Could it be for real? Beck, a musician renowned for kooky indie experimentation of the highest order, having his new album overseen by Danger Mouse, innovator and producer of same? When news of Modern Guilt was dropped just a couple of months before its release, expectations were high due to the attached names alone.
And after almost twenty years in the business, Beck Hansen still knows how to stir things up, even if there's scant material here that'll really blow you away. Danger Mouse's influence is palpable at times; the last Gnarls Barkley album was a bleak, dark affair and Brian Burton has brought an equal measure of that starkness to parts of Modern Guilt - in particular, on Walls (one of two tracks that feature Cat Power), while Gamma Ray adapts the same chugging, hip-snaking funk foundation that his band have built their sound upon.
If nothing else, however, Beck has used Modern Guilt to once again, display his knack for sonic diversity. The title track is a neat, taut piano-pop song reminiscent of Ben Folds, Chemtrails' slumber-rock hints at southern rock, while others, like Profanity Prayers and Youthless recall Hansen's fuzzy old-school, lo-fi stylings.
It's Replica that's the most interesting recording here, however; a mish-mash of detached, spacey electronica and glitchy tempo changes that would make Radiohead envious, it's a brilliant culmination of styles and ideas, and works particularly well. For the most part, the same can be said of the album: solid, if not completely enthralling throughout.
