Comments on: You Stare Into Space

By: Squarepeg

Squarepeg — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 06:48:19 +0000

Danger Mouse, “weak production values”? I must sorely disagree! Modern Guilt is a great album! “Replica” is a great song, as is “Chemtrails”. And don’t get me started on “Soul of a Man”, great song. My two cents.

By: anon

anon — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:01:16 +0000

whoa. I feel so very different about the last Beck album. though “chemtrails” is one of the few I don’t enjoy. I don’t mind the production a bit… at least I haven’t minded so far. maybe i should listen more closely…. oh well… “profanity prayers”, “walls”, “modern guilt” “youthless” are very successful songs to my ears.

By: White Chalk Face Dance

White Chalk Face Dance — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 15:32:42 +0000

Townshend frequencies on that 2nd one. I’ll listen to “Rain” a million times than listen to Beck do those Lennon type attempts or “All the Young Dudes” for that matter.

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:33:38 +0000

Yeah, the production lends no urgency to Modern Guilt, and ends up being distracting more than anything (like the hideous “Walls”), but the songwriting isn’t up to snuff, either. Still, I love “Chemtrails”, which works because the distancing quality of the production fits the general feeling of watching chemtrails criss-cross the sky. “Soul of a Man” is good, but could have been longer and used something like…I don’t know…vintage Quincy Jones or Jimmy Jam production? It seems to be what they were going for, anyway.

Then again, I love Guero. Despite not being one of my favorite albums this decade it’s been one of my most-listened-to albums. I love the hooks, and the overall craftsmanship, and feel the album has a very high killer-to-filler ratio. It’s no Mutations or Midnight Vultures, but to me it has personality — that of a guy who was comfortable with who is and doesn’t need to impress anyone. In a related story, I’m getting old.

By: ted mills

ted mills — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 22:30:12 +0000

I agree on the production, but the songs do grow on you after a while. Recently, Beck played a mini-session on KCRW, backed by cello and piano. The songs were much better and made me realize how overproduced the album is.

By: Matthew Perpetua

Matthew Perpetua — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 20:51:36 +0000

If you’re into this song, I recommend the Ferndof album, and the one before it, The Prepared Piano. Also, Versions of the Prepared Piano, in which other artists remix and/or sing over those tracks. The guy is a really amazing musician, and I hope more people find him. My review is kind of a cop-out, but really, some things really don’t need words.

By: jay

jay — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 20:41:56 +0000

Enough about Beck, the Hauschka track is the great music. I’ve seen his name mentioned before, but never heard the music. Astonishing is a great word for this track. It’s absolutely gorgeous. And if you don’t feel like you have the skill to put the goodness of the track into words, I won’t even think about trying, but just wanted to acknowledge. Thank you for posting it.

By: Matthew Perpetua

Matthew Perpetua — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:22:21 +0000

Yeah, that’s a good point. “Chemtrails” sounds okay too.

By: andrew

andrew — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:14:45 +0000

I agree completely about the drums, and the languid, oomph-lessness, with the exception of course of Chemtrails. Thank you, Joey Waronker, for keeping your fills away from Danger Mouse. Don’t let him near, he’ll replace them with pattering, tinny, “vinyl” kick drum samples.

By: Matthew Perpetua

Matthew Perpetua — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:06:38 +0000

Nadya, it’s working now.

Yeah, it’s funny how the drums are mixed high, but they still sound so totally feeble and tinny. I’ve never heard anything by Danger Mouse where the drums/programming sounded even remotely good, even when he’s working with strong songwriters/players.