ARTIST: Beck
TITLE: “Chemtrails”
WEB DEBUT: May 19, 2008
ONE-LISTEN VERDICT: The first taste of Beck’s upcoming album with Danger Mouse, Modern Guilt, “leaked” via semi-official channels today, and if you’d told me that “Chem Trails” was a collaboration between Rod Argent and the Beta Band, I would have 100% believed you. But hey, Midnite Vultures is my favorite Beck album so I’m obviously in the minority when it comes to his fanbase. Folks might eat this snoozy Odessey & Oracle stuff up.
WHERE TO FIND IT: Beck’s official site.
I suppose it’s ironic that Danger Mouse is the production for 3 of my fav albums this year…. and that Beck track sounds awesome.
I’m on board with the Midnite Vultures love. Since then, none of his albums have been entirely bad nor overwhelmingly good. I guess “pleasant” would be an appropriate term.
“Chemtrails” sounds promising, though.
although i think seachange and mutations are his best albums it’s amusing to me that midnite vultures has actually stood the test of time a shitload better than his presumed masterwork odelay.
uh, you know what also sounds kinda like zombies-meets-beta band? caribou. that said, while there are some uncanny similarities, it’s still definitely a beck track (or at least not a total rip-off). regardless, it makes my ears really happy.
i have been reappreciating dude’s whole oeuvre lately, after being too cool or too distracted to spend much time with each album for a while. and, although each album definitely has its own great (or genius)-to-skippable ratio, it’s been satisfying. for instance, i don’t love it start-to-finish, but the information turned out to be a total grower the second time around. i have to agree with iantenna that parts of odelay sound kind of hokey nowadays, but it’s still really inventive and wicked fun.
MV for me, too. I thought his last one was gonna be more like that than it wasn’t.
I still think that Beck’s 1994 — Mellow Gold, One Foot in the Grave and Stereopathetic Soulmanure — is one of the weirdest, most creative one-year runs of the last 20 years.
I seem to be one of the few who believe he peaked with Mutations.
So it goes.