Tired of wading through amateur YouTube videos in a foolhardy attempt to get a feel for Beck’s new “album” — the one he released as sheet music last month? A group of savvy, covers-happy Northwestern cellists have got your number. Portland Cello Project have made their name performing symphony-pop versions of songs by everyone from Radiohead to Kanye West, plus collaborated with the Dandy Warhols and Thao Nguyen among countless others. They also release albums, and the latest is quite helpfully named Portland Cello Project Play Beck Hansen’s Song Reader.
While the 20-song set is currently available on iTunes, you can stream the entire thing below, right now, thanks to NPR. Within three days of the Song Reader‘s release, the Oregonian group was throwing local performances of the McSweeney’s-released set, and they’re taking these songs (and others) on the road later this month. While the music is fairly consistent throughout, ranging from Sea Change-style string dirges to brighter cabaret-flavored jaunts, the band cycles through vocalists, from soulful men’s chorus Chanticleer to outside folkie Jolie Holland.
Portland Cello Project tour dates:
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1/24 – Corvallis, OR @ Majestic Theater #
1/25 – Tacoma, WA @ Rialto Theater +
1/26 – Edmonds, WA @ Edmonds Center for the Arts +
1/27 – Spokane, WA @ A Club #
1/28 – Missoula, MT @ Missoula Winery #
1/30 – Bozeman, MT @ MSU at Reynolds Recital Hall #
1/31 – Jackson, WY @ Pink Garter Theatre #
2/1 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room #
2/2 – Carbondale, CO @ Carbondale Performing Arts Center #
2/3 – Denver, CO @ The Oriental Theater #
2/5 – Albuquerque, NM @ Amp Concerts at Outpost Performance Space #
2/6 – Flagstaff, AZ @ Coconino Center for the Arts #
2/7 – Tucson, AZ @ Solar Culture #
2/8 – San Diego, CA @ Luce Loft #
2/9 – Los Angeles, Ca @ First Unitarian Church with petra hayden #
2/10 – Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s #
2/15 – Sisters, OR @ Sisters Winter Concert Series
# with Alialujah Choir
+ with Zoe Keating
