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Lobby The Lesson topic #2871031

Subject: "New BECK streaming. Morning Phase" Previous topic | Next topic
maro
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Mon Feb-17-14 03:41 PM

"New BECK streaming. Morning Phase"


          

http://www.npr.org/2014/02/16/274773496/first-listen-beck-morning-phase


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The thumbnail summary already circulating for 's 12th full-length album goes like this: It's a sequel to Sea Change, the brooding 2002 record frequently mentioned as his masterpiece.

This is useful, to a point, for placing Morning Phase in a general neighborhood. But, like so many descriptors flying around, it doesn't convey much about the work itself — especially since "sequel" is often shorthand for "copy," which this most certainly is not. To get a sense of the latest turns in Beck's journey, go directly to "Wave," one of several pieces from Morning Phase built on the entrancing string orchestrations of David Richard Campbell, the singer-songwriter's father. Here, you'll find no conventional strumming, no weepy pedal-steel guitar, no drums at all — just low strings droning in support of a disconsolate, almost detached vocal. Through the somber haze comes a melody defined by strangely upturned half-steps, culminating in unsettling repetitions of the word "isolation," over and over.
Beck's 12th studio full-length, Morning Phase, will be released Feb. 25.

"Wave" has little in common with what most think of as pop music — and, for that matter, with what most think of as Beck music. Even those who know Sea Change will be surprised by the song's stark sense of drama. In a recent , Beck describes the long interval between Morning Phase and 2008's Modern Guilt as a process of rediscovery. He was contending with personal issues, including a serious back injury that prevented him from performing, and when he found it difficult to write for himself, he devoted his energy to covers of classic records and writing for other artists (his 2012 Song Reader, the sheet-music folio, is one byproduct). It took him a long time to develop the new album, he says, because he'd been challenging himself to write in different ways — and didn't always believe that the results were worth sharing.

Of course, new thinking sometimes shows up disguised in familiar rags. Sure, Morning Phase resembles the earlier work in that it's slow and stately and more confessional than any of Beck's Odelay-style sonic jumbles. Get inside the new songs, however, and a more nuanced perspective emerges. There are surprisingly approachable settings here, songs that start with humble acoustic guitar and grow into vast and dazzling canyons of sound. The rhythms suggest a different experience of slowness, a patient (or maybe just grown-up) approach to the pulse. Likewise, the lyrics are beamed from different plateaus: Before, when Beck looked at how the concept of devotion changes in the charred aftermath of a romance, there were traces of bitterness in his words. Now, he seeks more metaphysical terrain — in a few cases, it's as though the words were lifted from walking mantras, or transcribed from hypnotic or meditative states. The delivery enhances this impression: Even the most wrenchingly vulnerable declarations — as in "Morning," wherein he observes, "We tore it all down, and buried me underneath the weight" — are rendered with yogic calm. These elements make the latest Beck creation something more than a wounded-heart reprise; it's a glimpse of new frontiers in letting go and moving on, told by someone who wasn't thinking quite this way before.

When it comes to an artist like Beck, one of the most restless creators of his generation, attempting to measure artistic growth can be a fool's game. After I heard Morning Phase a few times, I went back to Sea Change and listened specifically to the rhythms. There are certainly similarities; both albums have a few majestic slow processionals and beautifully sculpted arrays of vocal harmony, and many of the same musicians contribute to the whole. I was struck, though, by the differences: how the crew brings a sense of serenity to Beck's refrains; how settled and selfless everything feels now; how the musicians breathe together in the vast open spaces between backbeats of a song like "Unforgiven." Making music involves choosing and then refining an approach — sometimes making little tweaks, sometimes abandoning what had previously been sacred. What you hear with these two records is a protracted version of that process. Beck and his supporting cast had clear ideas about playing a grand slow sad song in 2002; recognizing that fundamental ideas about rhythm have changed in the intervening years, they seek out new ways of walking a similar path. The search gives these songs deep resonance.

Today, releasing an album containing mostly downtempo songs might seem like a quaint old-fashioned dare, or a gauntlet — until, that is, you hear the spellbinding way these particular songs are executed. Here, slowness isn't ponderous; it's a virtue, a gateway to contemplation, a means of escaping the chatter of the modern world. Still, no matter who's at the wheel, 13 slow or medium-tempo songs can be an endurance test. One triumph of Morning Phase is its pacing. As a producer, Beck wisely changes the color palette and the texture from one track to the next, and after a few relaxed ballads, he switches things up with a crisp traveling tune like "Heart Is a Drum." Moving at a (comparatively) brisk clip, Beck cruises along, visiting dark self-doubt and sunshiny affirmation and places on the emotional spectrum in between, at one point confessing, "I need to find someone to show me how to play it slow."

Maybe it's OK if Beck doesn't play it slow all the time, though, because there's something unexpectedly profound about this breezy moment. As he contrasts the depths of despair with a buoyant, almost boundless optimism, the idea to which he keeps returning — "Your heart is a drum, keeping time with everyone" — takes on deeper meaning. On the page, it looks like a glib slogan, but in the song, it becomes almost like a lifeline; that abiding, almost imperceptible pulse that prevails through good times and bad.


werd.

  

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Topic Outline
Subject Author Message Date ID
and it's absolutely lovely.
Feb 18th 2014
1
thanks for posting
Feb 18th 2014
2
So pumped for this
Feb 18th 2014
3
Gonna wait till I own it to peep
Feb 18th 2014
4
RE: Picked up the vinyl today.
Feb 20th 2014
5
never get tired of Beck music
Feb 20th 2014
6
the intro nice and the voice so far...
Feb 21st 2014
7
beck AND st vincent on the same day???
Feb 21st 2014
8
wow this is a beautiful album
Feb 26th 2014
9

shockzilla
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37800 posts
Tue Feb-18-14 11:19 AM

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1. "and it's absolutely lovely."
In response to Reply # 0


          

i'm so glad Beck is back in form.

  

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makaveli
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16293 posts
Tue Feb-18-14 12:44 PM

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2. "thanks for posting"
In response to Reply # 0


  

          

i'll be back after i give it a listen.

“So back we go to these questions — friendship, character… ethics.”

  

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quatto
Member since Jul 02nd 2010
435 posts
Tue Feb-18-14 04:20 PM

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3. "So pumped for this"
In response to Reply # 0


          

Not sure if I should listen now, or wait til i can get it on vinyl...

sea change is one of my favorites and definitely the high water mark of his catalog in my opinion.

  

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seandammit
Member since May 28th 2003
6522 posts
Tue Feb-18-14 05:08 PM

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4. "Gonna wait till I own it to peep "
In response to Reply # 0


          

Stoked, though!

www.twitter.com/seandammit

  

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Austin
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9418 posts
Thu Feb-20-14 09:58 PM

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5. "RE: Picked up the vinyl today."
In response to Reply # 0


  

          

Very nice album. After one listen, I can definitely see that he was going for a Sea Change sequel. I'll need to give it a few more closer listens and pay closer attention to the lyrics, but I like it just fine right now.


``they asked me what the meek would get. picture me: afraid to answer.``

http://austinato.bandcamp.com

http://www.discogs.com/lists/Favorites-of-2014/193910

  

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Dstl1
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56187 posts
Thu Feb-20-14 10:27 PM

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6. "never get tired of Beck music"
In response to Reply # 0


          

.

...I'm from the era when A.I. was the answer, now they think ai is the answer - Marlon Craft

  

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boyd
Member since May 15th 2006
7654 posts
Fri Feb-21-14 12:18 PM

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7. "the intro nice and the voice so far..."
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nice touch

  

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cbk
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4535 posts
Fri Feb-21-14 12:49 PM

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8. "beck AND st vincent on the same day???"
In response to Reply # 0


          

i should take the day off work!!!


Happy 50th D’Angelo: https://chrisp.bandcamp.com/track/d-50

  

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cbk
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4535 posts
Wed Feb-26-14 12:46 PM

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9. "wow this is a beautiful album"
In response to Reply # 0


          

i hope it doesn't get lost in the shuffle of all the other shit that came out yesterday.


Happy 50th D’Angelo: https://chrisp.bandcamp.com/track/d-50

  

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