In a fantastically Luddite-esque move, Beck released an “album” in late 2012 consisting entirely of sheet music. Song Reader was issued by McSweeney’s, and its songs have since been performed a couple of times in blown-out live versions. In a strange twist on the idea of a tribute album, the songs have gotten the studio treatment by various artists, including Tweedy (Jeff and son), Jack Black, Jack White, Jarvis Cocker, and others—including Beck himself. Song Reader, the version you can actually hear, will be released on July 29 via a Capitol Records collaboration with discount eyeglass purveyor Warby Parker. The release will also be timed with a pair of eyeglass frames designed in collaboration with Beck, who totally dabbles in that sort of thing, obviously. The complete track listing for Song Reader is below.
1. Moses Sumney – “Title Of This Song”
2. Fun – “Please Leave A Light On When You Go”
3. Tweedy – “The Wolf Is On The Hill”
4. Norah Jones – “Just Noise”
5. Lord Huron – “Last Night You Were A Dream”
6. Bob Forrest – “Saint Dude”
7. Jack White – “I’m Down”
8. Beck – “Heaven’s Ladder”
9. Juanes – “Don’t Act Like Your Heart Isn’t Hard”
10. Laura Marling – “Sorry”
11. Jarvis Cocker – “Eyes That Say ‘I Love You’”
12. David Johansen – “Rough On Rats”
13. Jason Isbell – “Now That Your Dollar Bills Have Sprouted Wings”
14. Marc Ribot – “The Last Polka”
15. Eleanor Friedberger – “Old Shanghai”
16. Sparks – “Why Did You Make Me Care?”
17. Swamp Dogg – “America, Here’s My Boy”
18. Jack Black – “We All Wear Cloaks”
19. Loudon Wainwright III – “Do We? We Do”
20. Gabriel Kahane & yMusic – “Mutilation Rag”