Wacky Beck out-retros everyone with sheet music album

Over the last couple decades, musicians like Chris Butler and They Might Be Giants have experimented with recording songs without electricity onto Edison wax cylinders -- the first mass-market sound recording technology. With his upcoming album Beck Hansen's Song Reader, Beck is going one better on the retro front: the album is going to be released only as set of 20 pieces of sheet music in a hardcover carrying case with vintage-inspired artwork.

Naturally, the package is being published by McSweeney's, everyone's favorite purveyors of smug fauxhemian whimsy. It'll be out in December, after which Beck is reportedly going to be curating a set of recordings of the songs by fans and fellow musicians. Ukulele girls all over Williamsburg are getting their hair orchids ready for their YouTube renditions even as we speak.

Remember when Beck used to actually make records? We miss that. But at least this isn't another of those dumb full-album covers he was doing for a while.