Beck Posts New Velvet Underground Cover

That was fast. Just yesterday we reported that Beck was close to launching a Record Club, where he and his friends cover a series of classic albums in their entirety, in one day, and then offer one track a week for download on Beck.com.

Well – a cover of “Sunday Morning” from The Velvet Underground & Nico is up on Beck’s website, complete with studio footage. To listen to Beck’s cover of “Sunday Morning” click here.

We also posted the video below…

“For this first edition, after lengthy deliberation and coming close to covering Digital Underground’s Sex Packets, all present voted in favor of the ‘other’ Underground’s The Velvet Underground & Nico,” writes Beck.

Collaborators were “Nigel Godrich, Joey Waronker, Brian Lebarton, Bram Inscore, Yo, Giovanni Ribisi, Chris Holmes, and from Iceland, special guest ThorunnMagnusdottir”.

“An album will be chosen to be reinterpreted and used as a framework,” writes Beck. “Nothing rehearsed or arranged ahead of time. A track will be uploaded once a week on beck.com as well as through the web sites of those involved with the project.”

Snap judgement: Not bad. Not bad at all!

It definitely has that dreamy pop style of the original, composed by Lou Reed and John Cale. It feels a step slower than the Velvet’s version, but I’ll say there’s a nice thickness in the sound of Beck’s arrangement; his voice adds some gravity, if not a touch of sadness, to the song, a nice opposite to Reed’s more honeyed, but no less awesome vocals. The original is a classic. Beck’s new version is a terrific companion; it’s A-plus out of the gate for Beck’s Record Club.

What’s next?!

What do you think? Do you like Beck’s interpretation of the Velvet Underground classic?