Modern Guilt

Following his last album The Information, anticipation was high for Beck's next project and so it was announced in February of 2008 that he was working on tracks. By March we'd learned a bit about its producer (the highly acclaimed Danger Mouse of Gnarls Barkley fame) and its special guests (Chan Marshall of Cat Power) but the album's sound and specifics remained highly secretive and speculative for another few months, keeping fans on the edge of their seats till Beck debuted the songs at an impromptu LA nightclub show in June. As it turns out, the album lives up to all that pre-release hype: Stripping down and calling in the services of Danger Mouse, finds Beck sounding as of the moment and fresh as he did when he debuted in 1994 with his smash single, "Loser" and the follow-up album, Mellow Gold.

"Gamma Ray" has a new wave beat and an intense, atmospheric background. It features just Beck and Danger Mouse on the entire track. "Modern Guilt" also swings with a "modern" sound as Beck and Danger Mouse concoct a wicked, ticking time bomb beat track with a typically Beck pop melody fused to it.

"Chemtrails" takes the atmospherics and runs with them (similar to the moody sound of Sea Change). Perhaps it is also familiar sounding because Beck is accompanied by his usual cohort, Joey Waronker on drums and Jason Faulkner on bass and guitar, on this one.

"Youthless" has flashes of electro funk attached to it. "Walls" has some big nervous beats holding it up and Chan Marshall of Cat Power chiming in on vocals while "Replica" runs on a frantic, futuristic sound.

"Soul Of A Man" has a bluesy feel, despite its 21st Century treatment. "Profanity Prayers" pulses with contemporary images and sounds while it retains a very retro energy that clings to tried and true rock melody.

Beck has always excelled at pastiche and Modern Guilt is one of his better efforts in combining the stuff worth keeping from the old world with the inventions of the modern age. Perhaps Modern Guilt is an assertion that there are parts of the techno world that suit his generally analog disposition; in that way Beck is guilty as charged.