Since Beck’s “Loser” became an early ’90s slacker anthem, the singer’s sound has never stayed the same for long. Subsequent albums, including “Odelay,” “Midnite Vultures” and “Sea Change,” feature an eclectic range of sounds, from pop to funk to folk, all touching on the artist’s varying moods and personalities.
But about three years ago, after touring behind “Sea Change,” his most brooding, contemplative album, Beck says he “wanted to make something a bit more noisy and chaotic.” Beck began work on the hip-hop influenced songs on his latest release, “The Information,” about the same time.
With “The Information,” Beck encourages fans to interact with the album. The CD packaging is mostly blank, and it includes a set of stickers so listeners can design their own cover. The package also includes a DVD of homemade music videos, which look as if they could have been shot by anyone with a video camera and funky wardrobe.
From L.A., Beck told us about his diverse catalog, random stickers and those super-cheap videos.
What side of yourself are you exploring on “The Information” that you haven’t before?
I don’t know. I don’t think I’m that self-aware. I just kind of think I’m following an instinct. I think with this record, this is one of the first times–maybe this happened with “Sea Change” too–where I just had an idea of what I wanted the record to feel like and sound like and how I wanted to go about making it and what kind of atmosphere I wanted to create with the music.
You don’t reflect on how diverse the albums are?
Every once in awhile I look at it and it’s kind of shocking, just because they are so different. I didn’t really plan it that way; they just come out that way. I guess I’m pretty open to different sounds. I don’t really put a lot of effort into a consistent sound. There are things that I’m attracted to sonically, but I think that’s partly a byproduct of just having a wide interest in music and also not being a band. There are no checks and balances, really. I can just go off on a tangent for awhile.
Fans have a lot of options for stickers to use on your cover. Is this a personality test?
When you go to a store and they just have a bunch of stickers, there’s such a random assortment of images. [I’m] just trying to recreate that feeling. Some of them are kind of humorous; some of them are kind of cute. We tried to balance it out with some that are a little bit more handmade and messy and some that are more . . . there’s some beautifully rendered drawings and craftsmanship.
Each song has a homemade video. Was there a budget?
I don’t know how much actually was spent. [About] the price of a dozen wigs and some costumes and some toy guns and some takeout. We borrowed the video cameras, [and] we bought the video mixer on eBay for 100 bucks. It was done pretty cheap. I think you can tell when you see it. That was kind of the point . . . doing something that anybody could do. I mean, anybody on a major label can get a director and spend $50,000 or $100,000 on a video, and it looks clean and professional and everyone’s styled and all that . . . But it was part a home movie, part an excuse to have a little party at the finishing of the record and invite all our friends.
And it’s fun to drop some money on wigs.
Yeah, and we were also just kind of letting loose. We had been in the studio at that point for about 14 weeks with no sunlight, no contact with the outside world. You definitely have to blow off some steam.
Beck
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: UIC Pavilion, 1150 W. Harrison St.
Tickets: $35, 312-559-1212
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