Beck - Chemtrails

I really hate posting twice in a row, but I just got my grubby little hands on Beck's latest single, Chemtrails from his forthcoming LP, Modern Guilt, due out July 8th.

Beck is usually hit-or-miss with me. Mostly, I consider him to be in savant territory with the majority of his experiments coming off as genius. But his last album for example, 2006's The Information, sounded largely tired and tedious to me - a feeling echoed by Beck himself in describing the recording process.

The good news is - if Chemtrails is any indication of what's to come from Modern Guilt - it seems we can expect at least partial return to 2002's down tempo Sea Change, which I feel is Beck's most beautiful and vital work to date. The new song's refrain reminds me of Eleanor Rigby, while its vibe manages to be paradoxically both "epic" and "relaxed" and the same time. I dig it.

Those who are interested can pick up tickets to see him at this year's inaugural Outside Lands festival Aug 22-24 in Golden Gate Park (mentioned on this blog by several cool kids already). He plays Friday night, presumably just before de-facto-best-band-in-the-world, Radiohead - so that doesn't suck. Karen and I will certainly be there.