On Wednesday, Beck Hansen (better known as “Beck”) announced
that, with the exception of his latest album, 2014’s ‘Morning Phase,’ he will
be giving his entire discography the reissue treatment. The first three albums,
‘Odelay,’ ‘Sea Change’ and ‘Guero,’ will be released on October 28, with the
others to follow soon after.
For more than two decades, Beck has been putting out
groundbreaking albums combining singer-songwriter vibes with electronic production
effects. Though he had been releasing albums since 1993, it wasn’t until his
fifth album, 1996’s ‘Odelay,’ and its first single “Where It’s At,” that he
would find mainstream success. Over the course of his career, he has released
12 albums and received several awards and nominations, including Grammy Awards
for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for “Where It’s At” in 1997 and Album of
the Year for ‘Morning Phase’ in 2015.
Not only does Beck make unique music, he also makes
interesting music videos to go with it. Some of his videos are downright trippy
and light years ahead of their time.
In honor of the rerelease of Beck’s albums, here are seven
of the most “trippy” and interesting music videos he has ever released.
1.
“Where It’s At”: This video doesn’t really start
off that weird. It’s when you get to the part where he’s singing on a stage at
a used car lot that things turn. There are robots, people fighting, Beck
singing in a tux in the style of awful prom photos, and line dancing. It doesn’t
need to make sense, but it is an iconic song. (video)
2.
“Girl”: Remember ‘Mad Magazine’ and those pages
that you had to fold to find a new picture? That’s what this video tries to
imitate. It starts with a piece of paper, then it turns into walls and streets
folding over, all depicting beautiful things turning into harsh truths. (video)
3.
“Hell Yes”: Make way for the dancing robots! Back
when this video came out in 2005, it was such an odd yet innovative idea to
have robots dancing around on a stage. It also features Beck and others joining
them in hologram-form. (video)
4.
“Wow”: This is Beck’s latest video and it
definitely ranks up there with some of his most random. It features a lot of
dancing; in the middle of the street, with his kids, by a troupe of young girls
in East-Asian inspired outfits… It also has roses with eyes, a man doing yoga
in the middle of an intersection and fuzzy balls with eyes. (video)
5.
“E-Pro”: This video is all green screen and
computer graphics. Beck is in a black field where everything is made of colored,
moving lines. At a certain point he gets decapitated and a bird flies off with
his head. Yeah… (video)
6.
“Cellphone’s Dead”: In this video, Beck’s
backing band is made up of a 1770s diplomat, a cowboy, a guy in a Mexican
poncho and a bear. The video, presented partially in oversaturated color, also
has a little girl looking directly into the camera while dancing, a Rambo-like
gunslinger and an exercise girl. (video)
7.
“Sexx Laws”: It starts out innocently enough
with a group of guys having some sort of support group meeting. However, things
quickly go haywire when football players bust in. It’s at this point that
appliances become possessed, aliens fight other aliens, rugby players start to dance
in a parking lot and his band gets lost in a mob of people. Also, what is going
on with his backing band!? (video)
Beck has had some weird music
videos, but that only adds to the value of his work. For more than 20 years, he
has been entertaining and inspiring fans with his art and his music. Even after
all those years, his music sounds just as innovative as it did when he released
it, which makes this the perfect time to reissue his classic albums.
Find music from Beck, as well as
titles from thousands more artists at Vinyl Bay 777 and at vinylbay777.com.
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