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Watch Beck Expand David Bowie’s ‘Sound and Vision’ to Nine Glorious Minutes

beck, david bowie, sound and vision

Beck isn’t exactly a man you’d accuse of being a literalist. But his in-the-round cover of David Bowie’s classic “Sound and Vision” wonderfully emphasizes, well, both sound and vision. The Song Reader songwriter stretches out the Low original’s lithe, plastic, deceptively upbeat art-funk to a whopping nine minutes, emphasizing every glorious detail. And he expands the song arrangement-wise, too, with a 170-strong set of musicians that include a massive band, orchestra, gospel choir, and even yodeler — it’s as if Mr. Hansen’s trying to encompass every sound humans have ever made. With so many people involved, and Beck the sequined pied-piper in the center, the experience can’t help but be visually arresting, as well. And the promised 360-degree interactive video hasn’t even arrived yet. Bowie picked a good time to fall back to earth; the Thin White Duke should be a happy, mind-blown duke.