VINIL Universal Records Beck - Song Reader (Various Artists)

[ Pitchfork ] In 2012, Beck published a book of sheet music called Song Reader. This collection features versions of those songs by artists including Jack White, Norah Jones, Jeff Tweedy, and Jarvis Cocker, and the set was executive produced by Wes Anderson music supervisor Randall Poster.

Warby Parker Presents Beck Song Reader is part of his showbiz phase; a laid-back benefit album that if nothing else reminds you that Beck may have started as an outsider but has long since become part of the establishment. Executive produced by Wes Anderson music supervisor Randall Poster, it features 20 interpretations of songs written for his Song Reader project, which was originally released as a book of sheet music by the indie publishing cottage McSweeney's. Contributors include alt-Grammy types like Jack White and Norah Jones; budding national treasures like Jeff Tweedy and Jarvis Cocker; and curiosities like Swamp Dogg and Sparks, who skirted the mainstream but never quite assimilated to it.

Then there's Warby Parker, as in Warby Parker Presents Beck Song Reader, a sunglasses company whose chunky, bohemian frames look like the kind of things an Upper West Side intellectual might have worn during the 1960s or '70s. Proceeds from the album go to 826 National, a nationwide nonprofit committed to helping school-aged kids with creative and expository writing, co-founded by Dave Eggers, who, is also the founder of McSweeney's. At some point describing the project becomes a Russian nesting doll of branding and attribution, brought to you by someone in conjunction with someone else for the benefit of yet someone else. Between Parker, McSweeney's, and the album's lineup itself, Song Reader crystallizes the maturation of the white indie set to the new ruling class—an arc traced by Beck's own career. This is a world of people who are mellow, organized, emotive within reason, a little retro and graced with just a zest of modernity.

[ Rolling Stone ] The album’s release ties into the debut of Beck-created, limited-edition “black cherry” Carmichael eyeglass frames by Warby Parker, which is producing the album. (The album will be released by Capitol Records.) The company is also putting out a new edition of the Song Reader book with two new prints from artist Marcel Dzama. The eyewear company previously produced the Song Reader concert that took place in Los Angeles last fall.

“Like a kid getting a special package in the mail and opening it up with anticipation, these interpretations of songs from the Song Reader book have surpassed what I could have imagined when putting the book together,” Beck said in a statement. “The book addressed the idea of a song in its most elemental form, letting others give it a voice. It amazes me to hear how these musicians have made the songs their own and in the process revealed that the interpretation is the living breathing soul of the piece. These interpretations have made the book something new, something The album’s release ties into the debut of Beck-created, limited-edition “black cherry” Carmichael eyeglass frames by Warby Parker, which is producing the album. (The album will be released by Capitol Records.) The company is also putting out a new edition of the Song Reader book with two new prints from artist Marcel Dzama. The eyewear company previously produced the Song Reader concert that took place in Los Angeles last fall.

“Like a kid getting a special package in the mail and opening it up with anticipation, these interpretations of songs from the Song Reader book have surpassed what I could have imagined when putting the book together,” Beck said in a statement. “The book addressed the idea of a song in its most elemental form, letting others give it a voice. It amazes me to hear how these musicians have made the songs their own and in the process revealed that the interpretation is the living breathing soul of the piece. These interpretations have made the book something new, something better."

“We love the idea of taking an old-school format and making it new – which is what initially got us so excited about Beck’s Song Reader,” Neil Blumenthal, co-founder and co-CEO, Warby Parker, said. “The project’s creativity, originality and innovation made it a clear fit for us, and a fantastic platform for a broader collaboration. We’re extremely excited to announce the Beck Song Reader album, as well as to reissue limited-edition Beck collaboration Carmichael frames and a new edition of the Song Reader book.”

1–Moses Sumney - Title Of This Song 4:55 2–Fun - Please Leave A Light On When You Go 2:42 3–Tweedy - The Wolf Is On The Hill 2:22 4–Norah Jones - Just Noise 2:00 5–Lord Huron - Last Night You Were A Dream 3:23 6–Bob Forrest - Saint Dude 4:06 7–Jack White (2) - I'm Down 3:04 8–Beck - Heaven's Ladder 3:17 9–Juanes - Don't Act Like Your Heart Isn't Hard 3:27 10–Laura Marling - Sorry 2:04 11–Jarvis Cocker - Eyes That Say "I Love You" 3:18 12–David Johansen - Rough On Rats 2:48 13–Jason Isbell - Now That Your Dollar Bills Have Sprouted Wings 5:13 14–Marc Ribot - The Last Polka 4:33 15–Eleanor Friedberger - Old Shanghai 2:55 16–Sparks - Why Did You Make Me Care? 4:40 17–Swamp Dogg - America, Here's My Boy 3:04 18–Jack Black (2) - We All Wear Cloaks 2:30 19–Loudon Wainwright III - Do We? We Do 2:51 20–Gabriel Kahane & YMusic - Mutilation Rag 2:08