Features
Beck Goes Clubbing
Wouldn’t it be really cool if you could listen to what happens when a bunch of musician friends get together in the studio and noodle around? Good news. Beck will soon allow fans to do just that.
The musician is in the process of rebuilding his Web site and will begin by launching a new section called Record Club, which he describes as “an informal meeting of people to record an album in a day.”
Photo: AP Photo / Jersey Journal
It’s not a scene from "Puppetmaster 2006." It’s Beck on stage at the Loews Theatre in Jersey City, N.J.
While “an album in a day” may sound pretty ambitious, even for a talented guy like Beck, it’s not really that Herculean a task because he and his musical buddies will be covering classic recordings.
“An album will be chosen to be reinterpreted and used as a framework. Nothing rehearsed or arranged ahead of time,” the musician explained on his Web site.
MTV reports possible participants in these sonic experiments include Devendra Banhart, MGMT, Jamie Lidell and producer Nigel Godrich.
The first work chosen for the project is The Velvet Underground’s seminal classic The Velvet Underground & Nico. Joining Beck in the Record Club to reinterpret the album are Godrich, Joey Waronker, Brian Lebarton, Bram Inscore, Yo, Giovanni Ribisi, Chris Holmes and Thorunn Magnusdottir.
One track a week will be uploaded on Beck.com and the Web sites of the others involved in the project, but it’s not clear whether the songs will be free or available for a fee.