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Beck's a Bit Gloomy in New CD

Modern Guilt is a far cry from the artist's early days

By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 8, 2008 5:57 PM CDT

(Newser) – Beck’s new 34-minute-long record is a “simmering cauldron of postmillennial tension,” writes Leah Greenblatt in Entertainment Weekly, its paranoid lyrics “way past Bummerville” and nearing “Apocalypse Heights.” But producer Danger Mouse still manages to find “thoughtfulness and texture…if not exactly levity” that temper Modern Guilt's drama. J. Freedom du Lac concurs in the Post, concluding that Beck's "funny bone remains broken.”

He sings of a world “swallowed by evil,” in which “warheads are stacked in the kitchen”—the result being an album that du Lac nominates for “feel-bad album of the summer.” Paradoxically, the music remains “a sunny soundscape,” making at least for an interesting listen. Rashod D. Ollison is less sure the overall effect works, writing in the Baltimore Sun that Guilt “doesn’t burrow as deeply as the title suggests.”

In this image released by DGC Records, the latest CD from Beck, Modern Guilt, is shown.
In this image released by DGC Records, the latest CD from Beck, "Modern Guilt," is shown.   (AP Photo/DGC Records)
Beck performs during the St. Gallen Openair Festival near St. Gallen, Switzerland, Saturday, June 28, 2008.
Beck performs during the St. Gallen Openair Festival near St. Gallen, Switzerland, Saturday, June 28, 2008.   (AP Photo)
US musician Beck.
US musician Beck.   (AP Photo)
Beck @ The Echo, 6.09.08
Beck @ The Echo, 6.09.08   ((c) rawkblog4)
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