Beck consistently challenges my senses of cynicism and cool. Of art and homage. The dude is obviously talented. He can knock off any number of genres and maintain some odd sense of individuality and originality while, on paper at least, to be completely lacking both.
The above video is what I’m talkin’ about. Ridiculous and cynical as well as groovy, bitchin’ and postmodern cool. The seventies couple in the burnt orange sunset and Woodstock The Movie blocks is at once trite and maudlin and humorous as well as warm, nostalgic and romantic.
What got me started on this train was seeing a live performance on TV a few months back where he kicked some moves. Like his music and videos his stage moves were blueflame hot while at the same time being intentionally humiliating (white) mandancing? Was this super cool or super hilarious or what? This isn’t the best example but the best I could find. He busts most of his mojo at the end.
His maternal grandfather was a Fluxus artist who’s work I’ve seen in galleries. I’m certain that I’m filtering Beck thru this “artist” lens which allows me to comfortably accept his paradox. But the paradox to this lens is that his paternal grandfather was a minister.
Take the following song. Is it a slam dunk parody of the genre? Or does it actually rise towards the bar of the genre. Does it transcend beyond to become its own thing?
Is this dude just fuckin’ with me or what?
I do know this though. If I could go back to the 90s, buyout some shitass 70s clothing brand, like Haband Comfort Livin’ Casual Pants and get Beck to wear it in a video I’d be flush baby. And perhaps that sums it up better than anything.
Oh and just to complicate things further, he’s a Scientologist.
Bonus video groovitude:
He can string words together like Dylan–at least on Odelay (brilliant album). But all his “gimmicks” have brought out a lot of haters. And his career trajectory has been flat at best. He’d be more popular if his albums had been released in reverse order.
I remember being annoyed when Sea Change came out, and it seemed like every review had some variation of “this time, he really means it!” in them. I sort of stopped keeping track of what he was doing around that time. I also recall Midnite Vultures – the album “Debra” is on (it closes it, if that helps in context) – being really well-received at the time, but it seemed to receive a quiet post-millennial critical downgrade as part of the short-lived “irony is dead!” era.
I don’t know, I don’t think I’m interested in a completely sincere Beck. I don’t need him (or anyone in music) to be totally wacky, but his best songs seem to work under their own goofy logic, and give the impression that he’s fully in control of what’s fun and/or funny about them. I’m also fine with “nonsense lyrics” if they’re in service of creating the “atmosphere” of songs like Milk & Honey, Devil’s Haircut, New Pollution or Nicotine & Gravy.
You could see Beck’s whole career as a project to test the limits of irony. Even though that wouldn’t seem like the kind of thing I’d like, I’m a big fan. He reminds me of Dylan and Prince — very broad stylistic reach, confounding categories like black and white, deep ambition — but unlike them he doesn’t seem on the surface to have the same strong-willed command of his sources.
I wouldn’t want to push this too far, but my understanding is that Scientology is about getting ‘clear,’ and the stuff does sometimes seem to pass through him, which is maybe why he doesn’t seem to me as manipulative as he might. I’d rather just listen to the music, because in the videos and live performances the parade of signifiers is blatant in a way the music is not.
Listening to Where It’s At, I was wondering if its popularity is the reason the sound of a wurlitzer piano was instant cool for a while there. Now it’s unfortunately kind of played out.
I agree with alexmagic that a sincere (as traditionally defined) Beck would not work. But that points to the higher issue that I’m grappling with.
His level of irony seems to be engulfing its own tail. Is the amalgam of “gimmicks” in and of itself “original”? That is, is there a newfound sincerity in the way he collects and distributes insincerity?
His work has a similar impact on me that Warhol and Andy Kaufman’s had.
I get the sense that once I turn away , he winks. But is it a friendly wink? Did he mean for me to see it?
Beck is not the first person who has turned self-promotion into a career, but, like you said, sammy, he has gotten critical accalim for pretending to let us see how he really is. I find that his crass take on the idea that the historical value of culture is disposable (what counts is “now”), though, has an ironic result: look how fast “Sea Change” has disappeared from our collective memories. The joke’s on him.
Talk of Midnite Vultures reminds me of one of the most satisfying “Are you happy now?” moments of my love-hate relationship with an old friend who has sadly seemed to drop out of the Hall. This guy has more defined/limited tastes than I do, at least concerning music post-1966. He fell hard for Odelay and the one after that, with the “Bowie” cover shot (I’m blanking on the name…). I was at his house the day he bought Midnite Vultures. As he tool off the shrinkwrap, he gave me hell for not having already fully embraced this guy. I owned Odelay at that time and liked the other album – Transgressions, or something like that – but his music rarely sank down into my bones. In short, according to my friend, I was a “complete asshole” and “jealous” for not having loved this guy.
The shrinkwrap finally came off, and my friend popped in the latest release by Beck. Some cheesy Earth Wind & Fire/KC and the Sunshine Band number kicked it off followed by more of the same. I remember the horns being really “tight” and slick. The overall sound was thin. My friend was sitting by his stereo like that RCA dog, waiting for that magic moment. I LOVED watching the disappointment build on his face. I LOVED IT! He eventually started fast-forwarding through songs until he popped out the CD and moved onto subjects other than what an asshole I was just 20 minutes earlier.
I’ve actually liked his last 2 albums more than anything since Odelay and Metamorphises, or whatever that album with the “Bowie” shot on the cover is called. They’re much more consistent and tuneful than he’s often given credit for since others caught onto the suspicions that Sammy raises here. If I had parties with happening, “normal” people, I’d have no reservations spinning Guero and the one with the grid and stickers for a cover.
This is precisely the final irony.
Tuneful? Well, yeah, but they are most usually someone else’s tunes.
In what way has Beck “turned self-promotion int a career” any more than any other successful musician?
Are they really someone else’s tunes? Or just someone else’s style. Seriously, can anyone point to a definite lift? To me, Beck does musically what Tarantino fails to do filmicly.
Dr. John, what do you mean by “someone else’s tunes,” is he covering songs or do you mean he’s ripping them off? I rarely read the credits on the few Beck albums I own. If he’s covering songs, does that matter? If he’s sampling/ripping off other songs, does THAT matter? I simply think the recent albums are more tuneful and consistent than anything from his Jackson Browne or KC phases.
BigSteve,
Read the entire sentence. What distinguishes him is his ability to congratulate us for figuring him out. See? We can all be as cool as Beck! Just as long as we keep buying into his retro-fashion coolness.
During a long flight, one of Beck’s new(er) tunes kept getting played on one of the stations. It was his ode to summer girls that sounded like a weak copy of “Summer Babe” by Pavement or The Flaming Lips “She Don’t Use Jelly.” I kept thinking, wow if this is the “hit single” it’s rather uninteresting. Which is my point: when he writes a song on his own (disregarding the heavy influence of other band’s musical visions), without basing it on a sample, the tunefulness disappears pretty fast. If you have an example of a recent song of his that holds up, I’d be willing to listen.
And the comparison to Tarntino is rather apt, strip away all the cool cultural props, and there’s not much left.
I still don’t get it. Like so much critiquing of artists on RTH, this seems to be a matter of mind-reading — projecting motives onto an artist and then blaming him for them.
There’s a song from one of the recent albums called “Black Tambourine”. I don’t care what source material he used. It kicks out of the speakers with a Bo Diddley beat and great bass sound and works for me any time I play it. Is it a “life-changing” statement? Not even close, but it’s as good as any fun song on a Flamin’ Groovies album.
Big Steve,
I’ll give you an example. In the middle of 2 Turntables & a Microphone, you can hear him say (in his nasally rapper voice), “That was a good drum break!” It’s like he’s ironically commenting on his own work. When we hear him, we know what he’s doing–he’s drawing attention to himself and letting us know that. It’s what some would call “postmodern” but it’s a pretty tired trick to do all the time.
Dr. John, Beck did the drum break thing once, which I still love hearing. Has he continued doing it over the years? And if a big part of what he does IS to keep himself on the surface, is there something aesthetically objectionable to that, or is it merely something you don’t like in an artist? I’m beginning to think you’re a “complete asshole” and “jealous” of him! 😉
I’ll give you an example. In the middle of 2 Turntables & a Microphone, you can hear him say (in his nasally rapper voice), “That was a good drum break!” It’s like he’s ironically commenting on his own work.
That line is actually a sample from a record by the Frogs:
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/
album/0,,89207,00.html
I love the use of that sample. Whether he’s ironically commenting or not, it’s a ton of fun. One of my favorite Beck moments.
The videos posted all have similar moments. Now, I’m not saying that irony is bad; what I’m asking is what value is Beck’s use of irony?
Even in “Black Tambourine” the hook relies on a “uh-huh-huh-huh” phrase that sounds a lot like an Elvis imitator. It just seems that Beck can’t help himself; it’s like a stylistic tic.
Compare, for instance, his use of samples to Public Enemyu. PE use samples to articulate ideas about race, politics, and history. The only idea I ever get from Beck is, “look how cool this is.”
It’s the same with Tarantino. I get the feeling I’m hanging out with a fan of cool stuff, but a person who doesn’t have a lot to say as an artist.
You’re raising good questions, Dr. John, and criticizing Tarantino along the way surely helps your cause in my eyes because I hate that guy. However, in the case of Beck, I wonder if he’s really asking us to read anything into his use of irony or if that’s just one of the tools he uses to make records and put on shows that seem to aspire to be FUN before anything else. Once I got over wondering what was behind Pee Wee Herman’s schtick, for instance, I began to see his Playhouse for what it was – a PLAYhouse. I am beginning to think that Beck is also more concerned with play than any high-art notions attributed to him thanks to his publicist and the constant references to his ARTIST family and his SCIENTOLOGY BELIEFS.
Unlike David Bowie, who did spend years propping himself up as an Artist and, I think, making himself more open to a certain form of criticism, Beck hasn’t talked about his mime studies and stuff like that, has he?
This is what I’d like to believe and what allows me to enjoy the Beastie Boys “Sabotage” over and over and over again. (Lately thanks to Guitar Hero III).
I’m not so sure though that Beck isn’t shooting for something higher. I get the distinct feeling that he is as I’m often so impressed with his cleverness and his execution. Almost as if he treats irony and fun with a sense of spiritual and artistic reverence. Or is that just what he wants me to think?
Curse you Beck!
That’s what the New Pollution wants you to think, Sammy, and if he believes that too, then he might be perfectly reflecting his times. The more time that passes the more I admire what the guy does, whether I love it or not. The music industry complains that it’s losing business to video games and computers. I think Beck, whether consciously or not, responded to those threats and made music as transparent and meaningless as Guitar Hero.
That one is Mutations, which happens to be my favorite Beck album. It’s much more of a singer-songwriter album than Odelay and when I heard Sea Change, I thought that it was a boring, mostly tuneless take on Mutations.
With that said, I generally like Beck and the one time I saw him live, he was great, but I find him hard to love, aside from the two albums mentioned above. The lack of meaning in his lyrics, which others have alluded to on here, is probably the reason why, coupled with all the ’90s irony/post-modern stuff others have mentioned here as well. These aren’t necessarily bad things, BTW, but the lack of “meaning” is the only valid criticism I can think of (not saying I agree completely, BTW). The self-promotion stuff is just ridiculous. What artist hasn’t done self-promoting?
And on the same album, “E-Pro” features both an absolutely kick-ass intro riff and the best use of a “na-na-na” chorus in years if not decades. Getting caught up in his “intentions” and his “irony” and all that misses the quite simple point that the man writes some frickin’ awesome pop songs.
I think the Tarantino comparison is apt, because I think QT gets the same unjustified rap as Beck. I found the endings of Jackie Brown and Kill Bill powerfully emotional (didn’t like Pulp Fiction at all really).
I think both artists use the various styles available to them to get at real feelings, all the while accepting the fact that they don’t own the cultural underpinnings of any of those styles. I just think they’re more upfront about what they borrow. Even if Beck and Tarantino might be winking at us when they’re in hommage mode, that doesn’t mean their art “lacks meaning.” Both of them connect with audiences on some basic level, even if most members of the audience aren’t even aware of the films and records they’re riffing on, me included.
It’s the nature of art to be playful, but that doesn’t preclude seriousness. And being a serious artist doesn’t mean you can’t sometimes just mess around.
“The music industry complains that it’s losing business to video games and computers. I think Beck, whether consciously or not, responded to those threats and made music as transparent and meaningless as Guitar
Hero.”
Is that meant to be ironic?
Seriously, though, I agree with you Mr. Mod, that Beck’s music is trying to be fun. I just wonder if at times he’s trying too hard.
Believe it or not, Dr. John, as ironic as what I wrote may seem, I don’t think I meant it that way. I’m a cynical guy, what can I say?
I agree with you that he’s been trying to hard more often than not. I think Odelay was just right. He’s never been able to figure out where to go from there. I still enjoy his music more often than not, and I like his packaging.
“He said ‘packaging,’ eh eh eh…”
irony is meant to be a hermeneutic spiral.
there is no “final” irony. ironies don’t unfold in a linear sequence. they are intertextual and generate cross talk with one another, like the cross talk in this thread.
defensive critics since antiquity have seen irony as a cheap trick. post-modernism, while not the first critical point of view to embrace irony, sees irony as a complex form of commucation in which signifiers (like Beck’s use of the Frogs sample) have myriad levels of meaning that bring out the personalities and biases of their audiences.
all that said, i’m with BigSteve. I enjoy the sense of play in Beck’s music. Cultural referents (not just “pop” cultrual referents, either, by the way) are his medium.
Is he pulling our legs? Sure. But we all need our legs pulled every now and again.
I forgot to mention yesterday that I’ve seen a guy perform “Debora” at a once-a-month karaoke event organized by some friends that I’ve attended on several occasions. Of course, it’s not just ordinary karaoke since songs like that (and lots of other cool stuff; I’ve sung “Sonic Reducer”, X’s “Poor Girl” and Elvis Costello’s “Radio Radio” there) are part of the repertoire. Regardless, this guy absolutely NAILED the song and ends his set with near convulsions screaming out the final coda lying on the floor.
With all that said, I think this song is straight-up parody of the r’n’b sex jam and the basis for Har Mar Superstar’s career.
I don’t think that’s just RTH – that’s just the way it is. It’s a weird thing that people do it, though.
I like Beck, but I don’t own any of his music. His stuff like Sea Changes that my Dylan loving friends say is amazing doesn’t do much for me, but I think it’s more me than him. But his more accessible stuff is big fun, but I think more low art. The Tarantino comparison is perfect. I feel the same way about him. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s entertaining and it can be entertaining over and over. That’s pretty cool.
mind reading. right. i’m horrible at that, but i have fun trying, based on the clues i have in front of me.
2k does a good job of explaining that you don’t have to be a book toting, jargon spouting academic (like yours truly) to enjoy Beck’s playfulness.
the higher your pop-cultural iq, the more there is to “get” however.
there are some good grooves, too.
“Regardless, this guy absolutely NAILED the song and ends his set with near convulsions screaming out the final coda lying on the floor.”
is he doing so ironically?
this guy sounds like just the guy for my next hipster party.
he can do this in the corner while everybody pretends not to notice. then afterwards, we’ll look at his shoes, and tell him how “awesome” he was in a tone so dull that it can’t be read as sincere or sarcastic.
what larks we’ll have.