Old Shanghai (Beck's Song Reader)

How cool is Mr. Beck?  Cool as the mist that comes off ice, that's how. 

Beck's new offering is a collection of new songs in sheet music form with no audio content, how cool is that?  "Song Reader," which is intended to exist only in cover versions like the embedded video of "Old Shanghai."  The songs seem to be written in the style of pop songs from the sheet music era too. Beckish, it's true, but old school. 

Plenty of them up on the 'Tube already.  Enter "beck song reader" and check them out.  

Is it an attempt to remind people of the old do-it-yourself days?  Is it a reaction to our pirate culture?  ("Pirate this!")  Is it just Beck being Beck?  Probably the latter. 

Beck is the American Cornelius, both of those guys are way out in the Hieronymus Bosch zone, challenges to the wit of anybody who would try to really understand them.