|
Modern Guilt | 
 enlarge | Artist: Beck
Label: Interscope Records
Category: Music
List Price: $13.98
Buy New: $6.31
You Save: $7.67 (55%)
New (48) Used (20) from $6.31
Avg. Customer Rating:  90 reviews
Sales Rank: 50
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 602517754416
EAN: 0602517754416
Release Date: July 8, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Tracks:
| • | Orphans | | • | Gamma Ray | | • | Chemtrails | | • | Modern Guilt | | • | Youthless | | • | Walls | | • | Replica | | • | Soul of A Man | | • | Profanity Prayers | | • | Volcano |
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
People en Español
In the last few years, Beck has freely sailed the seas of electronic and alternative music, but he is now back on land with Modern Guilt, an album that gravitates mostly toward electronic music and that, unfortunately, only has a couple of songs that really stand out ("Modern Guilt," "Orphans"). The problem has nothing to do with the fact that this CD is more electronic than acoustic. The sound is poor, and it sounds as if Beck were actually singing out of a barrel. Also, the beat doesn't change from one song to the next, and if you don't listen carefully to each song, you could not tell when tracks change. Despite Beck being one of the most creative and versatile musicians in recent years, the songs of this album have no depth. Let's just hope that Beck surprises with his next. --Ernesto Snchez (People en Espaol  ) En los ltimos aos, Beck ha navegado libremente por las aguas de las msica electrnica y la alternativa, ahora est regreso al mundo de la msica con Modern Guilt, un disco que se inclina ms hacia la msica electrnica y que desgraciadamente slo tiene un par de canciones que se destacan como "Modern Guilt" y "Orphans." Y el problema no tiene nada que ver con el hecho de que sea un disco ms electrnico que acstico, el sonido del disco es muy pobre, pareciera que Beck est cantando dentro de una cubeta, y el beat no parece cambiar de una cancin a la otra. Si no se pone extrema atencin a cada cancin no se dar cuenta del momento en que cambian los tracks. Si bien Beck es uno de los msicos ms creativos y verstiles de los ltimos aos hay que decir que este es un disco en el que los temas carecen de profundidad. Esperemos que Beck realmente nos sorprenda con su siguiente produccin. --Ernesto Snchez (People en Espaol )
Amazon.com
Beck's new album Modern Guilt, produced with Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton, will be released July 8, 2008.
The new album contains 10 new songs, and with the exception of last year's Grammy-nominated, digital-only single "Timebomb", Modern Guilt is the first new material Beck has written since the prolific stretch that produced 2005's platinum Guero and 2006's universally acclaimed The Information.
Modern Guilt is a tightly assembled group of songs that range in lyrical tone from introspection and social commentary to off the cuff wordplay and lighthearted humor. Musically, the album's ten tracks vacillate between economy and experimentation, hybrid and pop classicism, while consistently manifesting Beck and Danger Mouse's shared interest in psych-rock, folk, electronic minimalism and orchestration.
Beck is about to embark on a tour of the UK and Europe, followed by a number of US headline and festival appearances, culminating in Beck's biggest hometown headline show to date, September 20, 2008 at the Hollywood Bowl. Beck Photos
Album Description
Modern Guilt is the tenth studio album by musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Beck. Modern Guilt features two contributions by Cat Power and co-produced by Danger Mouse. The hit track 'Chemtrails' is a genre-bending tour de force that showcases Beck and producer Danger Mouse's shared affection for late '60s Psych-Pop. The album releases on July 8, 2008, his 38th birthday.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 85 more reviews...
 Beck evolves on newest album to create 'Modern' masterpiece August 15, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Musical chameleon Beck released his latest album, "Modern Guilt," on his 38th birthday and the songs found therein display an artist far removed from the 23-year-old Los Angeles slacker who was telling us he was 'un perdedor' on "Mellow Gold," his 1994 breakthrough release. This disc finds Mr. Hansen truly exploring the heavy themes of death and personal reflection for the first time, and the results are nothing short of stellar. Middle age, it seems, has its benefits.
Beck tried this feat, the "serious record," two years ago on 2006's "The Information," but the message was pretty much lost to critics and fans, who thought the filtered-through-a-ColecoVision beats and lyrics about cellular phones were more post-apocalyptic and self-referential than anything else. He gets straight to the point this time around, with 10 concise tracks, a 34-minute runtime and not an ounce of leftover ideas to clutter the proceedings.
To the delight of fans the world over, Beck enlisted Danger Mouse (Brian Burton), the reigning critical darling of the music-production world, to man the boards on "Modern Guilt." They make an excellent team, what with their shared taste for `60s psychedelic rock, twitchy percussion and looped string samples -- not to mention their impeccable ear for catchy riffs. The surf-rock bass line that serves as the backbone for "Gamma Ray" makes it the closest approximation to a pop song Beck has written in years.
Perhaps tired of hearing that his last two records were trying too hard to be "Odelay 2.0," Beck has dialed back his use of left-field audio samples and bits of obscure and forgotten songs from decades past, choosing instead to interpret those influences and recreate them as fairly straightforward rock tunes. People seem to forget that, if you ignore the space-cowboy production flourishes that saturate every last inch of Beck's late-`90s output, he was -- and still is -- one of the most prolific singer-songwriters of the last 25 years.
Of course, it wouldn't be a true Beck album if he didn't make room in his lyrics for a full notebook's worth of wacky one-liners and vaguely interpretable philosophical musings. The churning "Soul of a Man" finds our hero spitting out non sequiturs as if he made them up a few seconds before walking into the recording booth. "Beat my bones against the wall/Put a bank note on your bond/Gris-gris and a goldenrod/Deep down in a hollow log," goes one verse, the words apparently chosen for no reason other than to meet the song's syllabic needs.
"Chemtrails," the slow and dreamy lead single, addresses the urban legend that the vapor trails from commercial airliners contain chemicals that, once they fall to Earth and are inhaled by an unaware populace, allow the government to control us. (Sample lyric: "You and me hit by a test of white evil/Watching the jet planes go by") Now, that may just be the Scientology talking, but the fact remains that "Chemtrails" is one of the most beautifully composed Beck ballads in recent memory.
Prior to the release of "Modern Guilt," there was a lot of excited chatter over the news that soul singer Cat Power (Chan Marshall) would be making a cameo appearance on two of the album's tracks, "Orphans" and "Walls," but her contributions are so incidental (and not to mention barely audible) that I think mentioning them four-fifths of the way through my review will suffice.
The most notable aspect of "Modern Guilt," in my opinion, is that it is the first Beck album since 1999's "Midnite Vultures" to not have a single clunker on it. Perhaps they were crafted that way, to get in and out in less than four minutes each and leave you wanting more. And there's no guilt in that, modern or otherwise.
Lovin' this CD July 10, 2008
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
From the first song to the last this
cd is AWESOME! I love Gamma Ray and Chemtrails but Volcano is
my favorite. Bravo Beck!
Beck Turns Psychedelic July 12, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Just when I thought Beck couldn't thing of anything else new, he turned psychedelic in this new album, "Modern Guilt."
I never thought that retro psychedelic music would mix so well with Beck's "Two turntables and a microphone" sound, but thanks to producer Danger Mouse, Beck is now a semi-retro hip/hop rocker. Although this album tends to shift his groove to his sad song mode, he manages to retain a steady funky beat through the whole thing.
This album is a old-meets-new masterpiece, involving retro sounds but also adding some modern hip-hop and electronica sounds. Beck turns from integrating string ensembles and honky-tonk pianos in the Motown-style "Modern Guilt" to laying funky hip-hop beats and spacy beeps in the song "Youthless." Songs such as "Replica" add in a speedy jungle drum beat with ephemeral piano chords. And Beck has plenty of spacy, echoing "aahs" in the album, as an homage to the "aahs" of the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album.
One of the best songs that includes these "aahs" is the Doors-style jam "Gamma Ray," featuring a funky guitar line with plenty of Pet Sounds "aahs." And Beck finds very cool ways of playing those "aahs" by playing the "aahs" and sitar sounds in reverse. It feels like a funky 60s song with plenty of cool 90s twists to make it sound a little techno too.
However, the best song by far is "Chemtrails," in which Beck really lets drummer Joey Waronker jam with spacy Beach Boy-style vocals in the background. And Waronker really shows off his drumming skills with clanging cymbals, a rocking hip-hop beat and rapid-fire drum rolls.
Believe it or not, Beck's new album also features a cameo appearance by Chan Marshall, also known as Cat Power. However, the cameo is far from typical. Marshall sings some "aahs" in the background of "Walls," and Beck remixed her voice so that her voice plays two octaves higher than usual. Her new voice adds a cool, crooning Japanese-style overtone to Beck's Motown-style synthesizer sound, as Beck sings "Hey, what are you gonna do/When those walls are falling down/Falling down on you."
While the album is a little short, it still sounds brilliant. The retro, psychedelic sound fits perfectly with Beck, and Danger Mouse did a great job mixing his songs as producer. Now I'm hoping that Beck gets to work on future albums with more of these eclectic producers, such as Danger Mouse.
Best album since "Sea Change" July 27, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've waited a long time for this record. "The Information" was a huge disappointment. "Guero" was good, but Beck was trying to hard to sound like the Beck from the past - nothing new or ground breaking. Some artists you keep buying their records, even when you get burned a few times in a row. After 6 years I finally got the record I wanted. I love it. And it sounds awesome on Vinyl!
A Quirky and Addictive Slap in The Soul July 9, 2008
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
2008 has been a prolific year for releases from major artists (REM, Counting Crows, The Black Crowes, Colplay, Alanis Morrisette, Lil Wayne, etc etc). Most of these releases have been worthy of praise, but I have found a few flaws in all of them. Call me an idiot, but I cant find any flaws in Beck's new release, Modern Guilt, although I am sure some reviewers are itching to point some flaws out to me.
As Beck gets closer to 40, his songwriting has matured. He seems to use fewer samples than he used to. He still wears his influences on his sleeve, but his personality is all over the music. His collaboration with Danger Mouse worked well. The "beats" are paced well enough to make the entire album easy to enjoy in one listen, but you will want to listen again as soon as you're done.
Becks lyrics have always been quirky and obtuse, and this album is no exception. But this time the imagery seems thicker and more foreboding. The bodies drowning in the moody and ethereal "Chemtrails" are certainly morose and some may think Beck a bit paranoid, but he may be justified. The crunchy, guitar driven "Profanity Prayers" could be the highlight of the album and is my personal favorite. "Who's gonna answer profanity prayers" is quite a slap in the face of modern man. Our calls to a higher power have become nothing more than four letter words. Beck addresses a higher power at several points and he certainly makes more sense than the hair sprayed con men on TV.
Beck has proven here that middle age doesnt dull creativity. The songs Ive mentioned above along with the bass heavy "Orphans", "Gamma Ray" and "Youthless" easily rank along with some his best songs. (I know this sounds weird...but I can picture Austin Powers doing his "shag dance" to "Gamma Ray"). Some of the songs are experiments, such as the slightly eccentric "Replica", but the experiments work. You may need to listen more than once, but none of the songs are filler. Every song has something to offer and seems as if it will offer even more the next time you listen.
If Beck isnt nominated for at least Alternative Album of the Year, the academy of music and recorded arts is a bunch of idiots.
|
|
|
|
Powered by Search-Save.com
| |
