Beck

Early life

Bek David Campbell was born in Los Angeles on July 8, 1970, the son of American visual artist Bibbe Hansen and Canadian arranger, composer, and conductor David Campbell. Bibbe Hansen grew up amid Andy Warhol's The Factory art scene of the 1960s in New York City and was a Warhol superstar. She moved to California at 17 and met David Campbell. Beck's maternal grandfather, artist Al Hansen, was of Norwegian descent and was a pioneer in the avant-garde Fluxus movement. Beck's maternal grandmother was Jewish; he has said that he considers himself Jewish because he was "raised celebrating Jewish holidays."

Early performances and first releases (1988–1993)

Beck began as a folk musician, switching between country blues, Delta blues, and more traditional rural folk music in his teenage years. He began performing on city buses, often covering Mississippi John Hurt alongside original, sometimes improvisational compositions. "I'd get on the bus and start playing Mississippi John Hurt with totally improvised lyrics. Some drunk would start yelling at me, calling me Axl Rose. So I'd start singing about Axl Rose and the levee and bus passes and strychnine, mixing the whole thing up", he later recalled. He was also in a band called Youthless that hosted Dadaist-inspired freeform events at city coffee shops. "We had Radio Shack mics and this homemade speaker and we'd draft people in the audience to...

Guero and The Information (2004–2007)

Guero, Beck's ninth studio album, was recorded over the span of nine months during which several significant events occurred in his life: his girlfriend, Marissa Ribisi, became pregnant; they were married; their son, Cosimo, was born; and they moved out of Silver Lake. The collaboration with the Dust Brothers, his second, was notable for their use of high-tech measures to achieve a lo-fi sound. For example, after recording a "sonically perfect" version of a song at one of the nicest recording studios in Hollywood, the Dust Brothers processed it in an Echoplex to create a gritty, reverb-heavy sound: "We did this high-tech recording and ran it through a transistor radio. It sounded too good, that was the problem." Initially due to be...

Musical style

Beck's musical style has been considered alternative and indie. He has played many of the instruments in his music himself. Beck has also done some remixes for fellow artists, notably David Bowie and Björk. He has been known to synthesize several musical elements together in his music, including folk, psychedelia, electronic, country, Latin music, hip-hop, funk, soul, blues, noise music, jazz, art pop and many types of rock. Because of this unconventional approach, Beck has been described as a postmodern musician. He has also taken music from Los Angeles as a reference point in his songs.

Blue Moon

"Blue Moon" is a song written, produced and performed by Beck, issued as the lead single from his twelfth studio album Morning Phase. The song is the musician's first release on Capitol Records.

The song became Beck's first single to top the U.S. Adult Alternative Songs chart, and was nominated for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance at the 57th Grammy Awards.

Critical reception

The song has received positive reviews from critics. Kory Grow of Rolling Stone, while comparing the song's melody to material from Beck's 2002 album Sea Change, called the song "anything but desolate", as well as "lush". Leonie Cooper of NME called the song "one of the most captivating things Beck has ever composed".

Loser

"Loser" is a single by American musician Beck. It was written by Beck and record producer Carl Stephenson, who both produced the song with Tom Rothrock.

"Loser" was initially released as Beck's second single by independent record label Bong Load Custom Records on 12-inch vinyl format with catalog number BL5 on March 8, 1993.

Conception and recording

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Beck was a homeless musician in the New York City anti-folk scene. He returned to his hometown of Los Angeles in early 1991, due to his financial struggles. Described by biographer Julian Palacios as having "no opportunities whatsoever", Beck worked low-wage jobs to survive, but still found time to perform his songs at local coffeehouses and clubs. In order to keep indifferent audiences engaged in his music, Beck would play in a spontaneous, joking manner. "I'd be banging away on a Son House tune and the whole audience would be talking, so maybe out of desperation or boredom, or the audience's boredom, I'd make up these ridiculous songs just to see if people were listening. 'Loser' was an extension of...

Composition and lyrics

Beck acknowledged the impact of folk on the song, saying "I'd realized that a lot of what folk music is about taking a tradition and reflecting your own time. I knew my folk music would take off, if I put hip-hop beats behind it." He had also perceived similarities between Delta blues and hip hop, which helped to inspire the song. The A.V. Club's Annie Zaleski opines that the song imitates abstract hip hop, while James Reed from The Boston Globe called it an alternative rock anthem, and Veronica Chambers for Vibe magazine described the song as a "folk-based hip hop song." "Loser" revolves around several recurring musical elements: a slide guitar riff, Stephenson's sitar, the bassline, and a tremolo guitar part. The song's drum track is...

Release and performance

"Loser" was first released on March 8, 1993, as a 12-inch vinyl single on Bong Load, with only 500 copies pressed. Beck felt that "Loser" was mediocre, and only agreed to its release at Rothrock's insistence. "Loser" unexpectedly received radio airplay, starting in Los Angeles, where college radio stations KCRW and KXLU were the first to play it, followed by modern rock station KROQ-FM. Beck made his worldwide live radio performance debut on July 23, 1993 during KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic, hosted by Chris Douridas. The song then spread to Seattle through KNDD, and KROQ-FM began playing the song on an almost hourly basis. By the time stations in New York were requesting copies of "Loser", Bong Load had already run out. Beck was soon...

Critical reception

In his Consumer Guide, Robert Christgau gave the single CD a one-star honorable mention (), picked out two songs, "Fume" and "Alcohol", and stated that it's Beck's "greatest hit, an album demo, and two-for-three prime odds and ends". David Stubbs from Melody Maker remarked "the downer-than-downbeat lo-fi, lo-esteem" of "Loser". Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "Despite its title, the odd combination of sitar and dobro-driven(!) alternative pop with dance rhythms, makes a winner out of this song." Paul Moody from NME wrote, "A greased-up sliding blues it may be, but deep inside it there's a smog-filled LA desperation at work (The re-run shows and the cocaine nose jobs/The folk singer slob who hung himself with a guitar string)...

E-Pro

"E-Pro" is the opening track on Beck's 2005 album Guero. It was released as the lead single from the album in March 2005.

The song was Beck's second number 1 on the Modern Rock chart and his first in eleven years. It peaked at number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Music video

The music video for the song was created by Shynola. It is set in a computer-animated wireframe environment, where Beck rises from a grave and digs up a dog, only to be pursued by skeletal zombies. He escapes on what appears to be a bike, the wheels of which turn into legs and climb buildings. Near the middle of the video, his head is knocked off and is washed in a washing machine and fished out of a river, only to be shot back onto his neck via cannon. Near the end Beck is seen running from a giant skull made up of the graveyard gate and headstones. He begins jumping up a series of musical notes, finally teetering on the last one as the song abruptly cuts off and the video fades to black. Subsequently, the video was nominated for "Best...

Where It's At

"Where It's At" is a song by American alternative rock musician Beck, released in May 1996 by DGC and Bong Load as the first single from his fifth album, Odelay (1996). Beck wrote the song in 1995 with its co-producers John King and Michael Simpson, and premiered it at Lollapalooza the same year, in a version very similar to its incarnation on Odelay.

He has performed the song often since 1995, frequently experimenting with the music and lyrics. Its music video was directed by Steve Hanft.

Production

"Where It's At" has a number of spoken samples that Beck and the Dust Brothers incorporated into it. Many of these come from an obscure sex education album titled Sex for Teens: (Where It's At), a subtitle Beck borrowed. Other vocal samples incorporated into "Where It's At" come from "Needle to the Groove" by old-school hip hop group Mantronix ("we've got two turntables and a microphone ..."), as well as the Frogs ("that was a good drum break"). The song also references Gary Wilson, one of Beck's influences. In addition, just before the Frogs sample begins, the song incorporates a musical sample from the intro of noted go-go band E.U.'s song "Knock Him Out Sugar Ray".

Critical reception

Justin Chadwick from Albumism said "Where It's At" is "the most memorable" song among the singles of the Odelay album. He added, "Propelled by a cacophony of distorted melodies, oddball vocal snippets, and the unforgettable chorus chant of 'Where it's at! I've got two turntables and a microphone'', with a robotic echo lifted from Mantronix's 1985 single 'Needle to the Groove', Beck gives you little choice but to wholeheartedly accept his invitation to the 'destination a little up the road'." Paul Verna from Billboard noted that "he takes a more straightforward tack, floating stream-of-consciousness raps over sampled beats." Daina Darzin from Cash Box named it Pick of the Week, noting that fans of "Loser" "should be equally happy with...

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Where It's At" was directed by Steve Hanft. It features Beck doing a variety of things, such as cleaning up a highway for community service as a convict, singing at a car dealership, dressed as the Candyman, and line dancing. In one moment, Beck pays homage to William Shatner's performance of "Rocket Man" at the 1977 Saturn Awards ceremony. "Where It's At" was the first music video to be broadcast on MTV2 on August 1, 1996. Beck also pays homage to Captain Beefheart by dressing as Captain Beefheart was dressed in the Trout Mask Replica album photo sessions at 1:27 in the video. The video was awarded a MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video. The shorter version was used for this video instead of the...

Beercan

"Beercan" is a single by Beck, taken from his first major record label release, Mellow Gold. It peaked at number 27 on the U.S.

Modern Rock Tracks charts.

Conception and recording

"Beercan" was produced by Carl Stephenson and featured his characteristic layers of sound and bizarre samples: this song in particular prominently features samples from a Care Bears album. The song also samples a small part of the Melvins song "Hog Leg".

Music video

Like Beck's earlier single "Loser", the experimental video for "Beercan" was directed by friend and director Steve Hanft. The video features a group of homeless people destroying a house. A recurring theme throughout the video is the presence of a rainbow, possibly a reference to the Care Bears album sampled in the song. Melvins frontman Buzz Osborne also makes an appearance.

Colors

Colors is the thirteenth studio album by American musician Beck, released on October 13, 2017, by Fonograf Records & Capitol Records. The album was recorded between 2013 and 2017, with Beck producing alongside Greg Kurstin.

The album's earliest single, "Dreams", was released in June 2015, while three more singles were released between June 2016 and September 2017. The title track was also released as a single in April 2018.

Production

Colors was recorded at Greg Kurstin's Los Angeles studio between 2013 and 2017, with Beck and Kurstin playing nearly every instrument themselves. Beck described the recording process to music publication NME, saying, "for the first year, we were experimenting and there was a lot of trial and error. I was touring constantly while making it, so I was attempting to bring some of that energy back to the studio, which isn't always the easiest thing to do. 'Dreams' was one of the early songs to come along and make me think the idea had legs."

Composition

Q described "Seventh Heaven" as a "lost '80s pop classic" and "Dear Life" as "lush Beatles-like psychedelia spiked with an existential cry-for-help for a lyric." Beck told Q that "Dear Life is just about the inevitable turmoil of being alive. Like, can somebody throw me a lifeline here?" The New York Times observed that "No Distraction" had "a strummy guitar part over a foursquare rock beat, and a chord progression partly cribbed from the Police" and that "Dear Life" was "a late-Beatles-esque existential cry, with a welcome core of oddness within its retro shell." Beck discussed "No Distraction" with Q, saying, "Anybody who has a phone or computer lives with the distractions pulling you this way and that. We haven't figured out how to have...

Release

On July 28, 2017, Beck teased the title of his new album by posting a photo of John Baldessari's "Tips for Artists Who Want to Sell" on his Instagram account. His post followed an accidental leak of the title and release date by an online retailer's private pre-order page briefly being set to public viewing. On August 11, Beck officially announced the album would be titled Colors and released in October 2017.

Dark Places

"Dark Places" is a song by the American musician Beck. It was released on November 7, 2019 as the third single from his fourteenth studio album Hyperspace.

A lyric video was also created for the song, made by Eddie Obrand. Consequence of Sound described the video as "dreamy".

Critical reception

Tom Breihan of Stereogum called "Dark Places" "a slow, ambling song, built from both an acoustic-guitar strum and a rich, hazy synth sound. Beck, singing as high as his voice will let him go, reflects on a breakup", as evidenced by the lyrics "Time moves on, and on and love, it goes / Now she’s gone, and all I see are shadows". He thought that the song sounded closer to the album Sea Change, rather than Midnite Vultures. Exclaim! described the song as "more than a little smooth".

Lost Cause

"Lost Cause" is the fifth song from Beck's fifth major-label studio album, Sea Change. It was also released as a promo single only, in the UK, Germany, and Japan.

Music video

Two music videos were made for "Lost Cause", both directed by Garth Jennings. The original video features an effigy of Beck falling from the sky. It was produced entirely in Adobe Photoshop. The second version features Beck and his band playing the song, with various moments being sped up, slowed down and filmed in stop motion.

Say Goodbye

"Say Goodbye" is a song written, produced and performed by American musician Beck,.It was issued as the third single from his twelfth studio album Morning Phase.

Critical reception

The song has received positive reviews, with many critics compared the song to the work of other musicians. Leonie Cooper of NME praised the song's guitar work as having "a Gram Parsons lilt"; while Zach Schonfeld of Consequence of Sound positively compared the song to material from Neil Young's album Harvest. Josh Modell of The A.V. Club highlighted the song as being the best song on the album.

Sissyneck

"Sissyneck" is a song by American musician Beck, released as the fourth single from his fifth album, Odelay (1996). For the bass line of the song, the Dust Brothers sampled "A Part of Me" by the band Country Funk.

The whistling in the introduction comes from "The Moog and Me" by Dick Hyman. The organ line is from "Life" by Sly & the Family Stone.

Critical reception

British magazine Music Week rated the song three out of five, picking it as Single of the Week. They added, "Gaining converts by the day, Beck's maverick touch has now felt fully by the mainstream and this typically languid effort will reinforce his growing reputation as a very cool cat." David Sinclair from The Times described it as a "gloriously off-kilter combination of country-rock tune and street-hustle percussion."