Ever since 1996’s Odelay made Beck the critic’s darling, he has been plagued with other peoples’ “great expectations” to do no less than define the future of music with his next release. Instead, he shrugged off the pressure like a dirty shirt with the low-key Mutations to show he can write timeless songs without the cut ‘n’ paste gimmicks. Midnite Vultures is simply a classic party album in the tradition of Talking Head’s Speaking In Tongues, or The Tom Tom Club, surpassing them with a seamless incorporation of a slew of Black music, from the electro-funk of Rick James and Afrika Bambaataa, the pimp ‘n’ grind of Prince and the slo-jams of Barry White and contemporary R&B artists like R. Kelly. Beck’s small, moppety stature and boyishly young looks may have precluded him from becoming a sex symbol, but that’s not preventing him from pushin’ 30 and showing that he’s a man (m-a-n) who can get his mojo on with other self-proclaimed mack daddies. Don’t think too hard about it, I’m creeped out too. What makes it so easy to lose yourself in the sheer fun of this album is that no matter what influences may be lurking beneath the surface, even when he shocks you with a startling falsetto on the old live favorite “Debra,” he remains oh-so Beck.
September 17, 2025
Chameleons – Arctic Moon (Metropolis)
September 1, 2025
Lathe of Heaven – Aurora (Sacred Bones)
