Pitchfork

Beck has been full of surprises lately. He had a Lee Hazlewood cover at the ready to honor the psychedelic cowboy's passing. Then he took the unusual step of releasing one-off, iTunes-only single, "Timebomb". Now he has remixed a single by Philadelphia's Dr. Dog, a band whose backwards-looking roots-rock would seem a far cry from the postmodern pop of Beck's 1990s peak, but hey, pastiche is pastiche. You certainly are crazy with the Cheez Whiz, Mr. Hansen.

On Dr. Dog's We All Belong, "The Girl" opens with a 1-2-3-4 count and march-like Magical Mystery Tour drums before getting into fuzzed-guitar stabs and Lennon-via-ELO choruses. Beck starts off his remix with a distorted two-step beat, keeping the 1-2-3-4s and suspending those raspy vocals in a jungle of faraway cries and percussive rumblings. The ragged guitars return, along with some backwards keyboards (as if to signify that we've rewound to a different Beatles phase). The track is surprising from both artists, but like Beck's "Timebomb", it's a reminder why sometimes it's good to plan your own parties rather than walk into a dark room and have a whole bunch of people jump out at you.

MP3:> Dr. Dog: "The Girl" (Beck remix)
[from "The Girl" 7"; due in October; original track from We All Belong, out now; both from Park the Van]