Public Servant Lifestyle

He's got two turntables and a microphone and he's where it's at. All over again: Ladiies and gentlemen, we give you Beck Hansen, with a beefed-up double disc edition of an enduring modern classic album.

Beck Hansen’s major label debut, Mellow Gold, introduced him to the world in 1994 but it was 1996’s Odelay that became a benchmark for the alternative rock movement. Now, a dozen years after its original release, Odelay has been expanded into a two-CD 'Deluxe Edition' with the addition of two never-before-released tracks from the original sessions, a soundtrack contribution, and sixteen b-sides and compilation tracks never-before-released.

Odelay - Deluxe Edition celebrates the album ranked among Rolling Stone maagzine’s '500 Greatest Albums Of All Time,' Spin magazine’s '100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005', Pitchfork’s 'Top 100 Favorite Records of the 1990’s,' MOJO magazine’s 'The 100 Greatest Albums of Our Lifetime 1993-2006' list and NME’s 'Albums of the Year 1963-99.' In addition to Grammy awards for 'Best Alternative Music Performance' and 'Best Male Rock Vocal Performance' (for the crowd-pleasing track Where It’s At), Odelay was voted 'Best Album of the Year' in The 1996 Village Voice Jazz & Pop Critics Poll, reaching double-platinum sales status along the way. Quite a collection of accolades...

D.I.Y

Forging a sound from the roots of folk, blues, rock and hip hop with the sensibilities of D.I.Y, noise, experimental music and the possibilities of modern technology, Odelay stands (as discussed in the All-Music Guide) as “a dense, endlessly intriguing album overflowing with ideas...a fluid, creative, and startlingly original work.”

Disc One of the new Odelay - Deluxe Edition adds to that original album two never before heard Dust Brothers-produced tracks from the Odelay sessions, Inferno and Gold Chains, and the track Deadweight from the feature film A Life Less Ordinary.

Disc Two’s sixteen-strong selections include Thunder Peel, co-produced by Mario Caldato Jr.; the U.N.K.L.E. (featuring James Lavelle) remix of Where It’s At, and Aphex Twin and Mickey P. remixes of Devil’s Haircut (re-titled Richard’s Hairpiece and American Wasteland, respectively). Also heard are the once international-only b-sides Clock, Electric Music and The Summer People, Lemonade, SA-5, Feather In Your Cap, Erase The Sun, 000.000, Brother, Trouble All My Days, Strange Invitation, Devil Got My Woman, (a cover of the Skip James classic recorded at the original Sun Studios in Memphis, before they closed their doors) and Burro - a Spanish language version of Jackass recorded with (what else?) a mariachi band.

As noted by Rolling Stone’s David Fricke in his 1996 review of the album: “For his unaffected exuberance, fervent eclecticism, precocious ingenuity and stubborn refusal to take himself too seriously, Beck Hansen is rock & roll’s 'Man of the Year.'”

John Mulvey, writing for The Times newspaper online says of the reissue: "...this musical smorgasbord still sounds extraordinary. This expanded version is more messy and eclectic than ever... - further proof that Beck's updating of American roots music was even cleverer than it seemed at the time."

The full track listing across both discs looks like this:

CD1 - The Original Album:

1. Devil's Haircut
2. Hotwax
3. Lord Only Knows
4. The New Pollution
5. Derelict
6. Novacane
7. Jack-Ass
8. Where It's At
9. Minus
10. Sissyneck
11. Readymade
12. High 5 (Rock The Catskills)
13. Ramshackle
14. Hidden Track

Bonus Recordings:

15. Deadweight (from the A Life Less Ordinary OST)
16. Inferno - Previously Unreleased
17. Gold Chains - Previously Unreleased

CD2: Remixes

1. Where It's At - U.N.K.L.E. Remix 12.21
2. Richard's Hairpiece - Aphex Twin Remix Of 'Devil's Haircut'
3. American Wasteland - Mickey P.Remix Of 'Devil's Haircut'

B-Sides

4. Clock
5. Thunder Peel
6. Electric Music And The Summer People
7. Lemonade
8. SA-5
9. Feather In Your Cap
10. Erase The Sun
11. 000.000
12. Brother
13. Devil Got My Woman
14. Trouble All My Days
15. Strange Invitation
16. Burro

See also on Lifestyle:

More information available in Music