Not only will Beck’s music collaboration streak continue in coming months, but it looks like he has more print publishing projects in the works as well, following this summer’s guest design for Francis Ford Coppola’s Zoetrope: All Story literary magazine. News of the latest studio team-up for Beck — after May’s production/performance on Thurston Moore solo LP Demolished Thoughts and this month’s Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks release — arrived buried in a press release for Dwight Yoakam, which, in addition to announcing that the country star will return to a major label, included this somewhat surprising bit: “Yoakam also has been recording some tracks with Beck.”

Mirror Traffic, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks’ new Beck-produced LP, is due out on August 23 via Matador in the U.S., but today — thanks to a listing by the U.K. label, Domino Records — we can preview the full tracklist, which reveals that “Senator,” a tune Malkmus unveiled live in Portland a few years back, has made the cut.  

According to Malkmus, “68% of the tracking, vocals included, took place on one day, a first for me,” he wrote on his official site. “We pretty much left it all out there.” While longtime Jicks drummer Janet Weiss did contribute to the recording, she has since left the band, opting to focus on her other project, Wild Flag. So, without further ado, check out the tracklist and download/stream “Senator” below:

We’ve heard “Benediction,” the Sea Change-esque opening cut off Thurston Moore’s Demolished Thoughts, the Sonic Youth singer/guitarist’s new Beck-produced solo LP. “Circulation,” a heavier, acoustic-driven tune bolstered by a dissonant string arrangement that makes for a haunting centerpiece to the record soon followed. The latter taste is the album’s best cut, I’d say, but today you can decide for yourself by streaming the full 9-track effort over at NPR, Guardian, or below.

Our first taste of Demolished Thoughts, the forthcoming Beck-produced solo LP from Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, arrived today as a premiere stream on NPR.org in all its nuanced, gorgeously violin-adorned glory. “Whisper ‘I love you’ one thousand times into his ear,” Moore coos in the decidedly subdued 5-minute ode that shuffles along with sensitive yet poetic lyrics like a modern-day “Pale Blue Eyes” or — for obvious reasons — Sea Change cut. After a few listens, it’s no surprise that Thurston’s lovelorn side is just as poignant as the abrasive feedback-driven rock pioneering he’s most famous for, but what really brings this cut home for me are the violin flourishes. Can’t wait to hear the full record, especially the contributions from harpist Mary Lattimore. Give it a spin here or below.

We’ve been anticipating the release of Thurston Moore’s Beck-produced LP, once titled Benediction, now awesomely dubbed Demolished Thoughts (which, as Matablog informs us, was taken from a lyric off The Faith’s “It’s Time”), and now the official announcement is here: Matador Records will release Moore’s 4th solo album on May 24, preceded by a pre-release MP3 and live performances.

As previously reported, harpist Mary Lattimore and violinist Samara Lubelski collaborated with Moore on the recordings, in addition to guest performers bassist Bram Inscore, drummer Joey Waronker (of the great Thom Yorke supergroup Atoms for Peace), and Beck himself. Based on the few solo-acoustic live performances I’ve seen from Moore, not to mention Beck(!), this record should be incredible. We’ll keep you posted with further details as they arrive.

Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore has unveiled a few tasty details on his forthcoming album, Benediction, a new solo LP previously mentioned alongside a slew of upcoming SY project updates. Speaking to Philadelphia Weekly, Moore said of the Matador release:

It’s called Benediction, recorded in Southern California at Beck’s home studio with him producing. Beck sings and plays a little bit on it. Samara and Mary both play on it quite extensively and very, very beautifully. Beck really put them through the paces.

You certainly shouldn’t bet on Jónsi showing up at the Academy Awards in his epic headdress for a performance of the Sigur Rós frontman’s How To Train Your Dragon theme song, “Sticks and Stones,” as my favorite Oscar shortlisters rarely make it to the nomination round, but I will be crossing my fingers that he or one of the other select few interesting contenders will beat out the likes of Justin Bieber, Avril Lavigne, or Owl City for a nod.

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that the Oscars announced the 41-song shortlist for a potential Best Original Song award today. Jónsi’s awesome tune, Eddie Vedder’s “Better Days” from Eat Pray Love, Metric’s “Eclipse (All Yours),” and Beck/Devendra Banhart’s Life During Wartime theme all made the cut. Check out the full list here. (In case you were wondering, yeah, Randy Newman is on there… again.) Meanwhile, I’ll be giving my two favorite tunes from the list another spin below: