Disquiet

So, where is the free MP3 hidden on the website of Beck, urban folklorist turned sample meister turned r&b ironist turned (as of his new album, Guero) back on himself? Well first you go to beck.com, and then you click on the prominent link to Guero, which was produced by the Dust Brothers, who previously midwifed his Odelay, and one half of whom, John King, produced the great Medeski Martin & Wood album of 2004, End of the World Party: Just in Case (Dig). On the Guero webpage, you’re greeted by the album’s cover art, by Marcel Dzama, and so you click on the little puppet figure raising his hands in the air like he just don’t care. What does the puppet spit out when you tickle his belly? A remix, by the band Subtle, of Guero‘s “Fairwell Ride.” The original was built from hand claps, tasty slide guitar, kalimba, thick backing vocals, piano and a dirge of a main lyric somewhere between burned-out Neil Young and apocalypse-weary Glenn Danzig. The remix, almost a minute longer, exaggerates the percussion, emphasizes the piano and uses various effects to shade specific words. Oh, and it adds a rap, and takes its sweet time fading out. How did you find out about this hidden file in the first place? You subscribed to the email list of lexrecords (lexrecords.com), home to Subtle, one of whose members, Dax Pierson, was severely injured when the band’s tour van was in an accident in Iowa in late February. More details on Pierson’s recovery at daxpierson.com and on Subtle at subtle6.com.

By Marc Weidenbaum