Hailed as "a deeply natural songwriter" (The New Yorker) who "defies expectations in his
own way" (Time) and "Gen X’s most famous absurdist" (Blender), BECK is the single most
inventive and eclectic figure to emerge from the ‘90s alternative revolution. In an era obsessed with junk culture, Beck seamlessly blends pop, folk, hiphop, indie/underground and electronica with the end result being an authentically uncategorizeable musical style that nevertheless has sold millions of records and scored multiple Grammy awards.
Ocean Way, Hollywood, California (2006). Over a decade of criss-crossing genres makes it
easy to forget that Beck's first big hit was, essentially, a rap song. It's not surprising,
then, that about half of the songs on 2006's The Information are some shade of hip-hop,
house, or dance-floor funk. And while no one's going to mistake Beck for Young Buck, he
brings his own brand of intelligent, laid-back confidence to every track, from the
stuttering brilliance of "1000 BPM" to the lolling funk of "Elevator Music" to the lo-fi
house grooves of "Cellphone's Dead" to the 10 minutes of atmospheric chill-out that close
the album. But the presence of Nigel Godrich--who produced both the most beloved
(Mutations) and underrated (Sea Changes) of Beck's albums--insures that this isn't going to be a one-note affair. Godrich shapes the more pop-leaning songs into low-gloss gems,
exercising both imagination and restraint: the intensity of "New Round" comes not from big,
fancy production but from multiple layers of the same insistent vocal line.
"Think I'm in Love" is a sticky little garage-rocker with a hyper bass line, while
"Strange Apparition" is a bit of Laurel Canyon folk-rock amidst all the funk & crunk.
It's reassuring to know that on his seventh full-length album, neither Beck nor his
best collaborator have run out of fresh ideas.
www.beck.com
Listen:Cellphone's Dead, Elevator Music
Saturday, September 30, 2006
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