I found Beck’s reconstruction of David Bowie’s ‘Sound and Vision’ to be quite epic because this is the first time I have ever heard a yodeler, choirs, heavy metal guitarists, xylophones, mandolin, marching band and so many more musicians come together to perform the same song. The first time I saw Beck’s performance in class, I got goosebumps as soon as everyone began playing together because I did not expect such different and unique sounds to harmonize so well. It was also refreshing to see musicians from several different ethnicities unite under one very unique piece.
The original ‘Sound and Vision’ was very catchy and easy to follow because it was the same instruments and beat playing over and over again. Beck’s recreation of ‘Sound and Vision’ had the same lyrics and melody as the original but it was not a piece you can fully enjoy through headphones on a subway cart. Unlike the original which can be just be heard, the recreation needs to be seen as well by the viewer to fully make sense of the music. Considering all the musicians were in a circle, I expected there to be an audio chaos once all the instrument began playing together but it somehow worked out very well. Although the song does become fragmented in some parts, the musicians pull it off.
It was interesting to read all the different interpretations of both pieces from my classmates. Some of them were awestruck by Beck’s recreation like I was, while others just viewed it as a big mess. Similarly, the comments on YouTube under the recreation video were divided into several different opinions. One person stated “CHILLLS! Absolutely brilliant”, whereas the next viewer thought “Beck made this a bit too much for my taste”. Music, just like any work of art changes with each set of eyes and ears.
Beck’s recreation is performed similarly to how jazz is performed. Unfortunately, I did not get to view the Latin Jazz performance last week, however many of the jazz music videos I watched online were very similar to Beck’s recreation because they both consisted of several instruments playing one piece together. In the beginning of the jazz performances and Beck’s recreation, the songs were disjointed because each musician was doing their own thing but in time they all began to harmonize beautifully.
