Willard's Wormholes

BECK Record Club No. 5: Live At The Acropolis (2010)
YANNI Live At The Acropolis (1993)
Beck & His Buddies Get Psyched

I approached this deconstruction of Yanni’s Live At The Acropolis differently than any of Beck’s past live-in-the-studio tribute projects. I didn’t watch the videos, didn’t read who was performing, and had never heard Yanni’s Acropolis in my life. Which might explain why this is, hands down, my favorite Beck Record Club release so far. It’s all so disengaged and free form, and, since I don’t know the original melodies, it all seems so left field and made-up-on-the-spot. In places, like noisy, clattering psychedelia. Afterwards, I was curious, and learned that Thurston Moore and Tortoise are on board, not only making up lyrics for these instrumental works, but infusing Yanni’s original orchestral scores with ad hoc interpolations of “everything from Stravinsky to Bobby Brown,” to pure noise. Of course, I still haven’t bothered to listen to Yanni’s 1993 original, even though it’s offered here. I just grabbed it from some ancient forum… just in case you’re the type that needs to hear it. The AMG gave it 4-1/2 stars, though, if you ever find yourself in the mood. Get Beck’s other Record Club performances in the archives: No.1 Velvet Underground & Nico, No.2 Songs Of Leonard Cohen, No.3 Oar & No.4 Kick. Beck’s website has all the live videos.

Santorini (2:53)
Keys To Imagination (4:22)
Until The Last Moment (5:50)
The Rain Must Fall (2:55)
Acroyali/Standing In Motion (5:46)
One Man’s Dream (4:26)
Within Attraction (5:39)
Nostalgia (4:07)
Swept Away (4:11)
Reflections Of Passion (8:21)