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#1 Artist of the Year: Beck

Mark Kemp, Rolling Stone, 23 January 1997

ONE NIGHT a few years ago, I was doing laundry with Beck in Los Angeles, listening to him ruminate on whether he might be a one-hit wonder. At the time, Beck's avant-folk-hip-hop anthem, 'Loser', from his album Mellow Gold, was burning up the charts. He was mystified that the song, which he recorded one afternoon in his friend's living room, had taken off so quickly. If it turned out to be a fluke, Beck said, he would just continue experimenting with his quirky blend of old-timey country blues, noisy punk and forward-looking dance music.

Total word count of piece: 549

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