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Friday, July 8, 2011
Party! Happy Birthday Beck Hansen!
Posted by Derek Erdman on Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 2:48 PM
75 million years ago, Xenu (the dictator of the "Galactic Confederacy") brought billions of people to earth in a spaceship that looked like a DC-8. He then stacked them next to volcanoes and killed them with hydrogen bombs. As far as I understand, the psychic pain of all of the dead people makes us miserable today, but if we have a mound of money, we can get rid of this pain through the power of Scientology.
41 years ago, Beck Hansen was born as Bek David Campbell to a Canadian musician father and visual artist mother. He's made gobs of interesting music throughout his career, including the totally brilliant Stereopathetic Soulmanure & One Foot in the Grave. From there he seemed to teeter between anti-folk and aping Prince Rogers Nelson, with the output quality waxing and waning as well. With everything, it might have to do with your music preference.
- "I said, let's roll up the windows, and let the nitrous go."
Ultimately, it's a good thing that Beck Hansen exists. When asked by the Dublin Tribune about Scientology, Hansen replied, "What it actually is is just sort of, uh, you know, I think it's about philosophy and sort of, uh, all these kinds of, you know, ideals that are common to a lot of religions. There's nothing fantastical, just a real deep grassroots concerted effort for humanitarian causes. I don't know if you know the stuff they have. It's unbelievable the stuff they are doing. Education...they have free centres all over the place for poor kids. They have the number one drug rehabilitation programme in the entire world. It has a 90-something percent success rate. When you look at the actual facts and not what's conjured in people's minds that's all bullshit to me because I've actually seen stuff first hand."
1
He's made some great music.
"They have the number one drug rehabilitation programme in the entire world. It has a 90-something percent success rate. When you look at the actual facts..."
Speaking of actual facts, I'd love to see credible evidence supporting 90+% success rate, and also for these claims made by Narconon:
-- Drugs -- including ecstasy, LSD and marijuana -- accumulate indefinitely in body fat, where they cause recurring drug cravings for months or years.
-- Drugs in fat cause flashbacks even years after the user quits.
-- The vitamin niacin pulls drugs from fat, and saunas sweat them from the body.
-- Colored ooze is produced when drugs exit the body.
http://articles.sfgate.com/2004-06-09/ne…
"They have the number one drug rehabilitation programme in the entire world. It has a 90-something percent success rate. When you look at the actual facts..."
Speaking of actual facts, I'd love to see credible evidence supporting 90+% success rate, and also for these claims made by Narconon:
-- Drugs -- including ecstasy, LSD and marijuana -- accumulate indefinitely in body fat, where they cause recurring drug cravings for months or years.
-- Drugs in fat cause flashbacks even years after the user quits.
-- The vitamin niacin pulls drugs from fat, and saunas sweat them from the body.
-- Colored ooze is produced when drugs exit the body.
http://articles.sfgate.com/2004-06-09/ne…
2
my first memories of beck are recording his track from the 1994 yoyo a gogo comp to a mix tape, in the record library of KAOS when i was 14. i think it was sandwiched between a groovie ghoulies song and a mirah song,
i think 'lost cause' is my favorite song to date, though midnight vultures is the album ive played the most.
i think 'lost cause' is my favorite song to date, though midnight vultures is the album ive played the most.
5
Obligatory http://www.lermanet.com/beck/ link.
It's a shame he was born into a group that does so much harm to others, I really do like his music and it's also a shame that he got roped back into it time and again. It's probably hard to live when all your friends and all you know would disconnect from you if you ever renounced the group :(
At least Neil Gaiman got out, mostly.
It's a shame he was born into a group that does so much harm to others, I really do like his music and it's also a shame that he got roped back into it time and again. It's probably hard to live when all your friends and all you know would disconnect from you if you ever renounced the group :(
At least Neil Gaiman got out, mostly.
6
One of my favorite Beck songs to this day is Beercan on Mellow Gold ... I’ve been hooked ever since The End played Loser a bazillion years ago
8
I'm surprised by the poll results (Sea Change is winning as I type this). I've never been much of a Beck fan, but I immediately loved Sea Change when it came out (still do). Nearly all of the Beck fans I knew at that time agreed that it was his worst album and that I had it all wrong. And his tour for that album did very poorly. So I always believed it was Infallible Truth among Beck fans that Sea Change was terrible and everything else was grand. Well, now I know.
9
My favorite is actually his book, America's March to Socialism: Why We're One Step Closer to Giant Missile Parades.
10
Sea Change is the only Beck album I still own on a physical format (the vinyl reissue that came out a year or two ago). Possible I got burnt out on Mellow Gold (sister) and Midnite Vultures (friends).
12
Mutations blew my little tweenage mind and it never fails to put me in a perfectly melancholy introspective mood. I just love the work he's been doing in the last few albums with electronics and chiptunes...and his videos! Thank goodness for artists who never stop growing. Even his shitty albums say something new.
14
I prefer party Beck, so Odelay for me. I tried, but I could never get hook to Sea Change. Too bad he's a Sciento.
16
my first love walked 5 miles in the middle of an idaho winter one morning before jr high school to give me a copy of stereopathetic soulmanure, and i have it, lo these many years later. he killed himself, and it's the only thing i have from then. fave album, hands down.
17
number 8, maybe you're thinking of another tour? the sea change tour did really well....it was the one with the flaming lips playing double duty as the opening band and then as beck's backing band. he also did a solo tour (sort of, he brought along smokey hormel) a few months before the lips tour. that one was really fun too.
18
Man, that's hard. The output from One Foot In The Grave and the Mellow Gold B-Sides are stellar. And the versions of Deborah from the Odelay tour before he recorded it were better than the studio version, imo.
That said, Static is one of the most beautiful songs ever. Oh, and Asshole. damn. He's so good.
That said, Static is one of the most beautiful songs ever. Oh, and Asshole. damn. He's so good.
20
@17, I'm referring to the outdoor summer tour. Was the Flaming Lips/Beck tour an indoor non-summer tour? In the summer, Beck played sheds and was selling 3000ish tickets, which is no bueno for a 20k-seat shed. I worked for the tour promoter at the time, and we lost money. I loved the show, but they played to lots of empty seats.
21
Here is a link to a Pacific Northwest tribute to the best Beck album.
http://msvalerieparkdistro.com/music/var…
http://msvalerieparkdistro.com/music/var…
22
I got Odely when I was 14, and I fell asleep to it every night.
I stole a copy of Mellow gold form an ex-bf during a break up when I was 18.
they were both stolen out of my car when I was 22.
sea change was fine, but nothing on the early stuff.
I stole a copy of Mellow gold form an ex-bf during a break up when I was 18.
they were both stolen out of my car when I was 22.
sea change was fine, but nothing on the early stuff.
23
Relax on bashing his religious background. Christ, the guy was raised in it. It wasn't elective.
People say Hollywood is run by Judaism. Wrong. It's run by Scientology and the 12 Step Program.
Religious psychos dip their balls in our punch all day every day. Meh. Whaddya gonna do?
Dudes made some great music. Looking out of an airplane window on a couple xannies listening to Chemtrails is enough to make me not give a shit if the dude eats babies for Quetzlcoatl.
People say Hollywood is run by Judaism. Wrong. It's run by Scientology and the 12 Step Program.
Religious psychos dip their balls in our punch all day every day. Meh. Whaddya gonna do?
Dudes made some great music. Looking out of an airplane window on a couple xannies listening to Chemtrails is enough to make me not give a shit if the dude eats babies for Quetzlcoatl.
24
i will always love the 10" "a western harvest field by moonlight". just as much when i hear it today as when i bought it in 1994.
25
@23: Fuck off. Scientology is a "religion" the same way that the Moonies, the The Process Church of the Final Judgment, Jim Jones' flock, and EST is a "religion".
His music is great, he seems like a generally nice guy, and people all give the disclaimer that they give him a lot of slack for the horrors of the Church he gives direct aid to because he was born into it and manipulated back into it multiple times over.
Don't be snotty and sanctimonious if you don't understand what Scientology is about. It's so much more than a South Park episode.
His music is great, he seems like a generally nice guy, and people all give the disclaimer that they give him a lot of slack for the horrors of the Church he gives direct aid to because he was born into it and manipulated back into it multiple times over.
Don't be snotty and sanctimonious if you don't understand what Scientology is about. It's so much more than a South Park episode.
26
Not to mention, do you give a person a pass if they're raised in the KKK?
People should be able to recognize when their shit is wonky.
People should be able to recognize when their shit is wonky.
27
@26: "People should be able to recognize when their shit is wonky."
I'd say the people raised in the KKK have more responsibility than Scientology, which conditions their members FROM BIRTH to be disconnected from their family and act as "individuals" loyal to the Church alone. They keep you from bonding to anything but the cause.
I'd say the people raised in the KKK have more responsibility than Scientology, which conditions their members FROM BIRTH to be disconnected from their family and act as "individuals" loyal to the Church alone. They keep you from bonding to anything but the cause.
28
Who gives a flying f@@k what faith he is into. Antonio Salieri, it is said, had problems with Mozart because of his ability to create such divine and rapturous music while behaving like a "crude beast". Salieri wondered why God had blessed such a man as this with this stellar talent while a penitent and pious soul as himself was given only enough talent to recognize this great inequity.
Beck is a very talented character. Leave his religion out of it. He is not a better person because he has what appears to be a great talent and a great work ethic. We idolize him because his art speaks to us profoundly, but wake yourself up and remember it's his work that we are truly beguiled and in love with.
Beck is a very talented character. Leave his religion out of it. He is not a better person because he has what appears to be a great talent and a great work ethic. We idolize him because his art speaks to us profoundly, but wake yourself up and remember it's his work that we are truly beguiled and in love with.
29
Who gives a flying f@@k what faith he is into. Antonio Salieri, it is said, had problems with Mozart because of his ability to create such divine and rapturous music while behaving like a "crude beast". Salieri wondered why God had blessed such a man as this with this stellar talent while a penitent and pious soul as himself was given only enough talent to recognize this great inequity.
Beck is a very talented character. Leave his religion out of it. He is not a better person because he has what appears to be a great talent and a great work ethic. We idolize him because his art speaks to us profoundly, but wake yourself up and remember it's his work that we are truly beguiled and in love with. Music is spiritual but the artist is not necessarily playing by the same play book as we are.
Beck is a very talented character. Leave his religion out of it. He is not a better person because he has what appears to be a great talent and a great work ethic. We idolize him because his art speaks to us profoundly, but wake yourself up and remember it's his work that we are truly beguiled and in love with. Music is spiritual but the artist is not necessarily playing by the same play book as we are.
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