Beck: Modern Guilt

20th July 2008 | by Ross Riley

Everyone used to love Beck, from the time he first gained our collective attention with 'MTV Makes Me Want to Smoke Crack' and then the ultimate slacker anthem 'Loser' there was an air of artistic creativity mixed with that rare talent for lyrical commentary.

It's hard to pinpoint where he stopped being as cuttingly relevant, though after the phenomenal brilliance of Odelay it was easy to see his subsequent work as an attempt to return to or even bask in the reflected glory of his seminal release. Changes of producers produced some interesting diversions along the way but nothing to scale those heights artistically, albeit with plenty of commercial success.

It's hard to believe that we're now twelve years on from Odelay and onto studio album number eight %u2013 Modern Guilt, which in many ways is an interesting point on Beck's career path. Production is handled by Danger Mouse which in itself gives the album an intravenous shot of rhythmic enhancement, tracks like Chemtrails and Replica are staked out by his trademark lounging electronica which is, in places, a perfect match for Beck's style.

There's some low-key contributions from Cat Power as backing vocalist on opener 'Orphans' and later 'Walls', you'll barely notice which is perhaps a missed opportunity but both tracks gain a little from the depth.

Overall it's hard to say this is an outstanding Beck album, it is perhaps the most creative musical release since the turn of the century, but there's no sign of Beck revisiting any of the lyrical highs of Mellow Gold and Odelay. This is at best a chilled out electronic experiment that showcases Danger Mouse's skills perhaps a little more than Beck's.

That's not to say that this is a bad album, rather it just seems to be another addition to his canon of work that doesn't quite raise its head above the parapet of mediocrity.