Outsiders love them because they feel like they can relate to the ("they are just as messed up as me, they're on my wavelength!") and 'normal people' like them because they are the freak-show of the week ("oh my god, check this chick out shes wack, who cares what she said, what is she wearing?!"). Eccentrics can make money off of their image and also make awful, atrocious, cringe worthy music that you wouldn't dare show to anyone. They can also be brilliant amazing people, who are just a little strange, who don't care about whats best for their image or that no one cares about the art they make; all they care about is making themselves happy. Which segues nicely into whom I shall talk about in this post, Beck ( and no, not Jeff Beck)
From the first time I heard 'Where it's at' I knew that Beck would be a small hero of mine. He has made music which has his particular stamp on it. You know a Beck song when you hear one. And whatever genre he puts his mind to he nearly always pulls it off. But enough music journalism rubbish! Who is this man and why do you love him? I couldn't cover all of his records in detail without turning my blog into a Beck Wiki article. So, we shall start with two of his most popular records and then go into deeper cuts into a later post.
This is my love message to Beck. If anyone cares :D.
Beck is an Los Angeles based artist who has released some bloody excellent albums since 1993 (MTV quote). The song he's probably most well known for is from 1994's Mellow Gold, "Loser". This song rocketed Beck into fame and its not hard to see why. Following the Aerosmith's formula of writing a hit song, Beck bases it structurally around a chorus (except it's not shit (lol jj Aerosmith fans, we know Steven Tyler loves u)). Loser has an infectious slide guitar riff-drum machine loop combo which is played throughout the song which combined with dead pan rapped vocals about (to the average listener) absolute rubbish with a catchy chorus ("I'm a loser baby/so why don't kill me"), the acoustic hip-hop crossover song was bound from success. The rest of the album has a very cohesive feel of the acoustic guitar, Beck's dead pan vocals and a lazy drum machine, which is not to say that the album sounds bland. "Steal My Body Home" gives me Captain Beefheart vibes, while "Sweet Sunshine" and "Mutherfuker" have heavy, sludgy sounds that are rather Grunge inspired. "Soul Suckin' Jerk" sounds like it uses a programmed bass line over this despondent guitar line and digitally manipulated vocals. Overall, it is a very good first attempt and progresses a lot from his first two albums but, like Radiohead, compared to his later releases, it falls a little short.
The next major label release by Beck was Odelay and it is AMAZING. It takes Mellow Gold, says "oh nice job bro" and takes it to some strange, oddball, Cloud Nine. By a factor of a gazillion! To the power of 13 (you get the point).
Odelay blows anything on Mellow Gold out of the water, with better production, better song crafting and more appropriate instrumentation. 'Where it's at' will always hold a special place in my heart for its cute organ intro, lovable drum beat, sampling that would put most DJs to shame and gang vocals that work. Period. 'Jack-Ass' points towards the melancholic introspection that would appear later on Sea Change in 2002 with sweet lyrics and soft guitar. 'Novacane' has a such a strange mismatch of sounds that sound like a jam rather than a song. 'Devil's Haircut' has a snarl and sass in his voice combined with a great riff and breakbeat drum. 'High 5 (Rock The Catskills)' has a killer hook to it and 'The New Pollution' is creepily addictive, bringing thoughts of gross 50s and 60s TV ads to mind. I could list of how good every song on this album is but I think that would be a waste of time. All I want to say at this point would be implore you to listen to this record. Even if you were to go away from this article and listen to just one song, 'Where it's at' is the medicine that this doctor is prescribing.
So yes, these two albums are a little kooky, a little bit odd but that's why they are so good. They are pretentious songs which look down on you plebs that say "MP3 files are the WORST way to listen to music" or "Oh, you listen to that?". These songs are what they are, the results of the imagination of one man, Beck, and they are so refreshing. In a world of the image and party anthems, Beck shows us that its okay to be a bit strange and original, and do weird and unique things with instruments.
After all he's got Two turntables and a microphone.
Beck - Loser- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgSPaXgAdzE
Beck - Where It's At- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPfmNxKLDG4
A great interview with Thurston Moore- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdzY49xlvdY
Beercan, great song- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j44QKz10Dyk
<#3
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