“One, two, you know what to do!” are the words
of the first three seconds of Beck’s new album, The Information. This line is a
tongue-in-cheek sum of the album to come, because anyone who’s
listened to Beck in the past could foresee the styles he presents on
this album, but no one could foresee how he delivers them. Given the
dramatic turns Beck has taken in his career, it is almost surprising to
see him finally settling down and distilling his style, although The Information seems to take
from all the Becks of the past, while creating a new Beck for the
future. It is much more than just a sum of its parts. In fact,
it’s something of a statement on 21st century living.
Technological idioms such as sampling
and electronic beats are on the album, as well as plenty of references
to the technophilic world we live in. Beck re-appropriates
society’s values, kills our cell phones and makes us wonder if
maybe white boys really can
rap after all. With The
Information, Beck deals with a long progression of rap style, which
has gone from the absurd on Mellow
Gold (“Shave your face with some mace in the dark”) to
the stylized, mainstream-mocking rapping on Midnight Vultures (“Tricked out Hyundais
and Christmas in July”), and eventually into the Latin style on Guero
(“See the vegetable man in the vegetable van”); and
interestingly, it uses elements of each style, but ultimately remains
true to the unique style of The
Information. The rapping rests on a bed of funky drums and bass,
and while not so Prince-y as Midnight
Vultures, or as Latin as Guero, Beck’s funk is still in tune.
There are of course, other elements of
Beck’s style that appear in the album, including his post-Odelay
spacey-ness. Songs like “Soldier Jane” and “Movie
Theme” even sound like the work he did with Air for their album, 10,000Hz Legend. He also seems
to tap into what can only be called the atmospheric qualities of Mutations and Sea Change. What I mean by
atmosphere is the overall sense of space Beck gives the listener
through very precise production. This production style, when applied to
the funkiness of The Information,
gives the album its musical continuity, making songs that would seem
very different, overwhelmingly similar. The bass lines groove, the drum
tracks bang, the guitars and voices come in where they should, and the
background noise and craziness is perfectly placed to show us where we
are in time and space.
And that begs the big question of the so
called post post (etc.) modern era:
“where the F#&% are we?” Go listen to The Information and get a clue
with a side of some really good grooves.
