Beck Covers Leonard Cohen

American alt rock icon Beck has covered a classic Leonard Cohen album - with a little help from MGMT, Devendra Banhart and more.

Beck has discovered the internet. After years of allowing his website to remain dormant, stagnating amidst album releases and tour dates the 'Odelay' star has re-vamped his home page with a number of snazzy new features.

In addition to regular podcasts featuring DJ sets from the man himself, Beck has also decided to form his own record club. The result of informal jam sessions, the singer invites friends around to cover a classic album in its entirety.

The catch? The whole record must be done in only one day. This time round, Beck has decided to cover Leonard Cohen's classic first album 'Songs Of Leonard Cohen'. Containing some of Cohen's finest work, Beck was joined by a host of friends for the record.

In statement on the official website Beck introduced the new set of covers. "This time around the group includes Devendra Banhart, Ben, Andrew and Matt from MGMT, Andrew from Wolfmother, Binki from Little Joy, and Brian and Bram returning from the first Record Club."

"As you will hear, some of the songs are rough renditions, often first takes documenting what happened over the course of a day. There is no intention to 'add to' the original work or attempt to recreate the power of the original recording."

"Only to play music and document what happens. And those who aren't familiar with the albums in question will hopefully look for the songs in their definitive versions. 'Songs Of Leonard Cohen' by Leonard Cohen was chosen by Andrew from MGMT. For those interested, our close second choice was Ace Of Base, which we'll keep on the list for next time."

The first track from Beck & Co.'s version of 'Songs Of Leonard Cohen' is available now.