Beck

Hardcore Beck fans probably already have the "new" material presented on this deluxe Odelay reissue. But for those of us who aren't obsessive enough to get every b-side, this compilation sheds new light on what Mr. Hansen was up to while recording his seminal alt-rock album.

Not surprisingly, the first disc contains the original album played straight through, with two new cuts, "Inferno" and "Gold Chains," tacked on the end. "Inferno" starts off like a Beastie Boys hip-hop tune—lots of record scratching and the rhyming style that Beck perfected on Odelay—but half-way through it abruptly shifts into several miniature instrumental suites, involving acoustic guitars, sitars and pedal effects, that sound almost like an outtake from the Sgt. Pepper sessions. The rapping is a bit cheesy (even for that era Beck), but the experimentation resembles nothing you'll hear on the regular album.

Disc two starts off with two great remixes: UNKLE's 12-plus-minute version of "Where It's At," which gives the tune a dark, DJ Shadow feel, amid numerous ambient intervals. Aphex Twin's "Devil's Haircut," meanwhile, puts a chipmunk-like effect on Beck's voice and speeds the tempo up with a flurry of quick, stuttering drum loops.

The rest of the disc is chockfull of Odelay b-sides—songs that for one reason or another didn't make the cut. Chances are, if you like Odelay, you'll like these. Nestled toward the end is an acoustic Mutations-style country ballad called "Strange Invitation"—a reworking of the tune "Jack-Ass." Instead of the spacey sample effects, Beck inserts a string section and slows down his vocal delivery. It seems simple enough, but the track reminds us that even what Beck considers "not good enough," well, is still pretty good.

—Michael D. Ayers
02.11.08

Beck's debut, Mellow Gold, was a glorious sampler of different musical styles, careening from lo-fi hip-hop to folk, moving back through garage rock and arty noise. It was an impressive album, but the parts didn't necessarily stick together. The two albums that followed within months of Mellow Gold -- Stereopathetic Soul Manure and One Foot in the Grave -- were specialist releases that disproved the idea that Beck was simply a one-hit wonder. But Odelay, the much-delayed proper follow-up to Mellow Gold, proves the depth and scope of his talents. Odelay fuses the disparate strands of Beck's music -- folk, country, hip-hop, rock & roll, blues, jazz, easy listening, rap, pop -- into one dense sonic collage. Songs frequently morph from one genre to another, seemingly unrelated genre -- bursts of noise give way to country songs with hip-hop beats, easy listening melodies transform into a weird fusion of pop, jazz, and cinematic strings; it's genre-defying music that refuses to see boundaries. All of the songs on Odelay are rooted in simple forms -- whether it's blues ("Devil's Haircut"), country ("Lord Only Knows," "Sissyneck"), soul ("Hotwax"), folk ("Ramshackle"), or rap ("High 5 [Rock the Catskills]," "Where It's At") -- but they twist the conventions of the genre. "Where It's At" is peppered with soul, jazz, funk, and rap references, while "Novacane" slams from indie rock to funk and back to white noise. With the aid of the Dust Brothers, Beck has created a dense, endlessly intriguing album overflowing with ideas. Furthermore, it's an album that completely ignores the static, nihilistic trends of the American alternative/independent underground, creating a fluid, creative, and startlingly original work. [Geffen reissued a Deluxe Edition in 2008.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide