tbh I think its likely that both stories are true - mellow gold is such a scattershot of styles, its easy to imagine him trying out different sessions trying to decide between "Blackhole", "Loser", or "Mutherfuker".
"Minus" is a weird track for sure. I like it on Odelay but not sure if I could hang with a whole album of that.
― One Eye Open, Friday, 24 May 2019 15:19 (five years ago) link
wow so it turns out mutations is an extremely amazing record, "lazy flies" will also be high on my ballot but i could vote for almost all of it
― american bradass (BradNelson), Friday, 24 May 2019 15:31 (five years ago) link
gonna re-listen to that one tonight
― Emperor Tonetta Ketchup (sleeve), Friday, 24 May 2019 15:32 (five years ago) link
'Minus' really is the odd one out on Odelay. Always felt like he thought the album needed a 'Mutherfuker pt 2'.
― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Friday, 24 May 2019 15:32 (five years ago) link
Since "Hollywood Freaks" has come up, I found this from the NME in 2000 last night looking for Beck's oft-told P.Diddy story:
Beck also revealed the truth about his failed attempt at collaborating with Puff Daddy, and that the hip-hop star now snubs him.“He was pursuing me heavily,” Beck said. “He basically came out on my tour and followed me around and then got me into the studio late one night and I threw down some awful vocals over some Elton John track with a hip-hop beat, and I was singing something about how expensive my hormones were, and it didn’t connect, and I never heard from him again. I’ve seen him at awards shows, he shook my hand once, and otherwise I didn’t really exist any more.“It was like he was pursuing me and he had me, and I was discarded. I’m trying to get over it. But actually some of the tracks on my last album were from after that experience, I was inspired to write some songs, like what if that Puff Daddy track had worked out? ‘Hollywood Freaks’ was my fantasy of what Puff Daddy would do. That’s the kind of track I’d like to hear him do.”
“He was pursuing me heavily,” Beck said. “He basically came out on my tour and followed me around and then got me into the studio late one night and I threw down some awful vocals over some Elton John track with a hip-hop beat, and I was singing something about how expensive my hormones were, and it didn’t connect, and I never heard from him again. I’ve seen him at awards shows, he shook my hand once, and otherwise I didn’t really exist any more.
“It was like he was pursuing me and he had me, and I was discarded. I’m trying to get over it. But actually some of the tracks on my last album were from after that experience, I was inspired to write some songs, like what if that Puff Daddy track had worked out? ‘Hollywood Freaks’ was my fantasy of what Puff Daddy would do. That’s the kind of track I’d like to hear him do.”
― a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 24 May 2019 15:33 (five years ago) link
cracked beatlesesque psychedelia achieved through really spare homespun-sounding instrumentation that's also beautifully layered, the arrangement of every song seems to ripple outward as it goes (i find it kind of funny that the nigel godrich paul mccartney record chaos and creation in the backyard is kinda... mutations 2)
― american bradass (BradNelson), Friday, 24 May 2019 15:36 (five years ago) link
I ride hard for "Sing It Again" off Mutations, especially that guitar solo - not sure if its Beck or Smokey Hormel playing it, but even 20 years later when I listen to that album and it gets to that part it feels like a total showstopper, espec with the simple acoustic arrangement and live feel of the recording after all the harpsichord and tropicalia and Godrich keyboards and etc that come before it. One of the great end-of-album comedown songs. Like I said upthread, I would kill for an album's worth of no-frills acoustic country like that from Beck, but its probably not to be.
― One Eye Open, Friday, 24 May 2019 16:27 (five years ago) link
yeah, beautiful song.
Weirdly I think "We Live Again" was my Beck gateway song. Heard it on a Mojo comp or something?
― Simon H., Friday, 24 May 2019 16:30 (five years ago) link
I think one of the main reasons Mutations is my favorite is that it's somehow much more successfully/convincingly aching than Sea Change turned out to be, without sacrificing any of the lyrical eccentricity of that period
― Simon H., Friday, 24 May 2019 16:31 (five years ago) link
otm
― Emperor Tonetta Ketchup (sleeve), Friday, 24 May 2019 16:34 (five years ago) link
(if all of Sea Change vanished besides "Guess I'm Doing Fine" and "Paper Tiger" I'd be fine with that)
― Simon H., Friday, 24 May 2019 16:37 (five years ago) link
Sunday Sun is great but otherwise... The album served its purpose for me once but ive no need for it anymore really
― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Friday, 24 May 2019 16:40 (five years ago) link
For me, part of why I prefer Mutations to Sea Change is the change in his vocal style that came with Sea Change. He started singing differently and seemed interested in becoming a "good" singer in a way that changes the way a lot of that kind of material comes across in a big way, imho (not for the better).
But also compared to Mutations, Sea Change just seems like a louder record, which makes it less appealing as a late night listen. Like I can put on Mutations at home late at night and it sounds really right, but if I did that with Sea Change, before "Lonesome Tears" is over I'd be getting a call from my neighbors I'd imagine.
― One Eye Open, Friday, 24 May 2019 16:49 (five years ago) link
"Little One" on Sea Change is awesome (and also iirc a vintage copyright).
― a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 24 May 2019 16:54 (five years ago) link
oh yeah "Little One" is nice, I like the grungy vocal line on the verse
― Simon H., Friday, 24 May 2019 16:55 (five years ago) link
tbf Lonesome Tears is the one I'll be voting for highest off Sea Change
― imago, Friday, 24 May 2019 17:03 (five years ago) link
I doubt I'll have room for anything off of that one
― Emperor Tonetta Ketchup (sleeve), Friday, 24 May 2019 17:04 (five years ago) link
― Simon H., Friday, May 24, 2019
until recently I couldn't explain to people who loved Sea Change why they were wrong and Mutations did it better. Like I wrote this morning, in 1998 sounds and arrangements still interested him; they bespoke the "sincerity" with which the SC lyrics dripped.
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 24 May 2019 17:45 (five years ago) link
i think the songs on sea change, individually, at a songwriting level, are good-to-great. but all of them smushed together? with those arrangements? yikes
― american bradass (BradNelson), Friday, 24 May 2019 18:42 (five years ago) link
it’s like trawling at the bottom of a single shitty feeling
yep
― Simon H., Friday, 24 May 2019 18:53 (five years ago) link
which is why it sounds great when you're a teenager and a drag afterwards
o t m
― american bradass (BradNelson), Friday, 24 May 2019 18:59 (five years ago) link
It never sounded good -- worse, it sounded like an old man wit the maturity of a teen
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 24 May 2019 19:33 (five years ago) link
i have some ballots, getting very excited about this poll. yes, i will be sending out confirmation emails starting next week. none have been sent out yet.
― Bee OK, Friday, 24 May 2019 20:44 (five years ago) link
and this is the best thing i have ever seen in my life:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwXeCuhEch8&list=RDYwXeCuhEch8&start_radio=1
― Bee OK, Friday, 24 May 2019 21:12 (five years ago) link
let's try that againhttps://youtube/YwXeCuhEch8
― Bee OK, Friday, 24 May 2019 21:13 (five years ago) link
one last time:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwXeCuhEch8
― Bee OK, Friday, 24 May 2019 21:14 (five years ago) link
LOL @ him hugging the band at the end
― One Eye Open, Friday, 24 May 2019 21:20 (five years ago) link
haven't much enjoyed beck since i went through a huge phase in high school (round guero times), but i'm definitely considering submitting a one-song ballot with Debra
― Accidentally Gets High By Touching LSD Left in Vintage Buchla (voodoo chili), Friday, 24 May 2019 21:23 (five years ago) link
is frontin on debra eligible?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thdXQCKNaCk
i won't reject anything.
― Bee OK, Friday, 24 May 2019 21:47 (five years ago) link
but did make it a minimum of five songs...
― Bee OK, Friday, 24 May 2019 23:28 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyCkhPTU13w
― the future is now, Saturday, 25 May 2019 02:20 (five years ago) link
Ugh, I hate Debra
It is amazing to me that he was SO YOUNG when he made all this stuff, wow. I remember the interminable time it took between Odelay and the (rumoured) Midnite Vultures (with the stop-gap Mutations in the middle) and it was... three years? Between age 26-29 for the dude? Wow.
― flamboyant goon tie included, Saturday, 25 May 2019 03:11 (five years ago) link
i don't really get why debra is so polarising? it's a solid enough slow jam pastiche, but nothing more or less
― ufo, Saturday, 25 May 2019 03:19 (five years ago) link
Yeah he had a turbocharged few years of brilliance and really only a few glimpses of goodness since then. It happens! xp
― Simon H., Saturday, 25 May 2019 03:20 (five years ago) link
Sessions At W.54th was such a great show. Saturday nights with ACL and it were formative for me.
Here's the whole segment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ8AsbddEN4
It's bound to be a licensing nightmare, but I really wish PBS could create an HD channel that's just reruns of their vintage music shows (ACL, Sessions..., Soundstage, Live From The Artist's ?Den etc.).
― a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 25 May 2019 03:24 (five years ago) link
I mean, look at this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sessions_at_West_54th#Episode_list
― a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 25 May 2019 03:25 (five years ago) link
as far as his 00s material goes, Sea Change is quite good and i probably like it more than most here do, but i agree with Brad upthread that it's a bit too much overall. the best tracks are excellent and the first side is especially solid but it could easily lose say two tracks somewhere because it's almost suffocatingly dreary. "the golden age" and "lost cause" are lovely tunes and i love the strings on "paper tiger" and "lonesome tears"
Guero and The Information are both pretty boring and are the most 'Beck-by-numbers' he's ever been. a lot of the tracks on both albums will come up with a nice groove from the rhythm section but then won't have anything else going for them at all. the maximalist collage approach from Odelay and Midnite Vultures is gone, leaving both feeling a bit empty. The Information especially is so bloated too, there's probably an decent (if unexciting) album amongst its tracklist but it really didn't need to be an hour. Modern Guilt is kinda nice though, it's short and breezy with psych-pop tinges and a fair bit stronger than the previous two. it's not really on par with his peak period from the 90s but i'd be very happy with more Beck albums of similar quality.
― ufo, Saturday, 25 May 2019 04:12 (five years ago) link
My greatest beck-related memory was going to see the opening night of “The Core” with a friend that was so shitfaced whenever Hillary Swanks’ character Rebecca “Beck” Childs name was mentioned he would start singing “The Golden Age.”
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Saturday, 25 May 2019 05:28 (five years ago) link
Same -- Lazy Flies is all-time for me, partly because of the vocab (magistrate, debris, mangroves, sulphur, trawlers, opiates, syphilis, matrons, gigolos) but also because of whatever Waronker is doing in the second half.
― lefal junglist platton (wtev), Saturday, 25 May 2019 06:41 (five years ago) link
Maybe too many syd barrett echoes for me in the first half of lazy flies. Second half better
― lefal junglist platton (wtev), Saturday, 25 May 2019 06:43 (five years ago) link
If I tried to do a tracks list for Beck, it would probably be a perversely odd one. He was never an artist I deeply loved or listened to obsessively, but I always admired his boundless eclecticism which seemed the work of a genuine enthusiast and music lover and not a dilettante. But I think a lot of the stuff that's stuck with me over the 25 years or so have been less the hits and more the detours and homages and one-offs.
I don't know if you'd call this a Beck piece, as technically it's a "remix" of many Philip Glass works, but it feels like it very much transcends that: https://vimeo.com/51116926
― Soundslike, Saturday, 25 May 2019 23:55 (five years ago) link
A much cleaner recording of "NYC 73-78": https://soundcloud.com/dunvagenmusic/nyc-73-78
― Soundslike, Sunday, 26 May 2019 00:06 (five years ago) link
def voting for the philip glass rework
― american bradass (BradNelson), Sunday, 26 May 2019 11:27 (five years ago) link
ok, i'm far from a beck know-it-all but some stuff i recommend - mostly late-period stuff because that's the era i got into him:vampire voltage no. 6deadweightfunky li'l songgimme (extended version)debra (kcrw '98 version)santorini (record club: live at the acropolis)nostalgia (record club: live at the acropolis)nyc 73-78 (seconding)green lighttimebombscarecrow (el-p remix)harry partchbanjo (the banjo story)the commonplace is that somewhere in the 2000s he stopped making interesting music, but as far as i can tell that's not actually true, it's just that he stopped putting interesting music on his albums. nyc 73-78 is the outstanding example but not the only example.― Flood-Resistant Mirror-Drilling Machine (rushomancy), Saturday, May 18, 2019 9:39 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
vampire voltage no. 6deadweightfunky li'l songgimme (extended version)debra (kcrw '98 version)santorini (record club: live at the acropolis)nostalgia (record club: live at the acropolis)nyc 73-78 (seconding)green lighttimebombscarecrow (el-p remix)harry partchbanjo (the banjo story)
the commonplace is that somewhere in the 2000s he stopped making interesting music, but as far as i can tell that's not actually true, it's just that he stopped putting interesting music on his albums. nyc 73-78 is the outstanding example but not the only example.
― Flood-Resistant Mirror-Drilling Machine (rushomancy), Saturday, May 18, 2019 9:39 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
This is my feeling, heavily. Maybe the poll *won't* be just a bunch of 'Odelay' tracks? (Which I'll admit is my favorite album--but in putting my rankings together, I realized my tracks list and my albums list (as in albums-as-a-whole-work) are very different)
― Soundslike, Sunday, 26 May 2019 20:09 (five years ago) link
What’s the point of that Puff Daddy story? “It was like he was pursuing me and he had me, and I was discarded.” It sounds like Beck turned in a shitty performance, so Diddy didn’t want to work with him any longer, but is still polite to him. “Discarded”?
― get your hand outta my pocket universe (morrisp), Sunday, 26 May 2019 20:28 (five years ago) link
I'm listening to Mutations ("Bottle of Blues") as I type, a perfect post-pool album.
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 26 May 2019 20:32 (five years ago) link
XP Some of it is probably Beck playing to the NME--tabloid-ing it up, if you will--other versions of the story involve Diddy bringing him in to freestyle over a track, because he was the hot thing at the moment, and Beck delivered a very Beck-y freestyle that was too weird for the room.
― a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, 26 May 2019 20:39 (five years ago) link