Beck Announces Special New Release!

"Like a kid getting a special package in the mail and opening it up with anticipation, these interpretations of songs from the Song Reader book have surpassed what I could have imagined when putting the book together. The book addressed the idea of a song in its most elemental form, letting others give it a voice. It amazes me to hear how these musicians have made the songs their own and in the process revealed that the interpretation is the living breathing soul of the piece. These interpretations have made the book something new--- something better." —BECK

The now legendary Beck Song Reader; twenty Beck compositions previously released exclusively as stunningly illustrated sheet music in partnership with McSweeney’s will receive a long awaited traditional release on July 25, when Capitol Records and Universal Music release the Beck Song Reader compilation album, produced by Beck and Randall Poster, known for his music supervision work with directors Wes Anderson, Martin Scorsese, Sam Mendes and many others.

The 20-track all-star collection features exclusively recorded versions of Song Reader charts by the likes of Jack White, Jeff Tweedy, David Johansen, Jason Isbell, Fun., Eleanor Friedberger, and several more including Beck himself.

"I was incredibly excited when Beck asked me to produce a collection of Song Reader recordings with him,” says the album’s producer Randall Poster. "Beck's dynamic musical energy and creative passion inspired the artists—some of our favorite and greatest artists at that—to make these songs their own and render them with authority and distinction. They are both a reward and an invitation to join in on a unique and enduring song enterprise."

The release of Beck Song Reader marks the first officially recorded incarnation of the project, which has already inspired interpretations from hundreds of musicians the world over.  The record includes the studio-quality debut of songs previously only played live either by Beck himself or at one of the handful of Song Reader concerts staged over the last two years.  The most recent of these was presented by the L.A. Philharmonic in partnership with McSweeney’s and Warby Parker at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on November 24, 2013.  Described by The Los Angeles Times as an “expertly delivered and received night… another big step in Beck's long, fascinating evolution,” the show’s highlights included Jarvis Cocker’s interpretively danced “Why Did You Make Me Care?" and Jack Black’s borderline frightening “We All Wear Cloaks,” the latter of which makes its recorded debut on the Beck Song Reader album.

Full track listing of Beck’s Song Reader is:
1.  Moses Sumney – Title of this Song
2.  Fun – Please Leave A Light On When You Go
3.  Tweedy – The Wolf is on the Hill
4.  Norah Jones – Just Noise
5.  Lord Huron – Last Night You Were A Dream
6.  Bob Forrest – Saint Dude
7.   Jack White – I’m Down
8.   Beck – Heaven’s Ladder
9.   Juanes – Don’t Act Like Your Heart Isn’t Hard
10.  Laura Marling - Sorry
11.  Jarvis Cocker - Eyes That Say “I Love You”
12.  David Johansen – Rough On Rats
13.  Jason Isbell – Now That Your Dollar Bills Have Sprouted Wings
14.  The Last Polka – Marc Ribot
15.  Eleanor Friedberger – Old Shanghai
16.  Sparks – Why Did You Make Me Care?
17.  Swamp Dogg – America, Here’s My Boy
18.  Jack Black – We All Wear Cloaks
19.  Loudon Wainwright III – Do We? We Do
20.  Gabriel Kahane & Ymusic – Mutilation Rag