only new material is Inferno and Gold Chains. I guess we’ll have to keep waiting on that original Debra track.

Speculative tracklist based on above:

DISC ONE

1. Devils Haircut
2. Hotwax
3. Lord Only Knows
4. The New Pollution
5. Derelict
6. Novacane
7. Jack-ass
8. Where It’s At
9. Minus
10. Sissyneck
11. Readymade
12. High 5 (Rock the Catskills)
13. Ramshackle
14. Inferno
15. Gold Chains
16. Deadweight [short version]

DISC TWO

1. Thunder Peel [New Pollution single version]
2. Where It’s At (U.N.K.L.E. Remix)
3. Richard’s Hairpiece
4. American Wasteland
5. Clock
6. Electric Music and the Summer People [New Pollution single version]
7. Lemonade
8. SA-5
9. Feather In Your Cap [subUrbia / Stray Blues version]
10. Erase the Sun
11. .000.000
12. Brother
13. Trouble All My Days
14. Strange Invitation
15. Devil Got My Woman
16. Burro

The Daniel Johnston Tribute album The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered was remastered and rereleased this week. It features Beck’s cover of True Love Will Find You in the End.

JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!

But way too late for Channukah.

[Amazon.com link]