Beck’s ‘Song Reader’ Gets UK Live Debut

Last night saw London record shop Rough Trade East host the UK live debut of some of the songs from Beck’s new album, ‘Song Reader’.

The evening, put together by singer-songwriter Ed Harcourt, included performances from Stealing Sheep, Carl Barat and The Duke Spirit vocalist Liela Moss.



‘Song Reader’ is a book of sheet music penned by Beck, including twenty songs alongside illustrations. As well as performances such as this, musicians are invited to submit their own performances online.



As explained in a pre-performance talk between Harcourt, music writer Pete Paphides and a representative from the album’s UK publisher, Faber, Harcourt recorded versions of some of the tracks, sending them to the artists he felt would represent them best.

A further song was improvised during soundcheck that evening, featuring all the evening’s performers.