REVIEW: Beck, Midnite Vultures (DGC)
- Don Share
If Mellow Gold was the overnightly sensational debut, Stereopathic Soul Manure and One Foot in the Grave were odds and sods, and Odelay the certified classic, then Mutations was, well, a mutation, and Midnite Vultures is the, um, mature work. Fewer samples, nothing folk, or grunge here; Beck's moved on to singing wit-laden, 70's style funkpop collages whose lyrics are almost Jamesian (Rick James, I mean) in an arch, nearly Jaggeresque falsetto. More precisely, it's Beck Hansen's skinny white guy version of The Artist -- all innuendo and technique.
"Sexx Laws" kicks it all off with blasting horns and horny lyrics ("I want to defy/ The logic of all sexx laws"), and is a bastard grandson of Jagger's '70s man-about-townisms of the It's Only Rock and Roll era. Splendid. "Nicotine & Gravy" keeps the beat with an infectious, danceable whir that almost conceals the daft lyrics ("Her left eye is lazy/ Nicotine and gravy"). "Mixed Bizness" even borrows some "Honky Tonk Woman" cowbells, and, pardon the flashback, sounds like Steely Dan's Royal Scam being played at 78 rpm by mistake and seen as a party revelation. "Get Real Paid" and "Hollywood Freaks" are almost cousins to Basement Jaxx, but funnier ("my sales go triple/ we drop lobotomy beats"), the latter featuring very fine assistance from the Dust Brothers.
On "Peaches & Cream," Beck becomes a sort of Barry White on helium: "You look good in that sweater/ And that aluminum crutch/ I'm gonna let you down easy/ I've got a delicate touch." Stay tuned for the chugging chunk of "Broken Train," which features the visionary lyric, "I'm glad I got my suit dry-cleaned/ Before the riots started," and "Milk & Honey," which cranks it up with "outre guitar" from Johnny Marr and sound effects from heroic keyboardist, Roger Manning.
"Beautiful Way" changes gears - a moody, just-shy of wistful love song; it's got some buried guest vocals from Beth Orton, and even resembles her "She Cries Your Name." "Pressure Zone" serves up more bizarro-world lyrics ("Masterpieces liquidate in fertile tears") with great ooh-la-la'ing in the bridge and swell gitbox noise in the breaks.
Best comes last: "Debra," a lovely, jazzy, very funny epic to watch your lava lamp by. The falsetto is as creamy and perfect as Beck's looks, and the moves are suavely, if deviously, made: "I met you at J.C. Penney/ I think your nametag, it said, Jenny/ I wanna get with you/ And your sister/ I think her name's Debra."
What Steely Dan's Aja is to jazz, Midnite Vultures is to funk and rap: its borrowings are deft but outlandish, and while distanced from its sources, moving. And by moving, I mean not just of heart and soul, but feet, too. Midnite's the right time for love, and vultures peck at the nourishing and morbid past, making the album's title most apt.
