I had fully intended to err on the side of obscurity in the business of audio posting on here but for quite some time the bulk of the record collection has been stuck up North away from the central base and unavailable for digitisation for MP3 satisfaction. So you have had to deal with posts dedicated to some of my all time favourites. Give it a few weeks and most of the vinyl should be back with me, but for now, turn your attention to a man who has shaped the lives of (amongst others) countless slightly-nerdy young men, including of course myself, Mister Beck Hansen.
The seminal Odelay stands up today as one of the finest albums that has graced the stereo receptors known as ears, not only making use of the many nuances of these human instruments (good work again Dust Brothers) but also containing a calibre of song writing that elevates Mr Hansen to the realm of genius. Admittedly, many of his earlier works I am still yet to catch up on, and I am fully aware of some more obscure independent albums, but the single Loser was one of my first ever purchases as a boy of 11, titilated by the use of expletives on the b-side track, Fume. Since Odelay we’ve seen many sides of Beck and all have been superb. His range is really quite magnificent and he chooses his producers well – The Dust Brothers work always sounds good to me and his work with Nigel Godrich is nothing short of magnificent. Live he is a treat, whether it be acoustic or with his amazing cutlery playing band:
(this shit all over Stomp)
So enjoy some highlights from his long and varied career and take time to appreciate a true iconoclast and legend of our times. The first selection is Sissyneck from Odelay, one that frequently gets spun on the two turntables when I’m out and about with a bag of records, and has an almighty vocal delivery – firing out lines like ‘Matchstick strike, when I’m riding my bike, to the depot’ in a fashion that sends shivers through the body, brrrrrrrrrrrr! (can anyone tell me where the whistling comes from? I know it’s a great country blues number but I can’t remember what it is). Next up is the soothing tranquility of Sing It Again, seeing Beck in full country mode and originally penned for none other than Johnny Cash, taken from the sublime Mutations. And finally, to bring us bang up to date we have a selection from The Information, his latest album, again reaffirming his creative prowess. I seem to recall that when the album surfaced, there were a few critics dismissing a couple of numbers, calling them overly produced, studio hot-jiggery-pokery yet these are the ones i consider to be highlights. Judge for yourself by checking out 1000 BPM. What will come next from this genre dismissing goldenboy? Impossible to predict and that’s the way i like it, uhhuhuhhuh.
