Beck
http://www.beck.com
styles: early Beck, middle Beck, recent Beck
others: ditto, ", Ibid.
 The
Information
Interscope, 2006
rating: 4/5
reviewer: chadwicked
I have the information. I also have the struggle. You see, I need an angle (a
journalist always does). But nobody around the TMT office has a protractor. Not
even a measly ruler. Worst of all, geometry remedial isn't offered at TMT
headquarters. I still need to crack the code, though. The album has to be
reviewed. I need a formula. I'll have to try to work it out on my own.
post-breakup depression + Nigel Godrich = n
recovery + Dust Brothers + n = z
z - Dust Brothers + Nigel Godrich - sadness + boom bap/rap + (quasi)
= x
n = Sea Change
z = Guero
x = The Information
This is going nowhere. Too many variables. How is one to track Beck's
career? It's difficult. It wasn't always. It used to be easy. He'd make distinct
genre changes on nearly every album, even announced which direction he was
diverging in sometimes. That's convenient. The Beck of the 21st century hasn't
been as all-over-the-place. He's organizing the junkyard. Sometime after Sea
Change things began to coalesce. The creation of a "Beck" sound. (Let's go
ahead and make it an adjective: beck.) A sound you can pin down. A
combination of earnest singing and laid-back rapping, neither of which sounds
foreign when it arises in a song. The use of many instruments and samples, both
common and obscure, in a smooth and symbiotic way — no ratchets clunking
unexpectedly in your right eardrum or an electronic yelp catapulting out of the
woodwork in surprise. It was unclassifiable music. Today it is classifiable as
beck.
Word Problem (extra credit):
Beck has done rap, tropicalia, funk, blues, soul, folk, psychedelia, etc. If
Beck matures and achieves a style all his own without us noticing, is it really
his own?
A. No. He is just not as extreme in his genre practicing as he used to be. He's
calmed it down.
B. No. Rather than having each album a genre experiment, the styles vary from
track to track, making it harder to map.
C. Yes. All of his dealings with other genres have now been mixed together to
form a successful bowl of beck slop.
D. Not enough information provided.
The answer sheet can be found above. (It follows the word rating and a
colon.) I hope you haven't cheated by looking prematurely. If you did, you did
not follow the instruction manual properly (for a copy, email:
testing@tmt.com.
As a reminder, we work on a demerits system here.
1. Elevator Music
2. Think I'm In Love
3. Cellphone's Dead
4. Strange Apparition
5. Soldier Jane
6. Nausea
7. New Round
8. Dark Star
9. We Dance Alone
10. No Complaints
11. 1000BPM
12. Motorcade
13. The Information
14. Movie Theme
15. Horrible Fanfare/Landslide/Exoskeleton
 Guerolito
Interscope, 2005
rating: 3.5/5
reviewer: chadwicked
I'm usually very against remix records. I'm a critic of the stubborn variety,
one who is insulted by the artist's choice to tamper with their original work,
especially when its a work I already admire. Such is the case with Beck's latest
effort (or his pick of the litter producers' effort). Gone is the springtime
whimsy and the breezy melodies of Guero; on Geurolito they are
buried beneath the grit and grumble of other producers. The album starts off
with remixes by Homelife and Islands, and sounds like some sort of dysfunctional
parade music, an attempt to develop on Beck's original freewheeling,
sad-but-still-kinda-happy sentiments. It doesn't exactly work. What does work is
when Beck's original feel-good, frolic-inducing, strained cheer is substituted
with more gloom. The reinventions that fare best are the ones that come from the
minds and hands of producers who dare to alter the attitude of the original
compositions. Rather than reworking the lighthearted music of Guero, they
chose to drag a bit more darkness into the mix, matching the seriousness of
certain songs with slightly-sinister accompaniment. Octet's version of "Girl,"
Air's handling of "Missing," Mario C, and Boards of Canada all achieve this
success. Boards of Canada turn "Broken Drum" into a funeral dirge, one held on
an iceberg in Antarctica in the dead of night. Doseone was the only guest ballsy
enough to add vocals to the album. He adds them to Subtle's adaptation of
"Farewell Ride," vocals which are always welcome in this critic's book. The song
is very Subtle--not subtle, but Subtle; mechanical instrumentation capped off
with haunting overtones.
Despite the hodgepodge of producers compiled here (and hand-picked by Beck), the
remix album is cohesive. Perhaps this has to do with the sequencing (they stayed
loyal to the Guero format). Maybe guidance was given to the producers, or
maybe the producers coincidentally decided to deviate to a similar degree.
Whatever the case, it managed to work out favorably. The album does suffer at
its end with three ramshackle and sloppy performances, two of which are at the
hands of Beck and the Dust Brothers. For a remix album, Guerolito isn't
that bad.
1. Ghost Range (E-Pro) - remix by Homelife
2. Que Onda Guero - remix by Islands
3. Girl - remix by Octet
4. Heaven Hammer (Missing) - remix by Air
5. Shake Shake Tambourine (Black Tambourine) - remix by Adrock (Beastie
Boys)
6. Terremoto Tempo (Earthquake Weather) - remix by Mario C
7. Ghettochip Malfunction (Hell Yes) - remix by 8-Bit
8. Broken Drum - remix by Boards of Canada
9. Scarecrow - remix by El-P
10. Wish Coin (Go It Alone) - remix by Diplo
11. Farewell Ride - remix by Subtle
12. Rental Car - remix by John King (Dust Brothers)
13. Emergency Exit - remix by Th' Corn Gangg
14. Clap Hands
 Guero
Geffen, 2005
rating: 4/5
reviewer: jay
I didn't want to download the leak. I really didn't. Listening to leaks is most
tempting and most devastating when it involves your favorite bands, and some
experience had taught me to avoid it whenever possible. But knowing I'd have to
review Beck's latest, Guero, it became an ugly necessity. I don't know
about you (yes you, you lousy cheat), but the leaks I came across were iffy at
best. Some tracks were obviously mistitled, and I started to doubt the integrity
of the whole thing. Many times there was an "unpolished" feel to it, namely in
"Black Tambourine," "Hell Yes," and "Scarecrow," the latter of which leaked at
seven excruciating minutes in duration. I thought this suspicion might just be
psychological, but when I heard "E-Pro" on the radio a few weeks ago, I knew
something was wrong.
So Geffen responds by dangling a special edition in front of us: a white,
hard-cover book with 27 pages of art and photos, 7 bonus tracks (2 of which had
leaked as proper album tracks, and are among the best on Guero), and a
DVD. It's something they really had to do; the building anticipation and
abundant (if flawed) leaks had made the music a non-issue. And of course I
bought it. It was the only way I could care about the album again.
Oh yeah, the album. So, it's good. It's very good, you might say. But it's hard
to say. I mean, for three albums in a row, we were asking Beck, "So what are you
going to do next?" He answered, and we reacted "Oh!", "Oh!", and "Really? Oh!"
But here it's just "Oh...okay."
This isn't to say that it's a disappointment. Far from it. In fact, it's
probably best that the album we've been waiting so long to hear is as safe as
Guero is. At this point we just want our Beck, and Guero is as Beck
as Beck can be. Although a close sibling of Odelay and Mutations,
it's a grab-bag, featuring the rootsiness of Mellow Gold ("Farewell Ride"
= "Whiskeyclone"), the attitude of Odelay ("Chain Reaction" = "High
Five"), the reflectiveness of Mutations ("Broken Drum" = "We Live
Again"...and, uncannily, Faust's "Jennifer"), the filth of Midnite Vultures
("Hell Yes" = "Hollywood Freaks"), and the dreaminess of Sea Change
("Missing" = "Paper Tiger").
Guero poses the question we're forced to ask ourselves in 2005: is Beck
relevant anymore? It's now pretty well established that Beck can do no wrong,
and that we're just going to keep buying and enjoying his albums. But whereas
Odelay demanded everyone's attention almost ten years ago, these days its
descendent can never possess the same urgency. On the other hand, who cares?
With songs like these, any so-called "relevance" becomes... well, irrelevant.
Besides, it's not totally predictable. The analogies above are fairly loose, and
there's even "Girl," a sunny pop song, and "Black Tambourine," a...
Well, let's forget "Black Tambourine." And "Scarecrow," while we're at it. These
two aimless jams especially are evidence of a detectable numbness plaguing
Guero. And it's frightening. It would be one thing if the album were an
inspired survey, a summary of all of Beck's touchstones, cramming everything
we've loved about him into a 16-track swan song. Calling it redundant then would
be missing the point. But I'll be damned if there isn't a little bit of "Black
Tambourine" in every song here. Guero is more than redundant. It's a
little flat. A little dead. Is it an illusion? Have we just become habituated? I
don't think so. Although none of these tracks are revelatory (and don't need to
be), the surprising, almost paradoxical freshness of "Qué Onda Guero," for
example, only accentuates the failures of the rest of the album.
Take "Go It Alone." This is a perfectly respectable Beck song. But upon the
second or third listen, you start to wish he wasn't just singing along with the
bassline. And that the guitar break-down about two minutes in would actually
develop into something. Wasn't Jack White supposed to be on this album? (He is,
briefly, providing the bassline here.) It's a telling track: a perfectly
respectable Beck song on a perfectly respectable Beck album. And little more.
The "unpolished feel" I had sensed wasn't a symptom of the leak.
Guero puts the importance of music reviews into question. You've probably
already heard it and liked it. If not, you'll probably buy it and like it. The
name "Beck" carries a lot of weight, so once you've heard his new album, the
question to ask yourself is, "Is Beck's name the reason I'm hard on Guero,
or the reason I'm easy on Guero?" I'm not sure I've answered it yet for
myself. But I know I like Guero. And that's all I really wanted.
1. E-Pro
2. Qué Onda Guero
3. Girl
4. Missing
5. Black Tambourine
6. Earthquake Weather
7. Hell Yes
8. Broken Drum
9. Scarecrow
10. Go It Alone
11. Farewell Ride
12. Rental Car
13. Emergency Exit
Bonus Tracks (Special Edition)
14. Send A Message To Her
15. Chain Reaction
16. Clap Hands
17. Girl (Remix)
18. Broken Drum (Remix)
19. Still Missing
20. Fax Machine Anthem
 Sea
Change
Geffen, 2002
rating: 4/5
reviewer: mr p
After the quirky feelings received from the sparkly Midnite Vultures
(1999), a sympathetic feeling greets the pathetic sentiments of Beck's latest
concoction, Sea Change. This, however, is a compliment considering the
abundance of albums that use similar themes, either unconvincingly or
carelessly, failing to even scratch the surface of a tangible feeling. But every
somber mutter, every revealing lyric of Sea Change flawlessly reflects
the emotional leakage of its pathos, and you end up sobbing like a weed-less
Snoop Dogg or a rainforest-less Sting.
Truthfully, Sea Change is not a drastic departure from his past albums.
Although it's miles from his bombastic excursions (Mellow Gold, Odelay,
Midnite Vultures), it's only meters from his "stripped-down" releases (Mutations,
One Foot in the Grave). But Sea Change takes it one step further:
where its brethrens played like a cathartic tangent or intended diversion from
the louder albums, this new album plays like a natural continuation of his
songwriting, opting for a towering maturity and sophistication in replace of
quirkiness and humor.
One of the most amazing aspects of Sea Change is its unwitting ability to
reintroduce Beck's voice. It's as if his voice was recorded for the first time,
and we are just being deflowered by its odd timbre and unusual enunciation. You
are taken back by just how different it sounds, while still being essentially
the same. Sometimes it feels as if he's a whole different person using Beck's
voice, and in some ways, it's true. This is clearly Beck in a new phase in his
life, chock full of uninhibited revelations and classic tales of struggle. Sure,
it's harder to process since his vocal dynamics rarely change a decibel between
each word, but the duration of his notes and amount of "gruff" is fitting for
each syllable: It's the quintessential display of Beck's voice, crystallizing
its uniqueness, word-by-word.
As far as complexity and intricacy, Sea Change sacrifices neither.
Replete with acoustic guitars, strings, and keyboards, the album relies on
harmonies and structure rather than some overriding shtick. Sure, the computer
squirts and experimental counterpoints of past albums (even on Mutations)
are M.I.A., but "more" does not necessarily mean "more complex." And though the
layers of noise are stripped, they are replaced with an ambience that can only
be created with the right instruments, and Beck chooses them effectively and
appropriately.
Acclaimed producer Nigel Godrich-- whose name has become synonymous with
Radiohead-- aids Beck in creating the moody milieu it evokes. The instruments
are easily discernable and are mixed together with expertise. Unfortunately,
like Godrich's other musical endeavors, the drum sound falls flat and sounds
overly compressed. Sure, the drums are not responsible for the dynamics within
these compositions, but the compressed sound coupled with the high-fidelity
production quality imbue a suffocated sound to the album, keeping you at a
spectator's distance.
Minor production flaws aside, the fact that Beck can pull off an album like
Sea Change and not receive diatribe about its sincerity-- especially after a
fun, grandiose album like Midnite Vultures-- is a complete coup for the
one-man songstation. Every listen becomes more engaging; subtle sounds reveal
themselves and subsequently prove essential to its cohesive whole. However, such
a great heartbreaking work of staggering genius inevitably comes with guilt. I
mean, how can you not feel guilty for siphoning so much enjoyment from an album
that obviously reflects Beck at his most mournful of times? Well, you can't. But
being the hedonistic wedge that you are, that shit won't keep you from spinning
this sonic diary over and over again. So, play it loud, and play it proud.
1. The Golden Age
2. Paper Tiger
3. Guess I'm Doin' Fine
4. Lonesome Tears
5. Lost Cause
6. End of the Day
7. It's All in Your Mind
8. Round the Bend
9. Already Dead
10. Sunday Sun
11. Little One
12. Side of the Road
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