There are flashes of late Fugazi, TNT era Tortoise, Modest Mouse fury, My Bloody Valentine guitar wash, horn section slow jams a la Anathallo, Radiohead-esque effect pedal jams, and Arcade Fire’s indie stomp–sometimes in the same song. It’s a wild ride, and well worth it.
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.
In the context of his diverse and expansive discography, saying that Sea Change is my favorite Beck record is a weighty claim to make. But, I make it anyway. True, it may be his least Beck-ish release, free of his deadpan rap stretching of the English language; and at times it might feel like longtime Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich might be calling most of the shots here (string arrangements and analog delay abound). But on Sea change, Mr. Hansen proves that his emotional range stretches far beyond self deprecation and a generous helping of irony.