Beck "Odelay" (1996)
Early on, Beck was ensconced in the folk scene (and would return to a
folk/alt-country vibe on several albums after this one) but found himself
experiencing and experimenting with other genres. Beck also spiced up
his live performances with visual and aural oddity to keep people from
getting complacent and ignoring him.
That splicing of styles comes to the fore on "Odelay" which, as it turns
out, is Beck's fifth album. He joins forces with the Dust Brothers
(them of Beastie Boys' "Paul's Boutique" album fame) for production of
the album.
There's blues guitar, rap, beats, fuzzy 60s-style rock and even
some easy listening 1950s commercial sounding stuff on the intro to "New Pollution".
All of these styles are mixed in with a range of odd non-musical noises. Beck's vocal
delivery too runs the gamut, ranging from drawling laidback
collage-style rap (e.g. on "Devil's Haircut"), to more melodic moments and a few distorted yelly bits thrown in, again, just in case you were getting complacent.
Interestingly, that image on the cover was not created specifically for
the album. It's taken from a 1970s dog magazine and features a rare
breed of dog called a Komondor.
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