About a year ago, Beck released sheet music for a new album ‘Song Reader‘, which he wasn’t going to record. It made the press for several seconds, before the world moved on to someone who had recorded something instead! That’s when Portland Cello Project started their work…

“Announcing Portland Cello Project’s digital release of their recordings of all twenty songs from Beck’s sheet-music-only Song Reader (published by McSweeney’s). Recorded in just a few days with numerous special guests, in three different studios across Portland, their album showcases Beck’s monumental and refined songwriting achievement. The album flows with the diversity of an Oregon weather report… whether you like or don’t like what’s happening at one moment, don’t get too attached, because…”

It’s really quite good, and to be honest, better than what Beck would have done with it, so I’m happy this exists and not the other album that almost did. These guys have ‘previous‘, as they’ve also recorded songs by Radiohead, Justin Timberlake and Rhianna, so a lot to check out.

You can find the full ‘Song reader’ album on their soundcloud site here.