Video: Beck, Devendra Banhart & More @ MOCA...

Doug Aitken documented the recent MOCA performance with Beck, Caetano Veloso & Devendra Banhart.

Video: Skip Spence ~ Weighted Down (Beck)...

Record Club: Skip Spence "Weighted Down" from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

Beck Offers Skip Spence Record Club Tribute...

Record Club: Skip Spence "Little Hands" from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

From Beck.com
We're 5 months into the Record Club project now, and it's time for our third installment.

This one took place last June when Wilco was in town for the release of their new eponymous album. They came by after a long day filming a TV appearance and still managed to put down 8 songs with us. Jamie Liddell was in the studio with me working on his new record. Leslie Feist happened to be in town editing her documentary and heard we were all getting together. Recording took place at Sunset Sound Studios in the room where the Stones did a lot of Exile On Main Street (and looking at the records on the walls it appeared that the Doobie Brothers recorded most of their output there too). Sitting in on drums, we had James Gadson, who's played on most of the Bill Withers records and on songs like 'Express Yourself' and 'I Will Survive.' Jeff Tweedy's son Spencer played played additional drums. Also, Brian Lebarton, from the last two Record Club sessions is back.

The record chosen this time was Skip Spence's 'Oar.' Running sequentially, the first song up is "Little Hands". Our friend Danny Kalb engineered.

For those of you who are wondering what the deal is with this Record Club thing, please read on below.

-Beck

Video: Beck ~ Orphans (Acoustic)...

Modern Guilt Acoustic "Orphans" from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

From Beck.com
Modern Guilt was released one year ago this week! For the occassion we are putting up acoustic versions of the entire album recorded earlier this year after returning from the Japan tour (under severe jet lag). Tracks will be released weekly starting with this rendition of Orphans. There will be limited ep of four tracks from the session available soon. We'll also be putting up all the promotional videos from the album this week in the new section, Videotheque.

Beck Is Back With His Record Club...

Record Club 'Waiting for My Man'

Here is the second song of our look into The Velvet Underground & Nico, in which everyone untunes their instruments and Nigel thrashes a dx-7, coaxing sounds hitherto unheard from this 80's Whitney Houston power ballad beast.

Bek

Beck Starts a Record Club on His Site...

Record Club: Velvet Underground & Nico 'Sunday Morning' from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

From Beck's Website:

Record Club

We've been working on changes to the website for the last few months. We'll be adding new sections as they're ready. The first one to be added is called Record Club, an informal meeting of various people to record an album in a day. An album will be chosen to be reinterpreted and used as a framework. Nothing rehearsed or arranged ahead of time. A track will be uploaded once a week on beck.com as well as through the web sites of those involved with the project.

For this first edition, after lengthy deliberation and coming close to covering Digital Underground's Sex Packets, all present voted in favor of the 'other' Underground's The Velvet Underground & Nico. Participants included this time around are Nigel Godrich, Joey Waronker, Brian Lebarton, Bram Inscore, Yo, Giovanni Ribisi, Chris Holmes, and from Iceland, special guest Thorunn Magnusdottir, and myself. Thanks to everyone who helped put this together, and to all of you for indulging in this experiment. More soon.

Bek