MUSIC NEWS: Franz Ferdinand, Beck

Franz Ferdinand, New Album Clips
The affable Scots have posted snippets of upcoming tracks on their official Website to prove that they have, in fact, been recording music, as opposed to just choreographing new onstage dance moves (which we hope they're also working on!).


New Beck Album Revisits ‘Highway 61’
Beck just announced the details of his upcoming, Danger Mouse–produced tenth album, Modern Guilt (it's due on July 8 — his birthday!), and his PR company's Website has the cover. As you can see, it features a couple of dudes' feet. But the style and lettering reminded us of something, and, after a little Googling, we realized what it was. In November 2001, Vanity Fair asked the eclectic Scientologist to pick his 50 favorite album covers, and here's what he said about Bob Dylan's Highway 61:

"Highway 61 Revisited is one of the first great anti-covers. Dylan looks burnt, shirt wrinkled — like he's waiting for catering at the gig or something. And somebody's just randomly walked in behind him. In an era of Patti Page-style, perfectly lit and posed covers, this cover was a defecation. And these days you'd rarely see such a throwaway picture on such an 'important' album."

Since his last two albums — both of which featured artfully overthought covers — weren't exactly his best work, let's hope this "throwaway defecation" bodes well for the accompanying music.

source, source, and source.