I’ve been listening, pretty much non-stop, to Beck’s “Guero” since it came out on Tuesday. The first few tracks sounded quite strange because for the past month I spent a fair amount of time listening to Beck’s E-Pro EP. Weird to hear the remixes first, which as Colin pointed out to me sounded like they were done by someone with an obsession with Sega’s video game “Lemmings.” Ahh, memories of the old Game Gear…Anyway, most of the reviews for “Guero” are positive but not effusive. Reviewers are mildly disappointed that the new cd isn’t a shocking turn in some new direction and they all point to Beck in his role as the mid-30s dad as the reason we now have a “classic Beck’ album rather than something “really new.”
The reviewers revel in Beck’s eclecticism but seem more interested in internal consistency on albums. “Guero” is not a party album like “Mellow Gold” nor a break up album a la “Sea Change,” it just sounds like an album by Beck, and that’s a good thing (as Martha would say).
So, Guero, where you going? Good question and Beck’s album really made me think about that for some reason. How did a white boy who grew up idolizing hard core soul singers like James Carr, Don Covay, and Eddie Floyd (and remember The Fantastic Johnny C!) end up here, doing what I do, and listening to Beck instead of Michael Bolton and Yanni, who get shout-outs on “Guero,” along with James Joyce, of all people?
Steady movement to the left (geographically and politically); taking in bits and pieces and trying to craft something (intellectually and politically) that made sense to me. Not being intellectually promiscuous (at least I don’t think so), but heretical (whether the crowd is conservative, liberal, or “marxist”).
It’s not that Beck is musically promiscuous, there’s nothing casual about what he does, rather he continues to not conform to expectations and that’s what, in part, makes “Guero” a great album. It’s not shockingly different (for Beck).
Blues, hip hop, Marx, 70s pop, acoustic soul, anarchism, Stax, electronica, revolutions and revelations…it may be inscrutable, but it’s got a good beat, and you dance to it. I rate it at 98.
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