Post by lildevil92 on Oct 13, 2007 10:49:51 GMT -5
Artist: Beck
Year of Release: 2006
Genre: Alternative, Experimental, Electronic
Beck the genrebender. Never a person to let borders chain him still. Possibly because of his chameleon-esque way of adapting everything he hears into one collage, his albums (the major label ones anyway) have always sounded more like song collections than actual consistent albums. The only exception so far was 2002's Sea Change, which saw Beck embracing his folk roots and managing to create an album full of the melancholy melodic acoustic pieces he's dropped here and there during his career.
The Information essentially plays out like all the other Beck albums bar Sea Change. It's a hybrid of things. You get the rock, you get the funk, you get the rap and you even get some ambient and electronica. The big difference this time however is that with The Information, the sound is unified. Most of the album trusts on downright funky beats and bass mixed with some acoustic guitars and all sorts of random percussion and keyboards. And Beck's rap-singing naturally. Indie rock mixed with hip hop is one way to put it, but still defines a bit too much. Another unifying thing is Beck's shameless self-sampling throughout the album that makes the tracks sound even more similar – throughout the album you can pick up specific moments (random vocal shouts, short instrumental bits) that just appear randomly on several tracks. And I think a particular woo-ooh vocal effect even predates back to E-Pro from Beck's last album, Guero. The effect simply emphasises the coherence of a solid, unified album.
Yet despite similar soundworld, there is no song that sounds the same. Cellphone's Dead mixes sparse hip-hop with wild, downright amazing percussion-heavy instrumental sections that sound like a latin samba orchestra going clubbing in urban nightlife. Movie Theme is downright electronica (perhaps producer Nigel Godrich has had some influence here) with a heavy atmosphere, whilst a track like Strange Apparition is its exact opposite – a rollicking pop jangle with furiously upbeat piano leading the way – before turning into a slow slouching mini-ballad that is. And then you've got 1000 BPM, a furious and aggressive in-your-face rap on top of noise slightly resembling something musical. And not all songs are energetic rockouts: songs like Movie Theme and New Round are a showcase of that. All of the songs have tons of energy and/or enthusiasm packed into them, Beck sounding extremely rejuvenated. Rather funny, considering how this album was apparently stressful to create.
The Information stands as Beck's strongest album overall. It's extremely varied yet still manages to stay in one place. It's got enough energy and groove to make you jump around your room enthusiastically, yet its calmer moments offer wonderfully beautiful melodies to endulge in. It may not be as bent to follow one specific style as Sea Change, but whatever The Information does it does it without breaking the album up. Excellent material.
Rating: 4.75 Stars
Track Listing:
1. Elevator Music
2. Think I'm in Love
3. Cellphone's Dead
4. Strange Apparition
5. Soldier Jane
6. Nausea
7. New Round
8. Dark Star
9. We Dance Alone
10. No Complaints
11. 1,000 BPM
12. Motorcade
13. The Information
14. Movie Theme
15. The Horrible Fanfare/Landslide/Exoskeleton
Year of Release: 2006
Genre: Alternative, Experimental, Electronic
Beck the genrebender. Never a person to let borders chain him still. Possibly because of his chameleon-esque way of adapting everything he hears into one collage, his albums (the major label ones anyway) have always sounded more like song collections than actual consistent albums. The only exception so far was 2002's Sea Change, which saw Beck embracing his folk roots and managing to create an album full of the melancholy melodic acoustic pieces he's dropped here and there during his career.
The Information essentially plays out like all the other Beck albums bar Sea Change. It's a hybrid of things. You get the rock, you get the funk, you get the rap and you even get some ambient and electronica. The big difference this time however is that with The Information, the sound is unified. Most of the album trusts on downright funky beats and bass mixed with some acoustic guitars and all sorts of random percussion and keyboards. And Beck's rap-singing naturally. Indie rock mixed with hip hop is one way to put it, but still defines a bit too much. Another unifying thing is Beck's shameless self-sampling throughout the album that makes the tracks sound even more similar – throughout the album you can pick up specific moments (random vocal shouts, short instrumental bits) that just appear randomly on several tracks. And I think a particular woo-ooh vocal effect even predates back to E-Pro from Beck's last album, Guero. The effect simply emphasises the coherence of a solid, unified album.
Yet despite similar soundworld, there is no song that sounds the same. Cellphone's Dead mixes sparse hip-hop with wild, downright amazing percussion-heavy instrumental sections that sound like a latin samba orchestra going clubbing in urban nightlife. Movie Theme is downright electronica (perhaps producer Nigel Godrich has had some influence here) with a heavy atmosphere, whilst a track like Strange Apparition is its exact opposite – a rollicking pop jangle with furiously upbeat piano leading the way – before turning into a slow slouching mini-ballad that is. And then you've got 1000 BPM, a furious and aggressive in-your-face rap on top of noise slightly resembling something musical. And not all songs are energetic rockouts: songs like Movie Theme and New Round are a showcase of that. All of the songs have tons of energy and/or enthusiasm packed into them, Beck sounding extremely rejuvenated. Rather funny, considering how this album was apparently stressful to create.
The Information stands as Beck's strongest album overall. It's extremely varied yet still manages to stay in one place. It's got enough energy and groove to make you jump around your room enthusiastically, yet its calmer moments offer wonderfully beautiful melodies to endulge in. It may not be as bent to follow one specific style as Sea Change, but whatever The Information does it does it without breaking the album up. Excellent material.
Rating: 4.75 Stars
Track Listing:
1. Elevator Music
2. Think I'm in Love
3. Cellphone's Dead
4. Strange Apparition
5. Soldier Jane
6. Nausea
7. New Round
8. Dark Star
9. We Dance Alone
10. No Complaints
11. 1,000 BPM
12. Motorcade
13. The Information
14. Movie Theme
15. The Horrible Fanfare/Landslide/Exoskeleton