Hey, White Boy!

Remember how shocked/disgusted/hyped you were when you read that Beck had a new project and this project meant covering an entire fucking album with a bunch of his friends? And not just anyhow. The recording of the cover-album was to happen in one day with no rehearsal. Even if you hate Beck (and your name’s probably Nicky Wire), you still have to admit it’s a gutsy move. So the world waited impatiently to see which albums were to be covered. The first release (and the one we’re talking about today) is Velvet Underground’s classic (yes, I know VU have ONLY classic albums) ‘Velvet Underground and Nico’. Incredibly gutsy, I said to myself.

Now, say what you want about aspects of his personal life etc., but Beck is one hell of a musician. You’d naturally expect this to be, if not a great work of art, at least an interesting and fun musical experience. Which, to a certain extend, it is. There are two things that hold it back from becoming a great work of art.

First, ‘There She Goes Again’, ‘European Son’ and ‘Heroin’. First two actually become gradually acceptable though you know you will only play them if forced. But ‘Heroin’ is just a ‘no’. The piano goes all too chaotic and all over the place, the vocals miss the calm of the original, there’s too much shouting and that goddamn guitar is stuck somewhere between being actually lo-fi and melodic exactly in that place where the sound’s not great or experimental but just plain annoying.

Then, this isn’t a collection of covers but Beck and his arty friends don’t go all the way to actually rethink the album so, at times, what they’re doing seems… well, pointless. I guess this is due to the ‘no rehearsal’ think, but maybe a little talk about where you want to take this before the actual recording? I don’t know, just saying. And Beck’s voice is so reminiscent of Lou Reed’s and share the same boredom (especially on ‘Black Angel’s Death Song’ and ‘Sunday Morning’) that you could swear it’s the original you’re hearing.

On the other hand, there are the fantastic bits of the album. ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror’ stands out because it’s just perfect and everything falls in the right place, every instrument is carefully played and they all come together like they should. This ‘Sunday Morning’ holds the same sweet and hopeless tone as the VU one (the similar vocals help). And then there’s the moment Nicky Wire (with his hate for Beck’s loops) dreaded: ‘Run Run Run’ and ‘All Tomorrow’s Parties’ are reinterpreted as electro-pop songs, first via a drum loop and a video game quirky sound (finally, someone who makes good use of such a beat), second thanks to the dreamy background sounds.

So, maybe, just maybe, the whole ‘pick an instrument and make me a cover on the spot’ thing isn’t always such a good idea. You know, they are right, talking about it solves many issues. And, at the end of the day, this album remains a fun and ambitious idea.