Beck
Midnite Vultures
DGC
Early in his career, Beck established himself primarily as a weirdo but
also as a pretty decent song writer. One Foot in the Grave, the 1994
prelude to Mellow Gold, released on K records, gave us a glimpse of Beck's
gospel-folk roots and once again of his capacity for penning great tunes.
The Dust Brothers' reputation and dense production pushed 1996's Odelay to
the logical extension and perfection of the ideas he'd been hammering out
since the late 80's. On that album, for the first time, we began to see
Beck as more than a surrealist songwriter with a knack for sampling.
His technical abilities moved beyond guitar playing and clever lyric
writing. With the inclusion of more high-tech equipment individual
elements of his previous efforts began to form a more cohesive sound. Which
is where Midnite Vultures comes in.
This release marks a shift from the instrument and sample layering of his
previous efforts to a more sound-sculpture approach, repeating tiny parts of
samples or punctuating a bass-line with split seconds of silence and volume
shifts. Long gone are the days of mere samplers and four tracks.
Though at first listen Midnite Vultures is easy to dismiss as second-hand,
white-guy funk, on further listening it becomes obvious that his own
influence and style take precedence over any sort of copycatism.
On "Hollywood Freaks", Beck takes a stab at West Coast rap and succeeds
marvelously, rapping lyrics that could only have come out of his
tabloid-blender of a brain "we drop lobotomy beats/evaporated meat on the
high-tech streets."
"Peaches and Cream" emulates the sexy groove of the nameless artist with the
seamless addition of entirely Beckish bent notes from an out-of-tune
electric guitar.
In an interview with CMJ writer James Rotundi, Beck said "No matter how slick an R&B track is you can always rely on the lyrics to be unique, and
that turns me on." Beck's' take on these unique lyrics on the slow-jam
"Debra" are both funny and slightly unnerving to the average white listener
"I met you at JC Penny/ I think your name tag/ said Jenny" or "'cause when
our eyes did meet/ you know I was packin' heat" (is he poking an ironic
finger at black culture?) No matter what your take on his lyrical politics,
the song behind them is solid and sincere.
A duet with Beth Orton, the glacial and uplifting "Beautiful Way", in the
spirit of "Ramshackle" and "Blackhole", is the least soul infected track on
Midnite Vultures and possibly the best.
Midnite Vultures is witty, funky and sexy, and though it isn't as innovative
or experimental as some of its predecessors, it's no less solid or
satisfying. Beck supposedly recorded some 40 tracks for this album and
released only 11 of them. Look for more good quality B-sides available in
the near future.
— Larry Davidson (crumbtrail@hotmail.com)
