Posts Tagged ‘Beck’
Musical genius swoon.
I love Pandora Radio via my Roku box so freaking much*. It is the best blend of iPod and radio; it plays out the surround sound and provides me with the artist, song title and album. The logarithm or algorithm or whatever crazy math they use is incredible to me; they base the play list on one artist or song or genre and give you stuff you already know and love and toss in tracks similar enough that you discover new favorites. My favorite channel is The Traveling Wilburys. I get piles of Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Dylan and so on. I haven’t met too many new loves but I am reacquainted with songs I’ve forgotten about. It is musical Facebook!
Not surprisingly, that channel plays a lot of Traveling Wilburys’ songs. And they were such an anomaly, such an amazing supergroup, that I am grieving anew the loss of George Harrison and Roy Orbison. Now, I realize the collaboration was very likely a once-in-a-lifetime event. But what if it could be revisited? What if they re-banded with two new members? Who could fill the shoes of Roy Orbison (the grandaddy of the group) or George Harrison (the driving force)? I’ve given it some thought; who is that creative, that offbeat and able to blend, ego-free, with this collection of legends and icons? I kind of think Beck could fill the bill. I wonder if Ben Harper could play well enough with others to make a go of it. You know who might be awesome (and I know I will get shit for this) but Eric Clapton might be a wondrous choice. What about Jack Johnson? Is he too mellow? Too flash-in-the-pan pop? Bruce Springsteen? Roy Orbison thought enough of him to include him in The Black & White Night. This is hard!
You know who is an easy elimination though? John Mayer doesn’t even get to be considered. He is way too much of an immature pussy hound dbag to even be considered for such an honor. If only stupid death hadn’t taken Warren Zevon decades too soon, he would be such an obvious choice!
I like making polls so here’s a poll!
That's some good shirtless death. Some damn good shirtless death.
Lots of critics and people who spend too much time thinking about music say that Beck is a genius. I assume it’s just because of this video. In fact, here is what I know about Beck:
- This video rules;
- I once knew someone who thought the lyric “two turntables with a microphone” was “tempt two devils with a microphone;”
- I know the lyric above is not from this Beck song, a-hole;
- The best part of this video, out of the million good parts of this video, is right near the beginning when he tries to do the cool jump off the dirt pile;
- The psychedelic rooftop shirtless Mexican guitar player is like, the 5th best thing in this video. Think about THAT statement.
Watch the video and read the lyrics after the jump. And if you are gonna sing the song in a car, LEARN the lyrics. Don’t just murmur until the “who’s chokin’ on the splinters” part comes on. I hate people who do that. I’d like to stick them in a cage with the people who do the hand claps during “Take the Money and Run” and set them on fire. Now get cool. 90′s losers!