Beck "Looking For A Sign"

Sometimes I wish that I could post these songs, without revealing the name and title.*

Because I think you'd get a kick out of listening to this song from the soundtrack to the movie "Jeff Who Lives At Home,"** and trying to guess who it is.

But because his name is right up front, well, never mind.

Still, would you have guessed that this is Beck?

Maybe not the first time through, but certainly on second listen, you can pick out his voice. And there are some sonic flourishes that are noticeably Beck-ian.

What I find most remarkable about Beck, after nearly 20 years of listening to his output, is the ease with which he moves from sound to sound on his various albums. It's amazing that the guy who made "Midnight Vultures" is also the guy who made "Sea Change," and made both those records sound distinctly like a Beck album.

I'm a huge Elvis Costello fan, but even with Elvis, even when he does a great album that leans Country or R&B or Classical or whatever, it general feels like "Okay, here is Elvis, trying to work within a particular style."

For some reason, I never get that sense from Beck.

It never feels like he's "putting on" a style. He's just making the record sound like the songs warrant.

So when he does the acoustic-y, downbeat stuff, he's not trying to sound like a singer-songwriter, to explore that style. He's just making Beck songs, and these happen to be quieter, sadder and strummy-er.

It's quite a feat.


Hear the song on Youtube.


See the movie trailer of Youtube.

* I suppose I could create my own, unnamed Youtube videos, but that's going a long way, just to prove a point.

** This is the 2nd Jason Segel-related post this week!