Pitchfork

[Posted Wednesday, September 24th, 2003 04:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

If you're the kind of guy who likes his beer Lite, his shower curtains NASCAR-affiliated, and his entry-level indie rock mixed into a fine paste with his mainstream pop culture, this past year has been a pretty saucy ride. The erstwhile touring band of the Beck in question, the Flaming Lips, set the standard and left many a wannabe hipster shaking their fist when the over-the-top trio appeared onstage with Justin Timberlake, collaborated with the Chemical Brothers, did something involving VH-1 that I really don't care to remember, recently announced tour plans with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and in possibly the most agonizing of all known stunts, appeared in the pages of Blender to pour Pepto Bismol on a troupe of giggling strippers.

These guys made every other mainstream appearance of a moderately underground band seem flaccid in comparison-- I mean, it's not like Interpol chose to appear in that "hot new music" feature of the critically celebrated Teen People, and Modest Mouse certainly aren't strangers to the wild world of television commercials. On the other hand, I'm still feeling pretty ambivalent about that jeans ad with the Mogwai jingle, but I found the Postal Service's rotation in Hot Topic to be a very mellow burn (I was in there strictly for the Meatwad merch, I swear). All tangents aside, if you're a fan of both mainstream musical crossovers and the New Musical Express, you might remark that, on account of a recent inference that Beck has contributed some sizzling new jams to Pink's upcoming release, things are just starting to get a little interesting-- leave it to the British hype machine to leave you feeling wildly dissatisfied.

According to NME, Pink's "rockier" new release features "writing credits" by everyone's favorite former alt-rock radio sugar daddy slacker, perhaps giving some readers the impression that the commercial pop fornicatress is currently carrying three to five of B-Funk's "babies" in her Clear Channel-approved womb. However, Beck's webmaster and partner in crime Truck assures us otherwise. "As far as I know, the only track Beck was involved in is 'Feel Good Time,' which he wrote and recorded with William Orbit in 2000," Truck informed Pitchfork via e-mail. "Pink then heard the song and basically took it for her own."

"Feel Good Time" was previously released on the soundtrack to Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, albeit highly altered and credited to Pink and Orbit. Apparently, Beck was approached by the filmmakers to consider contributing the song in its original form, but declined. Regardless of anything he may do in the future (the remaining members of Whitesnake recently namedropped him in their communal blog-- could a collaborative effort be on the horizon?), I think we can all sleep a little better at night knowing Beck turned down the Charlie's Angels sequel.

On the topic of a much more tangible collaboration, the majority of Pink's third album, Try This, is co-written by Rancid's Tim Armstrong, and the track "Oh My God" is a team-up with Peaches. Try This drops November 10th. As previously reported, Beck is currently in the studio with the Dust Brothers, recording the followup to last year's Sea Change.