And here, we have my third favorite Beck record (my second is The Information, but it only sells on vinyl as a $200 box set. No way, rec execs). As I mentioned in my review of 2002’s Sea Change, Beck’s relationship with his producers is often much more like that of collaborators than the typical artist-producer working order. Here, he enlists Danger Mouse, of Gnarls Barkley fame, to spice things up a bit. And from the get go, his influence is obvious.

There are sampled drums, psychedelic tape loops, surf rock guitars (Gamma Ray is one CeeLo Green away from being a Gnarls Barkley outtake), and more bass than you can shake a stick at. And Beck, super cool chameleon that he is, sounds at home here as he does accompanied by an acoustic guitar and an uber-processed orchestra (or, if you will, two turntables and a microphone). And while Beck might not do much white-rap on Modern Guilt, Danger Mouse’s presence brings a heaping helping of hip-hop influence, infused with the psychedelic flavors and spaghetti western textures that he brings with him everywhere he goes (see: Broken Bells, Gorillaz’ Demon Days). But, like any good producer, he knows when to reign it in, like on the psych-rocker Chemtrails, where he sets his sample machine aside to let the non-stop drum and bass solos create one of Beck’s greatest cuts ever.

Beck, on the other hand, is still Beck. He knows when to spit his lyrics rapidfire and when to hold them out for a more tempered effect. Although, once more, his lyrics are stripped of irony, but instead of heartbreak as on Sea Change, he waxes paranoid on the state of the world. It’s a depressing read, but set to the retro, psych-hip-hop grooves Danger Mouse provides, it’s an end of the world party. The apocalyptic club scene they create coalesce best on Walls, where a hip-hop Western beat is accompanied with the refrain, “Hey, what are you gonna do/When all those bombs fall on you?”

Unfortunately, the record is very brief. Chemtrails is the longest track at 4:40, and four of the songs don’t stretch past the three minute mark. But in that time, most of the tracks manage to say what they wish to say. Sometimes though, it’d be nice if Beck himself had more to say. Songs like Replica sound a bit like Danger Mouse is compensating for the lyrical brevity on display. But that’s not always a bad thing–Replica is a great song. But, the record is over in thirty-three and a half minutes, leaving some of the more long-winded of us (I often gravitate towards 7 min+ tracks) hoping for more. But, the half music that’s on here, from the sample-heavy Orphans to the punk drive of Profanity Prayers to the folk balladry of Volcano, is plenty good enough to merit repeat listens.