As if guilting you into buying his 10th (!) studio album wasn't enough, that pesky, arm-twisting Beck Hansen is at it again, this time laying it on thick with some cock-and-bull story about some additional tourdates that you "really should" go to and some sort of innovative new vinyl edition of Modern Guilt that "your mother would be ashamed of you for not picking up."
And why not? He's practically got you "by the balls," as they say, now that he's "graciously" decided to tack these relatively modest club dates onto his crowded summer festival plate. Maybe you couldn't justify getting out to the West Coast for Bumbershoot because you live in Chicago and your little brother is currently borrowing your car so that he can move back into college in a few weeks? Well, now there’s no excuse not to take that Red Line Train to one of two shows that Beck's "gone through the awfully big trouble" of putting on just for YOU! Damn, this guilt thing really works!
But wait. You're not off the hook yet, son. Beck still wants more from you, and he knows how to get it! How about a brand spanking new vinyl edition of Modern Guilt, in stores July 22, that includes download codes for high-fidelity (320 kbps) MP3s produced from an actual playback of the literal vinyl master?!? Come on, folks, the first MP3 actually starts with a needle drop, and the 10 MP3s that follow sound like a hissing, crackling, vinyl playback. I mean, just think of all the "trouble" Beck went through to cook this up. And now you want to go and spit in his face by not hoofing it out to the nearest retailer on foot (you don't have a car right now, remember?) and picking-up your very own copy, pressed with the ubiquitous loving care that Beck Hansen is known for?!? Well I've got news for you, Mr. Arrogant Bigshot. Your MOM is on the phone, and she's got three words to say to you about that: "Shame on you."
The extended Guilt trip:
