album #11

odelay (beck)

There must be a better Beck album out there for my tastes. Or, maybe he's just not my thing. I have vague recollections of liking parts of Midnite Vultures, and Guero was pretty good. Odelay just feels like a bag of tricks. Perhaps the problem is a matter of context- when this first comes out, perhaps it's revolutionary, different, marvelously strange. Listening to it now, fully aware of the Beck sound, the shock of the new completely a non-factor in my interpretation, it just feels… like I said, like it's all tricks.

"Devil's Haircut" is cool- that guitar is such a magnificent way to kick off an album- a fantastic declaration. But so much of the album is, fuzzy guitar, twang, faux hip hop, the vocals that barely shift from note to note, the jangly percussion. Whoops, maybe I'm not describing tricks, but his sound itself. Maybe I just don't like his music that much. "Jack-Ass" has a cool sound to it- I think he's sampling a Rolling Stones song here, I'm not sure. "Where It's At" is a perfectly good standout. "Minus" is good, I like the rock and roll intensity. And "Diskobox" has a cool sound, I like that leisurely piano sound he builds from. I don't love this album, or even any of the songs in particular. But… I can't think of anything redeeming to say. It's a generally cool sound and he seems like a generally cool guy. I'll keep looking for the right album (even though I feel like they might all be this uneven.)