Beck - Modern Guilt
By Nick Manteris · 2 Comments · Leave a Comment
Beck’s new album, Modern Guilt was co-produced by Danger Mouse and features Cat Power’s backing vocals on two of the tracks. It would have been nice to hear a girl at the forefront of a song or two, but Beck apparently doesn’t want to relinquish the microphone. He also didn’t want the album to last very long because it clocks in at barely over thirty minutes, which is especially noticeable when several of the songs end somewhat abruptly.
The new sound seems to combine some of Sea Change’s slow melancholy vibe with a bit of Guero’s groovy electronic style…while completely bypassing any part of The Information. It’s not really fair to compare this release to the past ones, though, because the team-up with a new producer has taken things to a whole new level. The songs are undeniably Beck, and with the addition of the Danger Mouse, this might be his best material.
Almost all of the songs have a laid-back funkiness with a bit of a retro vibe. The title track, “Modern Guilt” has an infectious groove and seems to keep building up until the end, but the lyrical introspection of “Volcano” makes it a stronger song. The other songs worth mentioning are "Walls", with it’s pseudo-ethereal background vocal melodies, and “Youthless”, which rocks in a choppy, electronic kind of way. Surprisingly, the faster tempo of “Replica” didn’t really resonate with me…it’s the weak link of the album.
- Score
- 80%
It’s also worth noting that a CD version of Modern Guilt came out on July 8th and a vinyl edition (that comes with a free 320 kbps MP3 download of the entire album!) was released on July 22nd. The combination package of vinyl and digital is a very cool idea, but having it come out two weeks later than the CD version seems a bit counterintuitive. Hopefully Beck will get back together with Danger Mouse soon and they can work out the delivery issues on their next release.
Found your link to this on...
Found your link to this on last.fm. You don't really say much about your opinion on the album; did you like it? I'm a big Beck fan and I think Modern Guilt is a damn great album. Chemtrails and Profanity Prayers would probably be my favourite tracks. As you said it isn't a very long album, but I suppose he's kept it short and sweet.
Mon, 11/30/2009 - 04:12 · TF