Rating: **** (4 out of 4)

Availability: Widely Available

Beck is one strange cookie.

Technically, that should be all a reviewer should say about Beck, but everybody expects more. So, as a reviewer, I am forced to continue on and attempt to express just what it is that makes Beck so strange and appealing. My life sucks.

Beck's style of music can best be described as Alternative Grunge Folk Rap, or some such thing. He combines a folky voice with tripped-out background sounds and a rap delivery, looping acoustic guitars, synthesizers, and bongos in the same song. His sound ranges from the slow funk of "Derelict" to the rockabilly sound of "Lord Only Knows." His other songs reflect different styles, including "High 5 (Rock the Catskills), which appears to be a very deft satire of the Jock Rock genre (High 5! More dead than alive!).

Beck's sound is helped by the presence of the ever-popular Dust Brothers as his producers, the group that even managed to make Hanson's "MmmmBop" seem new and exciting. Beck's sound is revolutionary (the back card, by the way, blazes "Je Suis Un Revolutinaire" in a painting by the guy himself, Beck Hansen) and entertaining. We can hope for plenty more in the future, because it seems with his soundtrack appearances Beck will be around for a while.

The opinions expressed in the above reviews are those of Glen Williams and may not represent the views of slac.com or any of its members. Compliments, complaints, and comments should be addressed to gandalf@tricon.net

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