We All Know How That Story Ends

Beck “Strange Apparition” – It’s hard for me to tell whether Beck is intentionally exploring the middle ground of his stylistic range after playing up his extremes on Midnite Vultures (his masterwork) and Sea Change (his nadir), or if he’s simply settled into writing “Beck songs” without any masterplan. He could be playing it safe, or he might just lack the feeling to fully commit to a joyous, hilarious critique of sexuality in the context of late capitalism or an album of nonstop sadsackery given the relentlessly charmed nature of his life over the past ten years or so. His new LP The Information leans heavily on rapped verses, but lingers in a haze of emotional neutrality that can be quite appealing when the tunes are strong and it suits the subtext (this is most especially true of “Think I’m In Love”), but also emphasizes the weaknesses of the lesser tracks on an album that is at least four songs too long. The latter category lend themselves well to a parlor game you can play with casual fans — Mediocre Beck Song or Exceptional Eels Tune?

The muted tone of the album works in the favor of “Strange Apparition,” a Stones-ish rambler with an appealing, tumbling piano progression and lyrics about a man with a comfortable life and a decaying spirit. It’s difficult to tell where Beck is coming from on this song — Is he judging the guy? Relating to him? Pitying him? — but it’s one of the best tunes that he’s written since the turn of the decade, and also one of the best recorded, at least in terms of the engineering and mixing of the piano and percussion tracks. (Click here to buy it from Insound.)

The Vandelles “Lovely Weather” – I was thoroughly zoned out when I saw the Vandelles play a Beg Yr Pardon show at the Delancey on Tuesday night, but that may have been the ideal state of mind for their extremely loud but exceptionally tuneful set of arty nihilistic surf rock. They played without any stage lighting; illuminated only by diagonally projected loops of surf films and computerized psychedelic swirls of color that lent their performance both a touch of ironic humor and a bit of menace. Their demeanor fell along the same fine line, alternating between bouts of giggling and joking banter from the girls in the rhythm section, and the unforced intensity of the guitarists, one of whom often had a vaguely unsettling expression of remoteness on his face as he murmured his vocals into his microphone. (Click here for the Vandelles’ MySpace page.)