Beck will never need to return to form. <\/p>\n
Return to earth. Return a favor. Turn a trick, maybe. But as a multi-instrumentalist and multimedia artist, I\u2019m not sure there\u2019s any homogenous home base for Beck to come back to.<\/p>\n
The world was ready for Odelay II<\/i> in 1998. We got a folky non-follow up in Mutations<\/i>. Enlightened ears braced again for a sequel in 1999, and we got the soft glow of electric sex from Midnite Vultures<\/i>. <\/p>\n
In subsequent LPs, we were surprised again and again until we stopped waiting. I can say with confidence I\u2019ve never been disappointed.<\/p>\n
With Midnite Vultures<\/i>, Beck shrugged off the Odelay<\/i> shackles — with a dip, drop-step and superlicious slide. This is where Beck the artist tests the weird waters, drowns in sound, solidifies his showmanship and draws a line in the sand.<\/p>\n
The first half of the record sticks to the Beck we kinda sorta know: A folky with a penchant for hip-hop and Jordache jeans. Part two reveals a solid salute to rock and roll, peaches and cream. The horns featured in album opener \u201cSexx Laws\u201d suggest Papa\u2019s got a brand new bag, while the hilarious and scintillating \u201cDebra\u201d cap the soft, at times sassy, back nine.<\/p>\n
Beck channels Bowie, bling and Prince with equal fervor throughout the Midnite<\/i> experience which peaks appropriately with \u201cMilk & Honey,\u201d a nugget he proudly proclaimed as his \u201cBob Seger song\u201d at a summer 2002 appearance in suburban Detroit. Like the rest of the album, it\u2019s a song that has it all; from cascading guitar choruses to robotic reverb to the occasional record scratch.<\/p>\n
The country-western\/Beach Boys amalgam \u201cBeautiful Way\u201d that follows breaks up a relationship and brings the lights down. And all the while, the Dylanesque images of nicotine and gravy and making garbage men scream hold it all together.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s definitely not Odelay<\/i>. It\u2019s certainly Beck, whatever he\/it is. Whatever Midnite<\/i> was meant to be, it is. A party? A headphone experiment? A return to form? Futuristic nostalgia rock?<\/p>\n
Sure. Anything but a return to form. Midnite Vultures<\/i> taught us how to spark love with a stick of gum. Mix business with leather. Impossible? You can do it. Midnite Vultures<\/i> can help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":25181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5717],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-40050","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-beck","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40050"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}