Beck: MUTATIONS (1998)

-A Review-

This album is not Odelay, and that is both bad and good.  Bad, because Odelay is so good that to simply not be it is bad.  Good, because it, also, is really freaking good.  It came out in a year that produced only a few albums of like caliber (Yield, Hello Nasty, You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby, LoZ, OoT), but it was overlooked nonetheless.  As usual, the commercial failing of this great album can be chalked up to record label idiocy, but it seems to go deeper than that:

Odelay (1996) was largely the responsibility of the Dust Brothers, so of course it was edgy, funky, crazy, awesome.  Nigel Godrich, while probably more of a genius than both of said Brothers combined, should never have been expected to follow them and produce the same excitement.  Who’s going to put on Paul’s Boutique while the party warms up, then slam down Kid A to really get the place jumpin?  Nobody, that’s who.  The same thing happened later in Beck’s career:  Guero hit the stores, and DJs told us, “Finally!  Beck made another Odelay!”  Then The Information gloriously incarnated itself into our presence, and the same DJs said, “Don’t bother, it’s just another weird Beck album.”  (DJs usually don’t know jack phooey, btw.)

So trust me:  It’s good.  Real good.  It can sound a bit silly at times (for a mellow Beck album, it certainly isn’t as mature as Sea Change) but try your best to appreciate what Messers Beck and Godrich accomplished: compared to Beck’s previous output, these songs sound like something even our parents would enjoy.  And at the same time, they still contain the art-studio craziness that we had come to love and expect.  (Track 01:  “Cold Brains.”)  And if you still can’t get into it, turn it up louder.  That usually works.

Highlights:

“Nobody’s Fault But My Own”
The album version is amazing, but not as amazing as this:

“Tropicalia”
Best use of that “hoo uh huh uh” instrument since “Me and Julio.”

“Sing it Again”
Beck meets Willie Nelson.  Easily on my top 5 list of guitar solos.  (Yes, really.)

“Static”
Ends the album on a serious note that still leaves you feeling okay.  Beck at his soothing’st.

“Diamond Bollocks” (Hidden Track)
Actually ends the album on the very opposite note.  Beck at his crazy’st.  Also, the reason I bought a drum set.  Also, it’s called “Diamond Bollocks.”  C’mon.

Party all the time

We’ve got a friend, whom we’ll call “Will,” who occasionally exhorts us to engage in all manner of wacky, illegal, and downright dangerous escapades of frivolity and badassery.  When he does this, we get a chuckle in our bellies, a glimmer of joy in our eyes, and that wonderful sense of hope that it might come true.  This type of suggestive agenda-making is great for anticipation.  You know full-well in your mind that it won’t happen.  No way could it happen!  It would most-likely be very bad if it happened.  But still…what if?  Wouldn’t it be great?  For those of us who have never “raised” any “hell,” it’s enough just to have the prospect suggested.

However, it must be noted that unlike Will, many people lack the gift of suggestion.  They sense the excitement, and they want to be a part of it.  They’ll blurt out a seemingly similar and ridiculous challenge, only to have it met with looks out of the corners of eyes.  Not only does the suggestion fall flat, but it deflates the spirit of the room.  For example:  One of the following proposals is awesome, and the other is lame.  Super lame.  Can you tell them apart?

#1)  “Okay man, we’re going to play a drinking game.  Here are the rules:  Whenever I take a drink from the bottle of wine, you have to take one as well.  And whenever you take a drink from the bottle, I have to take a drink.  Ready?”

#2)  “Dude, we should totally drink this bottle of wine really fast.  We’ll get so drunk.”

Whether you end up drinking the wine or not is inconsequential.  The first offer makes you feel like “this is going to be the party of the year.”  The second offer makes you wish you had stayed home.

So if you’re looking to make this weekend one for the history books, aim high!  Because when we reach for the stars and fall short, we still come closer to achieving our dreams, or some kind of crap like that.  Just don’t do anything stupid.  Also, don’t hang out with frat boys, ever.

The only things you need for a party are two people and the RHCP playing “Love Rollercoaster.” -Will

#5 (Best Places for a Showdown)

Why confront your problems today when you can do it in…

-THE FUTURE-

Because you know what’s more awesome than a fist fight atop a moving train?  A phaser battle atop a hover transport…or whatever else you want to imagine!  Just go far enough into the future, and I’m sure it’ll exist by then.

But remember:  Hoverboards don’t work on water!

Unless you got POWAH!

 

The Holiday Around the Corner

Hallowe’en is o’er, and you know what that means…Christmas is just around the corner!  But it is STILL around the corner.  Let’s not get our corners confused here!  When I was a kid, Thanksgiving was the official kickoff of the Christmas season, and at our house we lamented even that.  We weren’t allowed to get Christmassy until after St. Nicholas’ Day (Dec. 6)!

What has happened?  It’s more than just a case of “when I was a kid.” Christmas definitely has been creeping earlier into the fall every year.  When I say that Christmas has “done” this, though, of course I mean that the freaking corporations have “shoved it down our throats.” For years some radio stations switched to a Christmas-only format in December.  But now they do it on Nov. 1st!  Is Hallowe’en so holy?  Why not start earlier?  Why is only Thanksgiving thus trampled?

It’s because Thanksgiving has now become not just a kickoff point, but rather a part of Christmas.  It comes as no surprise in the stores ($), but Christmas lights on houses and trees in living rooms, already in early- to mid-November, show that it infects our homes.  Thanksgiving has been reduced to a Christmas run-through!

The commercials want us to think that “Happy Holidays” includes the pilgrims (although they didn’t even celebrate Christmas).  No one says “Happy Holidays” and means Thanksgiving, because no one says that until December. I’m not a nut-job trying to reclaim the purity of Christmas.  I just want to give each holiday its due.

Two theories on why Thanksgiving has been Christmasized:

1)  People are sad, and Christmas makes them happy.  Why not be happy for two solid months instead of one?

2)  Christmas has been so watered down that people honestly can’t tell the two holidays apart.

The second one is absolutely true.  Since WWII, Christmas has meant being home with the ones you love, and who can blame homesick GI’s for wanting that?  But the business world realized how money this was, and we’ve never looked back.  How many touching Full-House-style sitcom moments have we seen where it’s revealed that “Christmas isn’t about presents, or decorations or anything like that.”  (…okay, agreed…)  “Christmas is about being with the ones you love.”

Try again.  Or, just leave it to the one Christmas special that got it right.

In any case, let’s wait until December.  We don’t want to anger any pilgrim ghosts with our papist revelry!

And you thought Hallowe'en was o'er.