Beck
(Interscope)
Behold two fundamental truths on the chameleon of an artist known as Beck: there is a Beck for every season and no two of his albums will ever sound the same. To go into one of his albums expecting something definitive almost certainly guarantees simultaneous feelings of elation and disappointment. Though familiar threads of his work weave from one project to the next, Beck has never done a “logical” follow up to any of his proper LPs.
Frankly, I hope he never does.
Even with Beck talking up the dark, ‘60s psychedelic sound for his latest endeavor, Modern Guilt still packs a lot of surprise into less than 35 minutes. All the passing nods and musical reference points are merely footnotes along the way to another unmistakably-Beck creation. This is about as sparse as he has been on album, both in length and in instrumentation – just one of the many reasons Modern Guilt marks his strongest effort since Sea Change.
Though hardly a perfect ride, the album shows Beck doing some much-disciplined editing. Both The Information and Guero, despite having plenty of great moments, capsize under their equally over-stuffed track lists.
So just in the nick of time, Danger Mouse enters via stage left. America’s answer to producer extraordinaire (and frequent Beck associate) Nigel Godrich, Danger Mouse has ruled 2008 from both sides of the boards (see The Black Keys’s Attack & Release and Gnarls Barkley’s The Odd Couple). More a full-on collaborator than just a producer, Danger Mouse fuses his digital-age palette seamlessly with Beck’s shared sensibilities in some long overdue genius-meets-genius action.
If Modern Guilt has any real fault, it is Beck’s unfortunate juxtaposition of a great opening with a slightly less-enthralling finale. “Orphans” kicks off with a bass line ripped from Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, and then the computer-spawned specters crawl into the mix for a swift musical coup détat. It’s a fantastic starting point and for the most part, Beck makes good on the promise.
But even with brevity working in its favor, Modern Guilt simply cannot sustain the incredible energy of its first four tracks, which honestly, is more a reflection on Beck’s strengths than his weaknesses.
“Chemtrails” holds up as one of the best “melancholic” Beck tracks to date, one of the few songs on album to feature a full band. The apocalyptic visions of people drowning gels with Beck’s lyrical focus of late – the album title is sort of a dead give-away, though the artist deploys his message tactfully.
As he sings on the incredibly snappy title track, “Modern guilt is all in our hands.” Beck knows Judgment Day is a dish best served with hip-bouncing rhythm or lush beauty. But why choose one when you can have both? For all the impending doom in “Walls” (blink and you’ll miss one of Chan Marshall’s two vocal contributions), the beautifully sampled strings sound almost gleeful in their announcing of humanity’s swan song.
With the weight of the world bearing on his shoulders, it’s no wonder Beck sounds a little worn by the time “Volcano” rolls around. He simultaneously confronts the supposed limitations of music (genre, riff or structure) and humanity (“guilt”, “fear” and “desire” to name a several).
That’s a lot to bite off in 10 tracks. And after all is said and done, maybe Modern Guilt amounts to no more than another intriguing addition to Beck’s always-solid, occasionally-great discography. Take a few listens though, because it just might amount to something more.
Standout Tracks: “Chemtrails,” “Walls” ZACHARY HERRMANN
