Modern Guilt Acoustic: “Gamma Ray” from Beck Hansen.
Beck should be a relic. His is a career that is old and full of experience and brilliance and iconoclasm. It’s also sort of over. His heat is long gone. But, in the span of two weeks, I have changed my perception of Beck. Now, he is a forward-thinker, and a generous man. The Internet strikes again!
Beck’s new web site (Beck.com, obvs) is so simple and elegant it feels ten years old. Like when web sites couldn’t carry any information, so they stuck to the basics: singular visual motif, links, photos. No “buckets.” The basics of Beck.com are simple. Conversations with buds like Tom Waits at Irrelevant Topics. Videos at the unimaginatively named Videotheque. A news section. The best, Record Club, is one of the cleverest examples of seizing “new media” and using it as a warm blanket.
After last year’s quiet, simple, fairly dull Modern Guilt, Beck seemed to be settling into his dependable/uncontroversial phase. Albums every other year. Decent tour. Sonic experimentation minimized. Acoustic guitars populating more and more releases. It was as if 2005’s Guero was some sort of last showdown between “zany” Beck and the guy who’s got a puddle where his heart oughta be. The Information was the relent, cool sticker-play cover art notwithstanding. But then, Record Club, a simple conceit: Cover one album at a time, with friends and luminaries. First up is The Velvet Underground & Nico. Songs far, so fantastic. Next up, old pal Tom Breihan tells us, is Moby Grape frontman Skip Spence’s bizarre Oar, recorded with Wilco. Beck teased Breihan earlier this month about Digital Underground and Ace of Base cover sessions. Alas, they’re just a figment right now. But here’s the thing about these warm blankets: They’re free. So, in case you hate their version of “Femme Fatale” (you probably won’t, Giovanni Ribisi is a badass guitarist, I guess), you can just ignore it.
It’s hard for aging rock star savants to stay relevant or interesting or even mildly considerate and keep fans engaged. This seems like an infinitely thoughtful way of hanging in there.
