No. 440: Sea Change

Band: Beck
Album: Sea Change
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: The face of one of the first Apple's iPod ad campaigns, “Sea Change” is one of Beck's records in which he's a folk troubadour, instead of a pop culture machine gun/b-boy. The song has a reserved brilliance, full of confident sadness and scored to lush strings and acoustic guitars.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: Saying this album is good is like saying the sky is blue. It's brilliant and it should be higher.
Best song: “Lost Cause” isn't just the best Beck song. It's one of the best songs ever written. By anyone.
Worst song: Eh. I like every song on this record.
Is it awesome?: Yes.

Beck is known for records like “Odelay.” People love his ability to be a human VH1 show – regurgitating old culture while simultaneously mocking it and revering it. Beck is the man who invented “I'm so ironic, I've become sincere” culture that permeates my generation.

Despite this, his best work is decidedly romantic, hopelessly pretty and tender. One of my five favorite songs ever, “Lost Cause” isn't just pretty, it's perfect. “Baby, I'm a lost,” Beck sings. “Baby, I'm a lost cause.”

Full of multiple tracked acoustic guitars playing a soft melody, the song's easy rhythm fits the melancholy of the song's theme. The walking bass line sets a backbone like a jazz record. The synths and atmospheric keyboards fall away for the verses as Beck's soft Drake-ish vocals bring out the perfect lyrics.

Like the antihero in a 1950s movie, Beck is reassuring while exuding the exhaust of a man done with it all. “I'm tired of fighting,” he sings. “Tired of fighting for a lost cause.”

The song permeates you. Soundtracker extraordinaire Zach Braff understandably used the song for a “Scrubs” episode of heartbreak and futility. It's confident in its sadness; there's no feeling sorry for this particular lost cause. He'll land on his feet, cause more pain and continue.

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The whole album follows the lead of “Lost Cause.” “Paper Tiger” is slightly funky as the strings swirl around a Bootsy Collins-style bassline. “Lonesome Tears” is melancholy and soft with the production of a disco track on quaaludes. “End of the Day” reminds one of a Neil Young song without the Neil Young riff (yes, that's a good thing). “Already Dead” has Beck channeling Nick Drake's guitar playing and John Lennon's vocal style. “Guess I'm Doing Fine” has the attitude of “Lost Cause” with a similarly impressive arrangement.

Beck wears many hats -- DJ, spaceman, lyrical comedian, Scientologist, etc. -- but his "singer/songwriter" hat fits him best. "Lost Cause" is his best album and an absolute classic.

No. 305: Odelay

Band: Beck
Album: Odelay
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: After Beck's initial success as a one-hit wonder, he headed back into the studio to make a bizarrely post-modern work. Shaking off the slacker label, Mr. Hansen fused aspects of dancehouse, disco, hip hop, indie rock and the like on tracks like "Devil's Haircut," "Where It's At" and "Minus."
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: The album sounds more dated than I remember it being, probably because it was a favorite of mine when it came out in 1996. Still, it's a remarkable record and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy it.
Best song: "Devil's Haircut" is probably the record's highlight, though "The New Pollution" is great.
Worst song: "Readymade" isn't great.
Is it awesome?: Yes, it is awesome.

"Odelay" came out just after my sister graduated from high school and my greatest memory of it remains listening while we drove her out to college. I imagine a lot of people have the experience of driving more than a day out to some college for someone's first year, but Boston is a long fucking way from Chicago. I remember having one of those clunky Discman-style CD players that skipped all the time and only two CDs with me at the time: "Odelay" and Nirvana's "In Utero."

I listened to "Odelay" easily 10 times on that trip, almost never skipping a song. I don't know why, but that record just fit in my head at the time. I was in the process of delving deeper into classic rock, hating hip hop and country (ironic considering Beck's influences) and discovering independent stuff. "Odelay" fused and opened my mind, on some level, and for that, I'm hugely in debt to the album.

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The Dust Brothers have a certain sound, that's for sure, and "Odelay" is covered in Dust Brothers, uh, dust. The quick-step drums on "Devil's Haircut" and "The New Pollution" pretty much sum up the Dusts.

Nevertheless, "Odelay" is delightfully 1996. From what I remember, the culture at the time was dominated by post-modernism and Beck is about as post-modern as they come. Taking cures from hip hop (a post-modern art form in and of itself) and country, Beck's ability to spit out the art that is lodged in all of our brains is remarkable. It gave white kids reason to dance, if nothing.

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You want an endorsement? How about from Bob Dylan? This is from his XM show:

'We're talkin' about the Devil here on Theme Time Radio Hour. And the Devil always looks sharp. One of the reasons he looks sharp is that he had a good haircut. Here's Beck to tell you all about it. This is from his hit album Odelay, produced by the Dust Brothers. Beck says "This song is a really simplistic metaphor for the evil of vanity." I just thought you could dance to it.'