RockAndRoll: Beck

Hampton Daze Magazine's July 2015 cover is Beck. Photo by Autumn De Wilde

Beck has traveled light years from being pegged as a reluctant generational spokesperson when “Loser” metamorphosed from a rejected demo to a ubiquitous smash. Instead he wound up crystallizing much of the post-modern ruckus of the ‘90s alternative explosion, but in his own unpredictable manner: Beck’s singular career has been one that’s seen him utilize all manners and eras of music, blurring boundaries and blazing a path into the future while simultaneously foraging through the past. Surfacing just as alternative rock went mainstream, no small thanks to his 1994 debut Mellow Gold, Beck quickly confounded expectations with subsequent releases including the lo-fi folk of One Foot in the Grave. But the album that truly cemented Beck’s place in the pantheon was 1996’s multi-platinum Odelay, that touched upon all of his obsessions, providing a cultural keystone for the decade from the indelible hook of “Devil’s Haircut” to the irresistible call and response of the anthemic “Where It’s At.” From the world-tripping atmospherics of 1998’s Mutations and the florescent funk of 1999’s Midnite Vultures through the somber reflections of 2002’s Sea Change, 2005’s platinum tour de force Guero and 2006’s sprawling The Information, no Beck record has ever sounded like its predecessor. In the interim following 2008’s acclaimed Danger Mouse-produced Modern Guilt, Beck eschewed the typical album/tour/repeat cycle of the music business. Instead, he expanded his creative palette into such multi-media endeavors as a one-time-only live re-imagination of David Bowie’s “Sound and Vision” utilizing 160+ musicians in a 360-degree audiovisual production, and the equally unprecedented Beck Hansen’s Song Reader, originally released December 2012 by McSweeney’s as 20 songs existing only as individual pieces of sheet music, complete with full-color original art for each song and a lavishly produced hardcover carrying case (and since reimagined as an actual album with the likes of Jack White, Juanes, Norah Jones, David Johansen, Beck himself and many more featured on the first ever studio recordings of its songs). Beck’s relentless creative tide continued unabated throughout 2013 with three standalone singles released digitally and on 12-inch vinyl (“Defriended,” “I Won’t Be Long,” “Gimme”), custom-created performances for Doug Aitken’s “Station to Station” series of transient happenings, a run of live shows--touted by reviewers the world over as among the very best of his career--and special Song Reader events in which Beck and eclectic line-ups brought the book to life in unforgettable evenings staged in only a handful of cities including in San Francisco, London, and Disney Hall in Los Angeles. Beck opened 2014 with the 12th--and possibly most well received album of a peerless career: Morning Phase. Likened by some to a companion piece of sorts to his 2002 masterpiece Sea Change, Morning Phase features many of the same musicians who played on that record--and who also currently accompanied Beck live on the rapturously received world tour supporting the record: Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Joey Waronker, Smokey Hormel, Roger Joseph Manning Jr., and Jason Falkner. Featuring the hits “Blue Moon” and “Heart Is A Drum” along with instant classics like “Waking Light” and “Wave”, Morning Phase harkens back to the stunning harmonies, classic Californian song craft and staggering emotional impact of that record, while surging forward with infectious optimism. Beck rolled into 2015 taking the Album of the Year top honor at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, as well as the prize for Best Rock Album. Morning Phase also won in the Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical) category. With three previous Grammy wins to his credit--Two Best Alternative Music Performance award for Mutations and Odelay and one Best Male Rock Vocal Performance award for “Where It’s At”—Beck walked away from attending and performing at this year’s awards with double his previous Grammy tally.

Beck will perform at Nile Rodgers' FOLD Festival on August 4 in Riverhead. Visit www.foldfestival.com.

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