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Beck

Modern Guilt

Geffen | 2008 | Album

Biography

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Beck is getting paranoid in his middle age. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The fields of paranoia are rich and fertile ground, that Beck mined successfully for his 2006 album, The Information. For that project he created a rich electronic soundscape rife with anxiety borne of humanity’s dependence on technology.

Now if there is one thing Beck is famous for it is for his refusal to be a static, easily-pigeon-holed artist who makes multiple albums in the same vein. But that is exactly what he has done with Modern Guilt.

Produced with Danger Mouse, Beck’s latest is a taut collection of electronic mumblings centered on darkness, brooding and morbidity. This is not a knock, because no one can cultivate this ground more deftly than Beck whose lyrical muse is as creative and playful as ever. “Gamma Ray,” with its impenetrable quips like “Come a little gamma ray, Standing in a hurricane, your brains are bored like a refugee” displays Beck at his best, weaving beautiful sounding sentences that only make sense After some mental gymnastics.

Overall, Modern Guilt is a solid if not spectacular effort from Beck, another pulsating jewel in his electronic crown, if just a little duller than the ones next to it.

Nate Campbell