"Blah blah blah blah blah blah"** - Jeff Zwart
On paper, here's how things look: The Polyphonic Spree are a bunch of hippies in robes singing about peace and love in an over-bloated, symphonic, saccharine way. Beck, on the other hand, is a pioneer of alternative music, a man who managed to merge hip-hop and alt-country and indie music into a new art form (what the hell happened to this font?).
Having said that, I should admit that I've never been into Beck in the way that everyone around me has. I always just figured this was a weakness on my part, and sure enough when I put on Odelay and heard that opening guitar riff, my first thought was "Hell yeah, this is it." Besides the fact that I have no idea what a devil's haircut means and why it's on his mind, this is one bitchin (that's right--bitchin) tune. Then "Hot Wax" came on, and I was a little underwhelmed. Hearing it this time, it seemed less like a clever collage of styles, and more like he threw everything he had at it in hopes of making something memorable stick. This feeling more or less stayed with me until "Jackass," even for some of my favorites like "New Pollution". As the album went on, I really started to violently hate just about everything I heard (with the exception of "Jack-ass"). Why? I don't know exactly. Partly, it's his rapping and his lyrics. Sorry, but I think he's a shitty rapper. And although I have repeatedly stated that lyrics don't mean that much to me, Beck has put this statement to the test. When the lyrics are this bad, it has a tendency to ruin everything. In some ways the music and lyrics fit, he's just juxtaposing words and genres but not for any particular reason except that the kids'll think it's cool. Seriously, what the hell is this guy singing about? Nothing, absolutely nothing--although each line could probably be translated as "Look at me. Look at how fucking cool I am. Look at how hip you'll never be." And then I realized, Beck is to blame for all hipsters. He is the original hipster! Just take another look at this guy:
This guy could easily be featured here. And what's up with this album cover? As Steve would say, this makes me want to kick puppies--specifically, the puppy-like thing on the actual cover. The only thing worse than the cover of Odelay is the cover of the deluxe version of Odelay (look it up), which incidentally, I picked up from the library and was going to rip-off, but just forget it now. Anyhoo, I feel like Eric and have been on pretty much the same page so far, but I guess I should have expected things to get ugly towards the end. So, let me say this to Eric: this is the guy you would nominate for best artist of the 90s instead of Lambchop? What?
Okay, now that that ugliness is behind us, let me just say that I now feel justified in never being crazy about Beck. I also feel justified in the fact that when a bunch of us went down to Florida, we all sneaked into the show (Rob and I scaled a wall and jumped over the upper-bar's fence to get in; everyone else got in by literally removing the club's back door with Brandog's tools). Incidentally, when we made it in, Beck's DJ was the most impressive part of the show.
Okay, on to Polyphonic. It turns out that I actually really do dig these guys. They put on a hell of a show, and Tim what's-his-name sure can write a hook. Steve already mentioned the way his voice and the choir's mix together well, and I'd concur. Jeff once described these guys as a mix between Spiritualized and the Muppets, and this I too would agree with. The fact of the matter is that when I listen to this album I feel good and generally positive. So call me a hippie or whatever, but I like it. And speaking of hippies, one more thing in the Spree's favor. Right now, I am actually playing in a band with a bunch of hippies (nine to be exact), and while it's generally fun, the fact of the matter is I'm sick of people constantly missing practices and shows, and then complaining that we don't sound tight enough. I say, screw you hippies, and I also say anyone who can get 23 people to record and put on great shows can't be too into peace and love all the time. And they aren't because not only do the Spree beat Beck--all 23 of them give him the cock-punching of a lifetime. How groovey is that.
* most people who know me realize that when I talk like this I only mean about 25% of what I say. Like Karl, I blame my dad for this. His sense of hyperbolic disgust at something he doesn't immediately like, I feel, has passed on to both me and Jeff. And like him, we think it's funnier than it actually is.
** I realize this review isn't very coherent and just kind of rambles***--kind of like a Beck record!
***Since I'm rambling anyways, I can't believe Odelay took down The Elected. Here's what I propose, Odelay is is the kind of album that sounds fresh once you first hear it, but eventually sounds like the tired garbage it is**** while The Elected's Sun Sun Sun sounds too familiar/derivative when you first hear it, but eventually the sheer brilliance of the song-writing and arranging convinces you of its superiority. Also--since I'm really rambling now--speaking of brilliant arranging, everyone should get Samamidon's new album.
**** Unless apparently, you are Brian or Eric.*
I prefer later Beck myself. He gets comprehensible and dare I say sincere on Mutations and Sea Change.
ReplyDeleteMutations, yes. Sea Change? More like bore change.
ReplyDeleteOk, zwartitude, it sounds like you have adopted Beck as your own personal arch-nemesis...This is a premise I can respect: My most contemporary nemesis is Sufjan Stevens, as you could probably guess, and I have a much longer history of battling the forces of bad music sonically emitted by the menacing Elton John.
ReplyDeleteHowever, a word on Beck's words...I find his stream-of-consciousness silly rhyme lyrics no more annoying, and actually more cleverly playful, than most lyrics out there...When judging "Is a Woman", I actually read all of the lyrics in the CD booklet...I was surprised by how incoherent and difficult to interpret most of them were to me...A line that made sense here, a detailed observation of the mundane there, some cussing in the middle...And for that matter, what the hell is New Order singing about half the time? Or Dylan? Dylan! He's risen high in the ranks here, but look at so much of his mid-60s stuff? It sounds like Dada-ist rhyme time to me.
OK. Got that off my chest. I didn't get any of this from my dad. He is cool and mellow and tends not to rant.
perhaps zwartitude is referring to the headline a few months ago?, where beck basically admitted that alot of those lyrics where just "placeholders" while they put together the instrumental tracks...
ReplyDeletehowever, as someone who tried on more than one occasion to write nonsense lyrics a la mid 60's dylan, beck and a million other people, it's not so easy to pull off...i think lyrics that make some sense are actually much easier to write...beck has never been my most super favoritest dude singer guy, but i think the playfulness in his lyrics is proportional to the playfulness in his music...it's pretty clear to me he's just trying to have fun...i don't think you have to understand it to get it, sort of like jazz...
i was actually thinking of becoming a hipster, until i read this...thanks for the heads-up!
Eric, you're right that his lyrics really are no worse than just about anyone else's. The truth is that like Matt Damon is Good Will Hunting I was just looking for a fight. Here's a thought though. I think I usually don't care because the singer's voice can convey to me a feeling more than the words can. When Kurt sings, "the chicken of the sea" I don't care if he's singing about tuna or whatever, but the line gets me every time because his voice has just the right blend of nostalgia, wistfulness, and sadness at that moment. Maybe I just don't like Beck's voice--it always sounds cool, and therefore affect-less...
ReplyDeleteI dig it, zwartitude...There IS so much that is emoted in music through the SOUNDS of it all...I often find this with Neil Young, one of my long time faves...If you read the lyrics to someone, they may sound trite or unimpressive...But when you hear it channeled through that unique voice of his or backed by a wall of Crazy Horse guitar noise, they suddenly come to life and stir up a whole new set of feelings, memories, images, etc. What is a "cinnamon girl" anyways? I don't know exactly , but I love cinnamon and I love girls, and I married one that fits the bill. Yep.
ReplyDeleteZwartitude, Jane dresses you like the biggest hipster I've ever seen. Two words. Hair gel.
ReplyDeleteListen, Beck's lyrics are way better than Dylan's. Dylan is all like trying to be "poetic" and shit. Beck is 100% self-parody. I understand that you human types get tired of the irony, but let me tell you, from the perspective of a silicon brain, it's very refreshing. With Dylan, when a line goes bad, it goes very very bad; with Beck you can't even tell one way or t'other.
Oh, also: interesting point about hippies not practicing and then complaining a lot.
ReplyDeleteProbably nobody is going to read this because I sort of missed the existence of this wonderful thread until now, but...
ReplyDelete1. Karl, I don't know how much sarcasm to read into your assertion that Beck is a way better lyricist than Dylan, but it's interesting to think of the two in terms of self-parody and ironic distance. 100% is a bit much for Beck, especially if you consider Sea Change, but yes, he's more ironic than Dylan. However, no way is Dylan entirely un-ironic. Some of his most awesome writing is when he's aware of a degree of silliness.
2. Zwart the male, your rant caused me to bust out Stereopathetic Soul Manure (early Beck assortment recorded between '88 and '93) for the first time in years and I'm really enjoying it. Thank you. It's an interesting jumble of folk and nonsense that gives some insight (at least to me) into from where Beck is coming.
3. There was a period during the sometimes dark, sometimes fantastic immediate post-college years where I listened to Beck's "Soul Sucking Jerk" from Mellow Gold every morning as inspiration to head out the door to work.
"I got a job making money for the man/ Throwing chicken in a bucket with a soda pop can..." I love it, B.
ReplyDeleteHm, yeah, saying "Beck is better" was kind of semi-ironic, or was it, or wasn't it, or was it, I don't even know anymore (http://www.snpp.com/episodes/3F21.html) ....
ReplyDeleteBut I definitely do tend to interpret Beck as completely meaningless/irreverent/ironic, but I think that's just because I haven't paid much attention to the lyrics (and haven't heard Sea Change). Whereas probably I would like Dylan more if I understood him as being silly/ironic/self-deprecating. Again, maybe I just haven't been paying enough attention to Dylan, but for the most part I think the biggest separation between Dylan's generation (the "Me" Generation) and ours (Gen X, if you'll let me step on that side of the line) is that they take themselves very seriously, even when they are spouting cloying nonsense, and we never take ourselves seriously, even when we're speaking the truth.
Again, I haven't listened to much Dylan, so I'm probably being unfair and prematurely judgmental, but in every picture I see he's being all cool and of-the-people and thinking to himself, yeah, I'm God. Whereas Beck gives us lightning crotches.
Did you see Masked And Anonymous? I think it was aiming for a way, way higher mark than it hit. And to me that's Dylan at his worst. (Don't get me wrong -- I think, for instance, that my writing at it's BEST aims for a way higher mark than it hits.)
In the end, though, Beck's projects (from the VERY limited amount I've listened to or thought about) is not very inspirational or directed, and so no, when it comes down to it, I think Dylan is in an entirely separate class above Beck.
its not it's :(
ReplyDelete