The Enchanting Wizard of Rhythm Returns Shooting Gamma Rays

On July 8th, Beck, the self-proclaimed Enchanting Wizard of Rhythm, will grace us with another outer space-based, genre-hopping album. The Danger Mouse mixed Modern Guilt is poised, from what I can glean from the leaks, to be an album somewhere in the vein of a Guero-The Information hybrid, but really, who can say with Beck? It could be anything–but it will certainly be worth looking into.

But moving on! My pick of the day comes from the new album in honor of my undying love of all things Beck. He starts shooting ‘Gamma Rays‘ at the listeners’ ears in the form of a baseline that makes you move hammering along with Beck’s catchy but seemingly random lyrics (his forte) over ethereal background vocals. While the album collectively leans more towards The Information, so I’ve heard, this track wouldn’t be out of place at all if added to Guero, as it has a similar sound and subject matter. I have trouble hearing lyrics without seeing them, but I have a feeling this is a feel-good, surf-y ode to the destruction of our world–complete with melting icecaps, fires, heatwaves and hurricanes. This is the destruction for which we are all to blame as a global community. I may not be able to predict Beck’s genre-defying sound yet, but I think I have an idea of what issues we can expect the Wizard to melodically explore on this album; Modern Guilt, indeed. Thank you for the uplifting sentiments as usual, Mr. Hansen.

Take a listen:

You can listen to three other tracks off of Modern Guilt at iLike (http://www.ilike.com/artist/Beck/songs), including the single ‘Chem Trails.’ Remember to pick up the new album when it drops on the 8th–this is very important, as I will not be able to get my hands on it until July 18th-ish and thus must rush to get it vicariously through all of you. It will be a long, sad wait on my part.