"Sexx Laws" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Beck | ||||
from the album Midnite Vultures | ||||
B-side | "This Is My Crew" / "Salt in the Wound" | |||
Released | 1999 | |||
Recorded | 1999 | |||
Genre | Funk rock | |||
Length | 3:38 | |||
Label | Geffen 497 181-2 (UK, CD1) 497 182-2 (UK, CD2) 497 182-7 (UK, 7") | |||
Songwriter(s) | Beck Hansen | |||
Producer(s) | Beck Hansen, Mickey Petralia | |||
Beck singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Sexx Laws" on YouTube |
"Sexx Laws" is a song by American singer Beck, from his album Midnite Vultures (1999). It was released as the lead single from the album in October 1999.
Beck said of the song's lyrics:
It's me playing with the ridiculousness of those entrenched ideas about what a man does and what a woman can do. A lot of soul music comes from a real masculine strength, but there's also this intense vulnerability about it. You have the masculine tough-guy exterior and the emotional openness, which is feminine, as well. I wanted to have fun with that, turn up that contrast a little bit without getting bogged down into preciousness and psychobabble. [1]
Of the song's music, he said:
I think my main interest in using the horns was for performance - so much music today is so guitar heavy. I sought other places to get muscle into the music. Many bands rely heavily on guitar to pump up the sound, but I thought it would be interesting to make the horns into the guitars. I think it was the L.A. Rams. I used to watch them when I was growing up, and it just reminded me of Monday Night Football in 1978. [1]
In 2014, NME named it the 260th Greatest Song of All Time. [2] Paste and The Guardian both ranked the song number 10 on their lists of the greatest Beck songs. [3] [4]
"Sexx Laws" was used in the 2014 Renault Twingo advertisement. The song was also used in the Futurama episode "Bendin' in the Wind" and in Daria .
Beck has performed the song close to 300 times. Although it was released on Midnite Vultures in 1999, he performed the song live for the first time as early as June 1998. [5]
The music video, directed by Beck himself, contains visual references to films such as Mr. Freedom , Anna , as well as the feature film adaptation of Ganbare!! Robocon . [6] [7] Jack Black appears in the music video as a member of the Vision Warrior Men's Circle, along with Neil Strauss and Justin Meldal-Johnsen. [8] Surreal elements of the video include a refrigerator dry humping an oven, Kenny G (played by Meldal-Johnsen) in a room of football players, and a spinning mannequin of a zebra with a banjo.
There are several versions of the video. The original (once posted on Beck's website) was over 18 minutes long and extended the intro of the Men's Circle. The subsequent versions edited out the intro and ending, the latter truncating a pep rally speech by Jack Black's character.
CD1
CD2
7"
12"
Chart (1999) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [9] | 84 |
UK Singles (OCC) [10] | 27 |
US Modern Rock Tracks ( Billboard ) [11] | 21 |
Beck David Hansen, known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his experimental and lo-fi style, and became known for creating musical collages of wide-ranging genres. He has musically encompassed folk, funk, soul, hip hop, electronic, alternative rock, country, and psychedelia. He has released 14 studio albums, as well as several non-album singles and a book of sheet music.
Odelay is the fifth studio album by American musician Beck, released on June 18, 1996, by DGC Records. The album featured several successful singles, including "Where It's At", "Devils Haircut", and "The New Pollution", and peaked at number sixteen on the Billboard 200. As of July 2008, the album had sold 2.3 million copies in the United States, making Odelay Beck's most successful album to date. Since its release, the album has appeared in numerous publications' lists of the greatest of the 1990s and of all time.
Midnite Vultures is the seventh studio album by American musician Beck, released on November 23, 1999, by DGC Records. While similar to most of Beck's previous albums in its exploration of widely varying styles, it did not achieve the same blockbuster success as his breakthrough album Odelay, but was still critically acclaimed and commercially successful.
Mutations is the sixth studio album by the American songwriter Beck, released on November 3, 1998, by DGC Records. Though less commercially successful than the preceding Odelay, it won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.
Sea Change is the eighth studio album by American musician Beck, released on September 24, 2002, by Geffen Records. Recorded over a two-month period in Los Angeles with producer Nigel Godrich, the album features themes of heartbreak and desolation, solitude, and loneliness. For the album, much of Beck's trademark cryptic and ironic lyrics were replaced by simpler, more sincere lyrical content. He also eschewed the heavy sampling of his previous albums for live instrumentation. Beck cited the breakup with his longtime girlfriend as the major influence on the album.
"Debra" is a song by the American musician Beck. It was released on his album Midnite Vultures.
"Where It's At" is a song by American alternative rock musician Beck, released in May 1996 by DGC and Bong Load as the first single from his fifth album, Odelay (1996). Beck wrote the song in 1995 with its co-producers John King and Michael Simpson, and premiered it at Lollapalooza the same year, in a version very similar to its incarnation on Odelay. He has performed the song often since 1995, frequently experimenting with the music and lyrics. It's music video was directed by Steve Hanft.
"Mixed Bizness" is a song by American musician Beck. It was released as the second single from his 1999 album Midnite Vultures. Released in 2000, the CD single included five non-album tracks/remixes. It peaked at number 34 in the UK Singles Chart. The song was featured in an episode of Malcolm in the Middle and American Dad. The primary drum beat heard throughout the track is a sample from “Honky Tonk Women” by The Rolling Stones.
"Tropicalia" is a song from Beck's 1998 album Mutations. It was released as a single in the UK in December 1998. The B-side "Halo of Gold" is a drastically reworked cover version of "Furry Heroine " by Skip Spence.
"Nicotine & Gravy" is a song by Beck, from the 1999 album Midnite Vultures. It was released as a single in Europe in July 2000.
"Girl" is a song by Beck from his 2005 album Guero. Released as the second single from the album in July 2005, the song peaked at number 8 on the Alternative Songs chart.
The Information is the tenth studio album by American musician Beck, released on October 3, 2006 by Interscope Records. It was produced and mixed by Nigel Godrich, with whom Beck recorded Mutations (1998) and Sea Change (2002). Recording took place from 2003 to 2006, with Beck concurrently working on 2005's Guero with the Dust Brothers. The album received positive reviews from critics and made several publications' year-end lists.
"Devils Haircut" is a song by the American musician Beck, released in December 1996 by DGC Records as the second single from his fifth album, Odelay (1996). Both co-written and co-produced by Beck, the song peaked at number 94 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 23 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and number 22 on the UK Singles Chart. Its music video was directed by Mark Romanek and filmed in New York City. Q Magazine included "Devil's Haircut" in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever" in 2003.
"Cold Brains" is a song by Beck. It appears on his 1998 album Mutations. The song was also released as a single. It was also released in Australia as an exclusive tour EP. Three of the B-sides, "One of These Days", "Diamond in the Sleaze" and "Electric Music and the Summer People", had previously been Japanese exclusives, and as such this EP became a very popular import, especially as those tracks had still not been released officially in the UK, Europe or US as of 2014.
"Beercan" is a single by Beck, taken from his first major record label release, Mellow Gold. It peaked at number 27 on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks charts.
Beck is an EP by the American musician Beck, consisting of B-sides from the Midnite Vultures era. The EP was only available on Beck's website, and only 10,000 copies were printed. The EP was an enhanced CD and it also included the "Nicotine & Gravy" video.
Justin Meldal-Johnsen is an American musician, record producer, songwriter and musical director. He is best known for his work with artists such as Poppy, Beck, Paramore, Nine Inch Nails, M83, Air, and St. Vincent.
Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is the sixth studio album by French electronic music band M83. The album was released on 18 October 2011, by Naïve Records in France and by Mute Records in the United States. The album was the last M83 album with keyboardist Morgan Kibby and the band's first full double album.
Morning Phase is the twelfth official studio album and twelfth overall by American singer Beck. The album was released in February 2014 by his new label, Capitol Records. According to a press release, Morning Phase is a "companion piece" to Beck's 2002 album Sea Change. Almost every credited musician who recorded parts for Sea Change returned to record for Morning Phase, with the sole exception being Sea Change producer Nigel Godrich.
"Step" is a song by American indie rock band Vampire Weekend. Written and composed by band members Ezra Koenig and Rostam Batmanglij and produced by Ariel Rechtshaid and Batmanglij, the song was released as the fourth and final single from the band's third studio album Modern Vampires of the City. The song was inspired by American hip hop group Souls of Mischief's song "Step to My Girl".