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April 12, 2005
beck :: guero
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My thought process upon listening to the new Beck for the first time:
"So, alright, this one's supposed to sound like a calmer Odelay. I don't know; that's not what I really want out of Beck, or anyone, right now. Seems so of it's time; I can't imagine listening to it much today. I loved Sea Change; I was kind of hoping for another songwriter record . . . maybe an upbeat one."
"Hmmm. This is like Odelay crossed with all of the pleasant or mellow music he's made since then. Is there a personality here, or is it just a series of calculations? Are we skirting Moby territory?"
"You know, Odelay seems pretty damn good in comparison to this. I wish I could hear it instead."
Guero is skillfully made and not a whole heck of a lot else, good or bad, with the exception of 3 or 4 memorable tunes. The Dust Brothers' beats sound very dated, and tamer versions of whiteboy raps a la "Where It's At" are not my idea of artistic progression. Many critics seem to be entirely satisfied that he's made a mediocre record - even the positive reviews seem to read like a defense of the disc's flatness. For example, Paste Magazine says: it’s an album remarkable in its consistent, pleasant above-averageness, punctuated by bursts of true genius. OK, great. I think of it as an average album punctuated by bursts of filler.
The best moments are songs like "Girl" and "Earthquake Weather" which wed a beat to one of his forlorn Sea Change melodies - you know, the ones that sound like a slow "On A Plain" or "Come As You Are". I always felt like the Cobain influence was largely undetected in his more writerly songs.
As is our rule, no mp3 samples for records we're not loving.
Posted by borrowed_tunes at April 12, 2005 10:45 PM
Comments
Beck fell off my radar completely. I loved Odelay, was lukewarm about Midnite Vultures and Mutations, and then I found out that he has Scientology ties and my interest evaporated.
Posted by: Max at April 13, 2005 12:53 AM
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Posted by: Max at April 13, 2005 12:58 AM
Hah!
I think you have a lot of company, although I personally thought the uncharacteristically dour Sea Change was his best record. It will be very interesting to see his next move. He's in danger of falling off the map, but he's equally capable of coming up with something pretty massive.
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