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New Beck

#21
wonderjosh said:
It's absurd... and brilliant.
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Absurd, I agree. Brilliant, I'm not entirely sure, but I have to give the gesture credit for stumping me a bit.

Is it the musical equivalent of asymmetrical bodybuilding or fashion amputation--hipster one-upsmanship taken to a desperately idiotic and perverse new level--or a daring indictment of the degradation of once participatory culture into mere passive undergoing and consumption? Perhaps it is both.

In any case, I am wondering if purchase of the sheet music comes with the rights to freely perform and/or record the compositions.
 
#22
shriekback said:
Absurd, I agree. Brilliant, I'm not entirely sure, but I have to give the gesture credit for stumping me a bit.

Is it the musical equivalent of asymmetrical bodybuilding or fashion amputation--hipster one-upsmanship taken to a desperately idiotic and perverse new level--or a daring indictment of the degradation of once participatory culture into mere passive undergoing and consumption? Perhaps it is both.
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I dunno, the more I think about it Beck's just carrying on family traditions with this project...his dad's a studio arranger, his grandfather Al Hansen was a Fluxus/performance/conceptual artist. Conceptual sheet music with some assembly required? :bassist:
 
#24
Are you guys (TBers) kidding? In the age of YouTube this is an awesome idea. I'm sure there will be miles of videos of people playing the music themselves. That will be really freaking cool and I can't imagine that the composers won't enjoy seeing their music come to life in the hands of so many others.

Great Idea. I have a feeling that this will end up being a successful experiment and many others will follow suit.
 
#26
jmjbassplayer said:
Just think of this as a new (old) door being opened for people, particularly in this DIY generation. It's certainly not intended to be exclusionary. Is it niche? Of course.

J
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Like I said, pure f'ing genius. A billion versions will hit YouTube before the first concert, and we'll get to hear the real thing live. Its the reverse of "Call Me, Maybe." Sometimes I wonder what happened to my gray matter....I rue the day I gave you my idea Beck and JMJ! ;-)
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D;);););););););););):D:D:D:D
 
#27
shriekback said:
Is it the musical equivalent of asymmetrical bodybuilding or fashion amputation--hipster one-upsmanship taken to a desperately idiotic and perverse new level--or a daring indictment of the degradation of once participatory culture into mere passive undergoing and consumption? Perhaps it is both.
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I think he's just trying to be fun and funny, although there does seem to be a shiv stuck in the side of all the "back to vinyl" hipsters with this album. But considering he's friends with Neil Young, who has been at the forefront of this back-to-vinyl stuff, maybe not.

In any case, I am wondering if purchase of the sheet music comes with the rights to freely perform and/or record the compositions.
Click to expand...
Considering that there will be a website where folks can offer up their own recordings of the songs, I imagine it does come with rights to perform up to a limit...like if you put out a song and charge people to download it, Beck's going to want mechanicals. But to play them at a bar or to throw them up on the website, I doubt anyone will be suing you.
 
#28
TRichardsbass said:
Like I said, pure f'ing genius. A billion versions will hit YouTube before the first concert, and we'll get to hear the real thing live. Its the reverse of "Call Me, Maybe." Sometimes I wonder what happened to my gray matter....I rue the day I gave you my idea Beck and JMJ! ;-)
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D;);););););););););):D:D:D:D
Click to expand...
Maybe they will cut you a check when it's all said and done.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
 
#34
jmjbassplayer said:
Just think of this as a new (old) door being opened for people, particularly in this DIY generation. It's certainly not intended to be exclusionary. Is it niche? Of course.

J
Click to expand...

The more I think about it, the more I think it's gonna be pretty cool. Beck will essentially be releasing his album as played by others on YouTube! Garage band will almost certainly play a big role here, since it's making home recording so much easier. But the flipside of that is that some people's productions might sound a little bit cookie-cutter.

As for the book, do you know if it's going to be vocal melody, lyrics & chords only? Or should we expect something that will be fully scored for an ensemble?
 
#35
Just a sign Becks getting old. So pathetic and unoriginal. Jeeze mom, just think about the air play on this one. Hey Becks having a concert online ticket sales for the sheet-music. Wonder if it will sell out, naw, just make me a copy Or better yet scan it and upload it to a blog.

Here's one of the cuts from the new album. Www.sheetmusicdirect.com

Hey did you hear the new beck song. No. Neither did I.
 
#36
Very interesting what a project that was very much a labor of love inspires people to say. A wide spectrum of opinion.

Pathetic and unoriginal? Seems a little hyperbolic.

Nevertheless, enjoying this thread and all its richness of different viewpoints.

JMJ
 
#37
I sort of agree with the utterly absurd side. As musicians we strive for the opportunity to "play" in front of people, to be heard by as many as possible, for someone without the desire to play an instrument to want to listen to our music.

Beck may be a little self-righteous with this effort. I know he's not as popular these days and when he was popular album sales were a little better since the social media hadn't gone viral and the one song download wasn't available but I'm afraid this tactic may end up backfiring. Seriously, who's going to buy a book of sheet music to download into their iPhone or iPod when you can't listen to it. Sorry I just don't get it, isn't the purpose of creating and recording music so your fan base can enjoy it by listening to it.

I know the hard core musician/artist here must be saying, wow, cool this dude is totally rad man, can you believe the creativity behind this....we'll see how Billboard receives it.
 
#39
I don't get it. I'm in the small minority of people who actually can read music (and read it well) and I just don't see what the motivation is behind doing such a thing. A song? Sure. But to do a whole album this way is just a little silly, IMHO.

That said, I'm a huge fan and I look forward to seeing how it'll play out. If things go well then I expect we'll all be seeing hundreds of Youtube videos of people covering these songs and adding their own twist to them. If things don't work out, however, then I doubt we'll be seeing, let alone hearing, much.

Fingers crossed.
 

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