Stereogum Home
October 18, 2006

New Beck Video - "Cell Phone's Dead"

Someone finally gave Beck a budget! And Michel Gondry! While there are no furries in this mesmerizing black and white clip for "Cell Phone's Dead," we finally get the answer to the question "If Beck were a Transformer, what would he transform into?" (Answer: a door.)

Beck talks about the tune in this endearingly awkward interview with MP3.com:

MP3.com: I just think ["Cell Phone's Dead"] is--it definitely reaches into the inner-Meters-loving fans and what have you. And the one thing I'm really impressed with on the album is the sparseness of it.
BECK: Oh, good. Yeah, I felt like that was what I was originally shooting for but we definitely got into bringing in other sounds, and it got more layered as time went on, as we worked on it more and more. But I think we really tried to tie our hands behind our backs a bit, not add too much, keep it as sparse as possible when we could. That's, for me I found that the hardest thing.
That said, we still think Beck would dig Team9's mash-up of the song, which eschews sparseness in favor of cameos from Fatboy Slim, Genesis, and Brandy.

Team9 - "Champion Cellphone" (MP3)

Get more new Team9 boots here. Beck's The Information is available now at a sticker store near you.

Posted at 12:07 PM
Tags:  |




-->

8 Comments

I still love the song.
This video definitely pwns the first.
And endearingly awkward is right.

Posted by: ajaku at 10/18/06 12:34 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

the song is cool. ive not heard it yet. definately of the more promising of his stuff lately. but i wish he didnt seem so halfassed about shit. and those little urban things, his voice, it all doesnt seem like it clicks. but its getting closer. that vocal part at the end and the piano thing are totally cool and fresh sounding for him. i feel like hes trying to sound fresh....but just isnt trying very hard at all.

video is way cool. duh

Posted by: ben at 10/18/06 12:44 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

Haha, that bass and drum part sounds just like "Chameleon" by Herbie Hancock. Very cool video though.

Posted by: Adam at 10/18/06 3:03 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

video = crazy
team9 = genius

Posted by: Doogie Howsah at 10/18/06 5:15 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

More importantly, I thought devendra banhart was supposed to be in this video? Remember that photo where pitchfork announced that they were friends? It was this really cool photo in wild color with a girl dressed as a piano and devendra in the background...???

Posted by: Devin at 10/18/06 5:21 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

Are those giant waffle monsters? Makes me hungry. Great video for a killer song.

Posted by: cuckoobird at 10/18/06 5:56 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

devin,
devendra banhart is in the video for strange apparition that is on the dvd that comes when you buy the cd. That video has the chick as a piano

Posted by: matt at 10/18/06 6:13 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

"I can't Dance" mix is Brilliant!

Posted by: ike at 10/18/06 10:03 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

Leave a comment


 

The 'Gum Drop

Get our newsletter. MP3s and giveaways weekly.

Search




Sort by:date relevance

Information

  • Contact:
  • About
  • Press
  • Advertising
  • Stereogum RSS Stereogum RSS XML Icon
  • MP3-Only RSS Stereogum RSS XML Icon

Staff

Founder/Editor-In-Chief
Scott Lapatine
Executive Editor
Amrit Singh
Senior Writer
Brandon Stosuy
Columnist
Jon McMillan
Technology & Operations
Jim Jazwiecki
Angela Williams

The Cool Kids

All Stereogum Posts

Get Flash to see our mp3 player. Here are our mp3s: Hospital Ships - I Want It To Get Out (»)
Mogwai - The Sun Smells Too Loud (»)
Ungdomskulen - Ordinary Son (Radio Edit) (»)
Damien Jurado - Where Lies My Tarp (»)
Birdmonster - Born To Be Your Man (»)
Grizzly Bear - While You Wait For The Others (Live At Morning Becomes Eclectic) (»)
Genghis Tron - Things Don't Look Good (Rob Crow Remix) (»)
CSS - Rat Is Dead (Rage) (»)
James Jackson Toth - Doreen (»)
Twi The Humble Feather - Higher Than The End (»)
Roadside Graves - Ruby (»)
No Age - Eraser (»)
Doveman - Footloose (»)
Rooftop Vigilantes - Oscar Want 7 Inch (»)
Dr. Dog - The Ark (»)
Oxford Collapse - The Birthday Wars (»)
Neil Halsted - Paint a Face (»)
Throw Me The Statue - If This Is It (Huey Lewis Cover) (»)

Band to Watch logo

Band To Watch: Hospital Ships

As we pass saturation point for press coverage of Montreal, Portland, Brooklyn and et cetera, it seems Lawrence, Kansas is poised for its coming turn in the music media trend piece carousel. At least from what we're hearing; this marks...

MORE »

Quit Your Day Job logo

Quit Your Day Job: Ungdomskulen

The Bergen trio Ungdomskulen play proggy post punk, mixing chops and hooks with a sense of humor. But they don't sound like Primus. When I was in Norway a couple years ago, "Ungdomskulen" seemed to be on everybody's lips (or...

MORE »

Premature Evaluation logo

Premature Evaluation: Beck - Modern Guilt

It's been some time since we learned Modern Guilt, Beck Hansen's eighth album, would be some sort of psych rock minimalist '60s trip with Danger Mouse. Since then, we've gotten a look at the old-school jazz/Blue Note-style cover art and...

MORE »

Video Hangover logo

Video Hangover: Papa Roach - "Getting Away With Murder"

Every week, we dig in the archives for videos that we find noteworthy, memorable, or just unbelievably stupid. And then, Jon McMillan breaks 'em down for you. This week: Papa Roach lands an uppercut on the glass jaw of big oil.

MORE »

Oldstand logo

OldStand: SPIN, November, 1990

Take our ink-stained hands and join us at the OldStand, where Jon McMillan goes to remind everyone what an honest-to-goodness music magazine is supposed to look like. For the cover story, Bob Guccione Jr. himself gets in the ring with...

MORE »

The Outsiders logo

The Outsiders: Vol. 15: Clark, My Brightest Diamond, Wildbirds & Peacedrums

Not all of Stereogum's favorite sounds conform to what folks expect us to cover. In this space, resident Bananafish fetishist Brandon Stosuy usually focuses on bands, albums, singles, and villages in Sweden that may otherwise pass by unnoticed. This time...

MORE »

The 'Gum Drop logo

Damien Jurado - "Murderer" (Low Cover)

After hearing "Gillian Was A Horse" from Damien Jurado's forthcoming Caught In The Trees, we contacted the Seattle singer-songwriter and asked if he'd want to premiere a track at Stereogum. Lucky for us (and you), it turned out he had...

MORE »