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Beck

As the title of his recent album Hyperspace would imply, eight-time Grammy-winner Beck has traveled light years from his emergence as a reluctant generational spokesperson when “Loser” exploded from a rejected 1992 demo into a ubiquitous 1994 smash. In the decades since, Beck's singular career has 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 the mainstream and alternative rock intersected, 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 first cemented Beck’s place in the pantheon was 1996’s multi-platinum Best Alternative Grammy winner Odelay. Touching on all of Beck's obsessions, Odelay remains a key cultural touchstone from the indelible hooks of "Devil's Haircut” and “The New Pollution" to the irresistible call and response of the Grammy-winning anthem and live show staple "Where It's At." 

From the world-tripping atmospherics of 1998's Mutations (Beck's second album to win the Best Alternative Grammy) and the fluorescent 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 and the Grammy-nominated standalone single “Timebomb," Beck eschewed the typical album/tour/repeat grind. Instead, he expanded into multi-media endeavors including a one-time-only live re-imagining 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.

Beck opened 2014 with the 12th album of a peerless career: Morning Phase. Likened by some to a companion piece of sorts to his 2002 masterpiece Sea Change, Morning Phase featured many of the same musicians who played on that record--and who also accompanied Beck for 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 harkened back to the stunning harmonies, classic Californian song craft and staggering emotional impact of that record, while surging forward with infectious optimism. 

The music has flowed from Beck without pause since: from globe-spanning live shows continually hailed as the best of his storied career to the 2015 psych-dance summer jam “Dreams.” In summer 2016, a next single, “Wow,” was unveiled in all its fluorescent mutant hip hop glory.

Both songs showed up alongside infectious third single—and Beck's third #1 Alternative track in three decades—“Up All Night” on Beck's 13th studio album, Colors, hailed in advance of its October 2017 release by ROLLING STONE as a “euphoric blast of experimental pop,” Colors let loose an intoxicating rainbow of auditory tricks and treats, rendering it a shoo-in for the summeriest smash of 2017’s fall season. 

In April 2019, Beck would offer a first glimpse into Hyperspace with the stunning surprise single, “Saw Lightning.” Featuring Beck’s unmistakable raw acoustic slide guitar and harmonica playing, “Saw Lightning” was written and produced by Beck and Pharrell Williams (who would ultimately be credited as co-writer and co-producer on seven of Hyperspace’s 11 tracks). “Uneventful Days” would follow that October, reaching #1 on the Billboard US Adult Alternative chart and manifesting as a visual transmission from Hyperspace via director Dev Hynes. The pocket universe created for “Uneventful Days” would also feature album opener “Hyperlife,” as well as starring turns from Evan Rachel Wood, Tessa Thompson and Alia Shawkat (observant longtime fans would no doubt spot the principals’ references to classic entries in the Beck video canon). Following the emergence of two more stunners, the meditative “Dark Places” and epic album closer “Everlasting Nothing,” Hyperspace was released November 22, 2019 to yet another torrent of critical accolades.

Beck has spent much of the last few years dazzling live audiences, beginning with a handful of refreshingly freeform one-off shows. More recently, Beck resurrected the full band live show that moved THE TIMES OF LONDON to describe him as "a one-man festival... among modern pop stars perhaps only Prince had more range,“ embarking on the Summer Odyssey tour with co-headliners Phoenix. Summer Odyssey played to packed houses from the Kia Forum in L.A. to Red Rocks to Madison Square Garden and beyond, and was commemorated by the release of the Beck/Phoenix summer anthem “Odyssey,” which turned out to be both a nightly highlight of its namesake tour and a highlight in a prolific streak of collaborations including a historic full concert performance with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, an appearance on the Chemical Brothers’ “Skipping Like A Stone” and, most recently, “Beautiful People (Stay High),” one of multiple Beck co-writes on the new Black Keys album.

Beck

As the title of his recent album Hyperspace would imply, eight-time Grammy-winner Beck has traveled light years from his emergence as a reluctant generational spokesperson when “Loser” exploded from a rejected 1992 demo into a ubiquitous 1994 smash. In the decades since, Beck's singular career has 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 the mainstream and alternative rock intersected, 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 first cemented Beck’s place in the pantheon was 1996’s multi-platinum Best Alternative Grammy winner Odelay. Touching on all of Beck's obsessions, Odelay remains a key cultural touchstone from the indelible hooks of "Devil's Haircut” and “The New Pollution" to the irresistible call and response of the Grammy-winning anthem and live show staple "Where It's At." 

From the world-tripping atmospherics of 1998's Mutations (Beck's second album to win the Best Alternative Grammy) and the fluorescent 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 and the Grammy-nominated standalone single “Timebomb," Beck eschewed the typical album/tour/repeat grind. Instead, he expanded into multi-media endeavors including a one-time-only live re-imagining 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.

Beck opened 2014 with the 12th album of a peerless career: Morning Phase. Likened by some to a companion piece of sorts to his 2002 masterpiece Sea Change, Morning Phase featured many of the same musicians who played on that record--and who also accompanied Beck for 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 harkened back to the stunning harmonies, classic Californian song craft and staggering emotional impact of that record, while surging forward with infectious optimism. 

The music has flowed from Beck without pause since: from globe-spanning live shows continually hailed as the best of his storied career to the 2015 psych-dance summer jam “Dreams.” In summer 2016, a next single, “Wow,” was unveiled in all its fluorescent mutant hip hop glory.

Both songs showed up alongside infectious third single—and Beck's third #1 Alternative track in three decades—“Up All Night” on Beck's 13th studio album, Colors, hailed in advance of its October 2017 release by ROLLING STONE as a “euphoric blast of experimental pop,” Colors let loose an intoxicating rainbow of auditory tricks and treats, rendering it a shoo-in for the summeriest smash of 2017’s fall season. 

In April 2019, Beck would offer a first glimpse into Hyperspace with the stunning surprise single, “Saw Lightning.” Featuring Beck’s unmistakable raw acoustic slide guitar and harmonica playing, “Saw Lightning” was written and produced by Beck and Pharrell Williams (who would ultimately be credited as co-writer and co-producer on seven of Hyperspace’s 11 tracks). “Uneventful Days” would follow that October, reaching #1 on the Billboard US Adult Alternative chart and manifesting as a visual transmission from Hyperspace via director Dev Hynes. The pocket universe created for “Uneventful Days” would also feature album opener “Hyperlife,” as well as starring turns from Evan Rachel Wood, Tessa Thompson and Alia Shawkat (observant longtime fans would no doubt spot the principals’ references to classic entries in the Beck video canon). Following the emergence of two more stunners, the meditative “Dark Places” and epic album closer “Everlasting Nothing,” Hyperspace was released November 22, 2019 to yet another torrent of critical accolades.

Beck has spent much of the last few years dazzling live audiences, beginning with a handful of refreshingly freeform one-off shows. More recently, Beck resurrected the full band live show that moved THE TIMES OF LONDON to describe him as "a one-man festival... among modern pop stars perhaps only Prince had more range,“ embarking on the Summer Odyssey tour with co-headliners Phoenix. Summer Odyssey played to packed houses from the Kia Forum in L.A. to Red Rocks to Madison Square Garden and beyond, and was commemorated by the release of the Beck/Phoenix summer anthem “Odyssey,” which turned out to be both a nightly highlight of its namesake tour and a highlight in a prolific streak of collaborations including a historic full concert performance with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, an appearance on the Chemical Brothers’ “Skipping Like A Stone” and, most recently, “Beautiful People (Stay High),” one of multiple Beck co-writes on the new Black Keys album.