Modern Guilt - Beck
By Marvin Marks on Jul 2, 2008 in Album Reviews
Beck’s latest studio album, Modern Guilt, is due for release next Monday in the UK and next Tuesday in the US (July 8th, which also happens to be Beck’s 38th birthday.)
The album was produced by Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton of “Grey Album” and Gnarls Barkley fame.
It’s Beck’s 3rd new album in the past 4 years (Preceded by 2005’s Guero and 2006’s The Information.) That’s a big jump in rate of output from the first 5 years of the millennium (2000 to 2004) when he released just one studio album (2002’s Sea Change.)
The short length (10 tracks and 34 minutes) of Modern Guilt is quite notable following Guero’s 13 tracks and 50 minutes and The Information’s 15 tracks and 61 minutes.
I think the shortness is a positive. It makes you want to hear more when it’s over rather than making it difficult to get through the whole thing. I think it’s part of the reason this album (after 3 listens anyway) sounds like the most consistent album Beck’s released yet. Every minute of the album sounds vital rather than needlessly stretching it out longer than it should be.
After just 3 listens, I’m not ready to say it’s better than The Information yet which I think is an excellent album, but I already prefer it to Guero which I don’t think is such an excellent album. I do think it’s a lot tighter than The Information, which can feel like it’s dragging along sometimes. That may be mostly because of the length of the album - or it may just be that Modern Guilt is more consistently excellent.
My early favorite tracks are “Orphans,” “Chemtrails,” & “Volcano.” But really there is not a single song on this album that I’m not thoroughly enjoying at the moment. They all bring something unique to the table as far as the production and the arrangement and they are also all just excellent songs, even if they had been produced without all of the studio trickery.
If there’s a theme that runs throughout the album it’s studio experimentation, funky beats, & catchy melodies. A lot of the songs have a sort of “classic psyche rock” sound but they are heard through the lens of Danger Mouse’s fantastic inventive production.
Hear some of the tracks:
“Gamma Ray”
“Chemtrails”
“Youthless”
Live performance of the title track “Modern Guilt”
2008, BeckDo You Love Writing About Music?
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So yeah, I really like it. I’m wondering what ol’ Mozart Breath will think…
MB - have you liked a Beck album since Mellow Gold?
Marvin Marks | Jul 2, 2008 | Reply
I don’t know if I have, but I will say that “Youthless” is also the name of a Poetry ZINE that Beck put out when he was a teenager with younger brother Channing, and they would do poetry slams and other Arty biz.
Mozart Breath | Jul 2, 2008 | Reply