Beck's sound continues to mutate beyond 'Gold'

By Nathaniel Rich

Beck, the sample master and gospel preacherman of the Odelay era, is on hiatus. The old Beck, who strums his guitar on a curb in a dusty fringe town, has returned.

Or so he would have you believe. Although many have likened Beck's newest, Mutations, to his post-Mellow Gold release, the mainly acoustic One Foot in the Grave, this new effort barely resembles the weary beauty of that spare classic. That album was made at K Records, the capital of lo-fi rock, and Mutations was made at Geffen Records, the capital of hi-fi crock.

The difference is tangible. Whereas One Foot in the Grave felt like a genuine folk rock album, Mutations feels like Beck "doing" folk, much in the way he "did" rap in "High 5 (Rock the Catskills)" on Odelay and soul in "(I Wanna) Get With You (and Your Sister, Deborah)," which was performed on the Odelay tour.

Nevertheless, music's great rummager has pieced together another treasure. To listen to the appropriately titled Mutations is like, as a lyric from the bonus track "Diamond Bollocks" puts it, "looking back at some dead world that looks so new." Although the album contains no samples, many of its sounds are recognizable as references in themselves. "Bottle of Blues" features a slide guitar, a harmonica, and a honky-tonk blues progression. With the help of Spanish guitar lines in "Sing it Again," Beck is a modern-day mariachi. "Nobody's Fault But My Own" takes us back to Odelay's Eastern-influenced "Derelict" (as well as to George Harrison) with a sitar, a tambura, and an esraj. The album's first single, "Tropicalia," is reminiscent of a big band samba number.

As Beck's past albums have proven, this approach works well. The only spot where this musical collage tactic fails is in the verse of "Bottle of Blues," which at times sounds disconcertingly like Garth Brooks' "I Got Friends in Low Places."

In contrast to many of his earlier albums, Beck has decided not to play all of the instruments on Mutations himself. Although guest musicians appeared sparsely on past recordings, Mutations sticks Beck's touring band with a more prominent role, and in some songs, Beck's own involvement is limited to the vocals. As a result, the album has more dimensions and sounds than One Foot in the Grave, but it also feels less genuine. When Beck begins a song with a supposedly impromptu exchange with his band, it is not quite believable; one can easily imagine David Geffen smiling from behind the studio's soundproof glass. Even the album cover--a picture of Beck wrapped in cellophane, posing like some affected, waify model--is indicative of his transformed image. Perhaps Beck should follow the immortal advice of rap legend and musical innovator Kool Keith when he said, "Keep it real, represent WHAT? These nuts."

At its core, however, Mutations is a tuneful, textured album. After several listens, it is difficult not to find yourself singing along to most of its songs, and to Beck's trademark lyrical stylings. There are "garbage pails and darkened jails," "syphilis patients on brochure vacations," and people finding that "love is a plague in a mix-match parade."

Even with all of the changes that Beck's style and image have undergone, the unique world about which he sings has remained intact. Above all, there is no denying the power of his voice--rattling, sometimes raspy, always dynamic--that makes all of his dark lyrics and jangly sounds into something beautiful. (Geffen)

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