Beck - Permanent Mutations
Rock stars or, in Beck Hansen's case, indie-underground-electronic-anti-folk stars, just love yakking about their influences. Beck makes entertaining fodder for this Christoph Dreher film, which focuses on the muso's artistic development and upbringing.
Born to Scientologist parents, Beck was raised in California and later moved to Germany, where he was infuenced by his grandfather, Fluxus artist Al Hansen (famous for dropping pianos from buildings). Later, Beck joined New York's punk-influenced anti-folk movement.
The interviews include one with his eccentric mum, visual artist Bibbe Hansen, and another during a recording session with that buxom old chain-smoker Marianne Faithfull. Gigs from albums such as Mellow Gold and Odelay spice up Beck's explanations for sourcing creative juices. "The accident sometimes communicates more than the thing that's perfect," he says after singing in Prince-like falsetto.