Beck - Morning Phase

I thought Sea Change was dull as hell, but I'll probably listen to this once just because I sorta miss the guy.

― Johnny Fever, Friday, 17 January 2014 07:26 (15 hours ago) Permalink

100% with this

I really like Sea Change but yeah it is dreary like a hangover on a grey February morning

to be fair, he is releasing this in february, but yeah otm and i really like it.

Sea Change is probably the fastest "from love to hate" relationship i had with a record ever

his "Oar" covers was pretty good. better than the original imho

Sea Change is probably the fastest "from love to hate" relationship i had with a record ever

I pretty much went from "meh to adore to hate to love".

LOL @ that video suddenly switching on the old timey film effects as soon as they start cutting the record.

But yes it sounds even less fun than Sea Change, which was sort of fun for about a minute until it got boring.

Brimstead otm, he should've done a Shibuya-kei style psychedelic soft rock lounge masterpiece by now.

^ this. Beck and Yoshinori Sunahara, Cornelius or Shugo Tokumaru collab would be ace

sea change was so overrated (as well as affected, maudlin, dreary, never-ending...).

once i got over the joys of hearing beck be 'sincere' (as if he wasnt sincere on nobodys fault but my own or ramshackle), i realised 'fake' beck was better.

this album seems like its meant to be a sequel to what was more or less his last big/best-reviewed album. id rather he did a sequel to mutations or midnite vultures.

mutations his best sure but I kinda would rather he developed Mellow Gold into some rambunctious cyberhick monstrosity for the 21st century

I didn't think there was anything "fake" about his best four records (imo) Mellow Gold + Stereopathetic + One Foot + Odelay, they were freewheeling and unserious and fun in a Ween/Cibo Matto/Harry Nilsson kind of way.

*farts*

eww

doorknob

*start punching matt p*

doorknob

*starts punching matt p*

haha

Flamboyant goon OTM

all of his albums have SOMETHING to recommend them but that run is crazy solid

The Information is sweet

morning wood phase

I didn't think there was anything "fake" about his best four records (imo) Mellow Gold + Stereopathetic + One Foot + Odelay, they were freewheeling and unserious and fun in a Ween/Cibo Matto/Harry Nilsson kind of way.

this is OTM but like I can get, in a personal sense I feel like I can get, how Beck would eventually want to say "there's another Beck who's more focused than that and I relate more to him than the the guy who I'll be known as forever if I keep that up"

I just wish "a more focused Beck" didn't sound like Air

That's kind of unfair. Realistically I don't think anybody can put Calvin Johnson on bgvs, or put a BBQ recording of "Ozzy", do cotton-ball-mouth first take raps, write songs like "Mutherfucka" etc., nobody can do those things a second time, or past the age of 26, or after having any sort of success, or pressure on you to move units for Geffen.

Pressure to move units for Capitol, as of this record.

"I just wish "a more focused Beck" didn't sound like Air" or air for that matter

i think that his move to major labels just made him a worse artist, i don't care if he does the old stuff he did again, just wish his newer stuff was better.

(he aint no SY or Nirvana for that matter)

New Moon is streaming everywhere. and it's meh

strange song - might be a grower, but I'm a bit tired with that vocal style & FX he seems to be have been using for the last 10 years.

i am amused at how "Morning" is practically a carbon copy of "Golden Age"

I love his early stuff so much but he hasn't made an interesting record since Midnite Vultures

And he never will again, it's not like he's going to give up all his world comforts and marriage and get lost and weird again

Love this track.

this seems like it could be good. but i feel like it's already obvious it will be considered beck's comeback album. like, it will resemble "sea change" and also be beck's highest p&j charter since that album. most people who don't know that he released "song reader" -- an album that's not actually something you can put on and listen to! -- last year are thinking "what happened to beck?" totally the right time for him to be like "yo, here i am." and also capitol's probably willing to spend a lot on him since he's new to their stable. ba da bing ba da ba it's like "beck we hardly knew ye!" lots of middle-aged rock critics out there who have a lot invested in believing that "odelay" wasn't a fluke.

this album is embarrassing.

(Harmonica solo)

I miss his sense of humor

More like Boring Phase

Is he trying to capitalize on post-Mumford and Sons shtick or something

more like trying to capitalize by recycling himself, doing generic indie folk

I forgot Beck invented generic indie folk

It's mainly the production and arrangements that don't appeal to me wrt post-00s Beck. Like if he forced himself to make this album on a 4-track it would somehow be WAYYYY better.

Like if "Today Has Been a Fucked Up Day" was recorded now it would have 64 layers of vocals and tambourines and people stomping and stuff.

he is the godfather of it, in a way...

but now it seems Bon Iver took his place

xpost

yeah, trying too hard to be "pretty"..

Wish he would record Ozzy Pt. 2

The flipside of calling this generic would be to say that it's archetypal. I like its subtleties, like the contrasting melodic contour in the second verse and the way the chorus is segmented. Also think his voice sounds great.

http://timeentertainment.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/20140119_beck_morning_phase_91.jpg
that is the cover not the hideous thing upthread.

"new moon" sounds promising, i quite like the banjo playing.

Start at track 3

i've lsitened to this record twice now and i might even listen to it again at some point

wow, really expected this to be better

I can think of few big artists I have lower expectations for than Beck...

It's a bummer this does seem rather tepid on first listen, considering all the amazing stuff he's been doing very under the radar the last few years. The Record Club 'Oar' full-album cover remains one of my favorite albums of the 2010s (http://www.beck.com/recordclub/index.php/category/skip-spence-oar). And this is one of the very best pieces of music I've heard in the last couple years, from any time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaKrnjY8LiY

^ this. Beck and Yoshinori Sunahara, Cornelius or Shugo Tokumaru collab would be ace

― MaresNest, Friday, January 17, 2014 11:52 PM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

nah, not cornelius, it'd be humiliating. fantasma >>>>>>>>>> beck

I mean, damn:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJonU9233Do

Fair point, but I think part of the lifetime-achievement concept is that you've been overlooked in the past. Prior to this year, Beck had won three Grammys; Beyonce (I just counted), 18--including her controversial 2014 award for Best Surround Sound Album.

this album is exactly boring enough to deserve this award.

This album is beautiful and deeply boring, and Beck probably still can't believe he won any awards for it.

Looked at some rather dubious analysis today that tried to attach meaning to Beck's win (and Beyonce's not-win). It's a nice album for fans only (and far from all of them), quite inconsequential, no it shouldn't win any awards. But it's the kind of Lifetime Achievement award, long after somebody's most vital work, that happens all the time at these affairs. Paul Newman wins for The Color of Money, Scorsese wins for The Departed, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, Steely Dan, etc. Mellow Gold was not nominated in 1994, The Bodyguard soundtrack won; Odelay was nominated three years later and lost to Celine Dion. I think the guy from the Verve Pipe threatened to boycott future Grammy shows after the Odelay snub.

― clemenza, Monday, February 9, 2015 6:56 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I was gonna listen to Bey, Beck, and Skateboard P's albums today for a thinkpiece tonight about why Bey lost and why they won but today was rough and I'm exhausted and somehow I never made it to re-listening to Bey today

i heard a few tracks from this at a saturday morning yoga class. rolled my eyes when his smoggy voice rolled in, think i was in warrior two.

― mattresslessness, Monday, February 9, 2015 4:09 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I love this post so much <3

I do think Beck gushing about how excited he was when Kanye West came onstage, and about what a fan he is, is pretty funny (good-funny). I still see him as Mark Fidrych, more or less, part of why I still like him.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Mark_Fidrych.JPG/200px-Mark_Fidrych.JPG

wow. That is uncanny.

i like this album but i swear i have seen/heard more ppl talk about it now than when it came out, the level of interest its getting w/r/t Bey far outweighs its actual interest as an album

and if i see one more person do a shitty FB "Beck album =1 writer 1 producer vs Beyonce 27 songwriters 19 producers"i will burn down the internet with a flamethrower

See also: Aphex. I mean Syro's alright, but lol at getting a Grammy for it considering the rest of his entire career to this date.

― oi listen mate, shut up (dog latin), Monday, February 9, 2015 10:14 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

To be fair, the best electronic album category has only existed since 2005.

apparently some indie women i know think that Beck is gorgeous? WTF?

he used to be when he was young. now he just looks scrawny & bug-eyed

Yeah he was dreamy 20 yrs ago

Still dreamy gawd what do you want a 45 year old to look like

less gaunt

Beck hasn't gotten crazy enough with the Cheese Whiz in his dotage for some, apparently.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-beck-annie-lennox-grammy-awards-album-sales-bump-20150218-story.html

Answering the Twitter hashtag mystery "#whoisbeck," the veteran indie rocker not only came away from the 2015 Grammy Awards ceremony with the coveted album of the year trophy, but his exposure on the show (and additional media fallout from Kanye West’s photobombing of his moment) helped fuel a whopping 483% increase in sales of his winning album “Morning Phase.”

The album shot from No. 39 a week ago on sales of 12,200 copies to No. 8 as about 71,000 copies were snapped up following the Grammy telecast.
Historically, artists featured in the show’s high-visibility performance slots often fare better than many who actually win awards, but in this case, Beck benefited from taking one of the big four category awards (record, album, song and new artist) and got additional camera time in his joint appearance with Coldplay’s Chris Martin...

Wow that doesn't sound like too many extra sales.

It's 2015, less folks are buying albums and cds

i'm more surprised that 12k ppl bought it the week before to be honest

An increase of 50,000 tho, I wonder how many people watched the Grammys and how much money was spent on it and LOL

This is very heartwarming:

http://www.etonline.com/music/160033_kanye_west_finally_listens_to_beck/

@justinbieber
This @beck album is incredible

well I just received this as a present

why is Beck so sad

the gentrification of silverlake?

forced back into Scientology, had to dump his old GF, hasn't cheered up since Sea Change

the happy party vibes of guero always seemed forced to me (still some jams on it)

Why is his voice auto tuned on this audiophile album?

I liked the Oar cover album a lot, and I have plenty of love for earlier sad Beck but this just sounds so flaccid and mopey, the pace of everything is near glacial, like its goal is to help me take a nap

i remember i used to fall asleep listening to sea change when it came out - i felt that was one of its great attributes!

hey I like naps too

not really what I want/expected from Beck, there's better nap-inducing music out there for me. the industry love for this album is based more on industry politics than anything else bu it's still weird to think that anyone would rate this sleepy fairly generic and hook-free album ALBUM OF THE YEAR I mean waht

was pretty sure the endgame of the whole beck / kanye kerfuffle this year was going to be kanye embracing scientology