Beck's Modern Guilt - Track by Track
By: Marvin J Markus
Beck's new album Modern Guilt to be released in the United States on July 8th is his 3rd album of the past 4 years. This burst of creativity comes after he had released just one album for the 5 years from 2000 through 2004 (2002's Sea Change.)
Modern Guilt has only 10 tracks and is just under 34 minutes, making it the most concise album of Beck's career. His last album, 2006's The Information had 15 tracks and was over 61 minutes long.
What follow is a track by track look at Modern Guilt.
1. "Orphans"
I think this may be my early favorite on the album. It has such a transfixing strange sound to it. It's all spaced out but it has a great drum beat at the same time. It also has some of the best Beck vocals I've ever heard. Cat Power adds some backing vocals but you will have to be listening closely to hear them. She's also heard in the background of track #6.
2. "Gamma Ray"
This one actually reminds me strangely enough of some sort of psychedelic tinged surf rock song at first but then it turns into something else entirely. It has a great classic rock sound but it's also distorted and strange at the same. This is definitely some of the best production I've heard in quite some time, Danger Mouse deserves a lot of credit for what he's done on this album. The album was actually produced with the help of Danger Mouse of "Grey Album" & Gnarls Barkley fame.
3. "Chem Trails"
This is my other early contender for favorite song on the album. Beck's vocals sound completely unlike I've ever heard them before. Everything is tripped out with wild "phase" sound but the song is still catchy with giant drums and a brilliant bass line that keeps the song going forward.
4. "Modern Guilt"
Funky drums and fuzzy atmospherics grab my attention at first. But it's really just a great catchy pop song that has a fantastic groove and cool guitar riffs.
5. "Youthless"
This album just keeps getting better and better. This is another great song that includes an exceptionally catchy chorus.
6. "Walls"
A warped sounding string section catches the interest right away. Again, it's a very strange sounding song but the vocal line itself is quite catchy, at it's heart it's another great pop song but with a lot of experimental flourishes.
7. "Replica"
Skittering beats propel this song. It sounds somewhat like the drums are in double time or perhaps even quadruple time in comparison with the rest of the music. Quite unusual.
8. "Soul Of A Man"
This one actually reminds me somewhat of Beck's Mellow Gold days although it's really not that similar to anything in particular. It's another original song. That's probably the real feat of this album, the originality of it. For a musician who has already given us so much awesome original music, it's truly astounding that Beck still has so much creativity to give.
9. "Profanity Prayers"
Marvin Markus has been a big fan of Beck since 1994. He contributes to the Music By Day blog at http://www.MusicByDay.com
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