I got two turntables and a microphone: Beck - Odelay poll

i think i can go in five or six directions with this. such a solid album top to bottom and looking forward to playing it again this week.

I don't like this much anymore: I prefer Mellow Gold. On "Devil's Haircut," Beck's vocals float above the beats and guitar sample without interacting with them, and that's my problem with most of the thing.

I don't care that he's singing non sequiturs, but he doesn't make them signify, you know?

"High 5" without even thinking twice

Yeah this was definitely done before and I voted "High 5" with zero hesitation.

"Where It's At."

"Jack-Ass" was, and is, one of my favourite songs of the decade--even got me to notice how great Them's "Baby Blue" cover is, which I'd filed away years ago.

"Jack-Ass" is my second place vote. My favorites:

Where It's At
Jack-Ass
High 5
Minus
Readymade

If "Jack-Ass" had come around 20-25 years earlier, it would've been used over the end credits of Five Easy Pieces or Two-Lane Blacktop or Scarecrow. It catches that mood perfectly.

If "Jack-Ass" had come around 20-25 years earlier, it would've been used over the end credits of Five Easy Pieces or Two-Lane Blacktop or Scarecrow. It catches that mood perfectly.

― clemenza, Tuesday, August 2, 2011 5:31 PM (44 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Voted for the one about hating black people.

jack-ass

On "Devil's Haircut," Beck's vocals float above the beats and guitar sample without interacting with them, and that's my problem with most of the thing.

― livin in my own private Biden hole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, August 2, 2011 8:15 PM (38 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I don't care that he's singing non sequiturs, but he doesn't make them signify, you know?

― livin in my own private Biden hole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, August 2, 2011 8:15 PM (37 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

v. nice summation of why i never dug this. i do think high 5 is kind of a jam.

Why can't he do this sort of thing anymore?

(This, or "Mellow Gold")?

Too Easy?

Jack-Ass

if we have done this before, can someone provide the unsearchable link?

maybe on sandbox?

On "Devil's Haircut," Beck's vocals float above the beats and guitar sample without interacting with them, and that's my problem with most of the thing.

― livin in my own private Biden hole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, August 2, 2011 8:15 PM (38 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I don't care that he's singing non sequiturs, but he doesn't make them signify, you know?

― livin in my own private Biden hole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, August 2, 2011 8:15 PM (37 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I never knew any lyrics besides the chorus. But the chorus is awesome. Maybe awesome enough for me to vote that song #1. Whether or not non sequiters signify - who gives a fuck. The lack of scattin' along with the guitar and beats... uhhh maybe that would be cool but scattin' would probably improve interesting breaks in a million songs - it's not something that I think about.

i thought this album was amazing when i was 14 and didn't know shit, now i regard it as kind of embarrassing but still somewhat enjoyable. only song that hasn't lost a lot of allure with age for me is "Novacane" (weird that both Beck and Frank Ocean use that somewhat unusual spelling for their song titles).

I don't care that he's singing non sequiturs, but he doesn't make them signify, you know?

I think couplets like

Hitchin' a ride with the bleeding noses / coming to town with the briefcase blues

or

Silver foxes lookin' for romance / in the chainsmoke Kansas flashdance ass pants

signify just fine.

i've never heard this album but it's got quite a few big singles. i'm listening to the other songs on youtube right now. definitely an album I wouldn't normally go out the way to listen to

what is sandbox?

The lyrics are fine! He doesn't sing them memorably enough to make them stick.

Whether or not non sequiters signify - who gives a fuck.

well yeah actually it matters a lot -- that's what singing is supposed to do.

B-side to Devil's Haircut (and best track?):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLWpyRAaybU&feature=player_embedded#at=118

Ah fuck, I meant:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVQM_3uFKiA

I've always preferred the "Makeout City" version of Where It's At.

Ecspecially this live version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5M3chPv4v0

Can't choose. LOVED this at the time. Like, played it 2-3 times a day for what seems like months in my memory (probably more like weeks in reality but still). Kind of can't hear it again but would totally be into spinning it just for this poll. Was talking to somebody about "Sissyneck" just tonight because they were wondering out loud who Dick Hyman was and I was like "oh, you know that one part on Odelay..."

this dude sux sorry

Minus!!

voting "The New Pollution"

Went for "Strange Invitations"

top-5 formative album for me - 14-year-old me says thanks to the SPIN 1996 countdown - High 5, despite the ace singles.

12-minute UNKLE remix of "Where It's At" is the real shit

Things not on the "deluxe" issue: "Clock", the UK extra track, and the NGallagher remix of "Devils Haircut" (I don't think this ever got issued anywhere apart from the UK cd single. It wasn't very good, and I don't think he ever got to do another remix of anyone ever)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Worth shelling out for the deluxe version, with the UNKLE remix and 'Burro' my personal faves.

'New Pollution' from the original album.

somehow in my head when i'm singing 'immigrant song' to myself it turns into this

'come from the land of the ice and snow with the jigsaw jazz and the get fresh flow"

lol

pullin' out jives and jamboree handouts from the midnight sun where the hot springs blow

semi trucks, haulin their asses

bottles and cans and just clap your hands uhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

let's make it our baby

listened to this album three times today, and w/ honorable mentions going to Hotwax, Novacane & Jack-Ass, there is simply no way around Where It's At. It was the jam then & it is still the jam.

also still totally digging the drum breaks & distorto-scream coda in Devil's Haircut

karaoke weekend at the suicide shack.
community service, and I'm still the mack.

Mellow Gold>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Odelay

Gotta agree with Pillbox that Where It's At is where it's at, but since no one's mentioned it Lord Only Knows also ranks high with me. Actually there isn't a bad song on this album, even the weaker tracks have strong hooks and take interesting turns.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

really? Fine!

Such a great sample

If I voted, then I voted Jackass, which is still one of my favorite songs ever.

Decently happy w/ the results, but "Sissyneck" wz robbed imo.

hard to believe that four tracks got no votes and surprised two songs got more votes than "Where It's At."

feel bad that "Ramshackle" got no votes. i don't much like One Foot In The Grave, and i really don't care for his later acoustic stuff, but the acoustic closers on Odelay and Mellow Gold have a really cool unique sound imo.

Really doe? "Jackass"?

that's the song i've probably swung hardest from loving to being all rmde at over the years

Speaking of formative, this album kind of taught me how to listen to music. I was 13 when I bought it. First time through I thought it sounded like a bunch of noise. After prolonged exposure it became my favorite album evah for quite a few years. It's kind of impossible for me to rate it objectively - Alfred's criticisms make a lot of sense, but tbh it's never actually mattered to me that much that Beck never bridges the disconnect between vocals/lyrics and music. I always thought of it as some kind of bleak American travelogue, with "Readymade" and to a lesser extent "Devils Haircut" keying us in to the overriding concept. Disconnection is the point.

The seemingly nonsensical lyrics, as well as the collage of samples and styles, were a big part of why this album resonated with me so much at age 17. The idea that lyrics didn't have to be "about" anything, that you could just luxuriate in cool and evocative sounds, that you weren't beholden to a genre or a theme: all that just felt so freeing and exciting.

Not that it was the first album to convey that to me -- Soul Coughing's Ruby Vroom had laid the groundwork -- but it was so successful at it, and fun to boot. It also totally informed the kind of music and poetry I was writing at the time.

Ruby Vroom >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Odelay

It's close, but I'd go for Odelay.

Haha, I just put on "Sissyneck," and my gf said, "Wait, who is this? Cake?"

ooh burn

Haha, I just put on "Sissyneck," and my gf said, "Wait, who is this? Cake?"

I could see that.. Like if Cake got interesting.

"Jack-ass" rules.

"Minus" did not deserve to be one of those 0-vote songs so I think I placed my vote correctly.

i'm not sure if i like any song from Odelay as much as "The Distance" at this point

Didn't get around to voting, it's all so great. Man, I can never get over what a great time it was to be listening to rock radio, like 95-98 or so - like, The New Pollution was in regular rotation! You'd just hear one kind of weird, offbeat thing after another, never really anything I'd later come to recognize as "indie" but so much more variety than you find right now, just sonically I mean.

^^this.

yeah, ^^that.

Never thought of it that way... of course, 95-98 was also the time of Matchbox 20 and Tonic. Not that there's anything wrong with "If You Could Only See"

There is so much wrong with "If You Could Only See."

First time through I thought it sounded like a bunch of noise. After prolonged exposure it became my favorite album evah for quite a few years.

My experience too. I was really disappointed when I first heard it as all the songs sounded like tuneless noise. It took me a while to trust this album and just listen and enjoy it.

The deluxe version revitalised this album for me, and it's probably my favourite for occasions long urban walks.

Thread should have been called "Two turntables and a microPOLL"

As much as I preach about lyrics being so much less important than sound/feeling in music, I think Beck is a perfect example of when lyrics matter. I did mention that I don't care if the lyrics to Devil's Haircut "signify". However, it's the coolness of the chorus that really makes this song. And coolness is (among other things) an emotion that is hard to put to sound. That's where Beck's lyrics really help

no votes for sissyneck? wow.

http://devonrecordclub.com/2014/06/02/beck-odelay-round-67-eds-choice/

just got the deluxe edition, and damn, the second disc is good

how have i never heard this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0b3iHZ8A90

Mike Simpson (Dust Bros) on "High 5 (Rock The Catskills)":

“This track was just a classic example of what happens when three crazy people get together in one room [Laughs]. Those are the kinds of song that are my favorites. There’s no real commercial potential there. But for me who’s just a fan of music… I like those the best.

“A lot of songs you hear now, you hear the first ten seconds of the song and you don’t need to listen to any more because it’s just the same thing over and over again for about three and a half minutes. High 5 (Rock the Catskills) is one of those songs where it was the ultimate goal to end up with something that’s designed for someone with Attention Deficit Disorder. It just keeps you on your toes and really engages you as a listener.

It’s one of those songs you can hear over and over again and find different things every time you listen. To me that’s just one of the best songs on the record.”

https://i.imgur.com/Zk6Iyhd.jpg

I love this album a lot. I’ve never heard Paul’s Boutique though

how was this not titled "The New POLLution"?

Mmm looking at the tracklist I realize I don’t think I’ve heard this album... matter of fact I don’t think I’ve heard a full Beck album in my life. I know most of his singles and some songs here and there but looking at the tracklists for this one and his other 90’s and 00’s output it turns out the album I know the most is Guero and even there there’s at least half
of it I don’t recall ever hearing in my life.

I might use one of these quarantine days to actually listen to one or two full albums of him. I guess “Odelay” is the big one that I need to listen to and then it’s either Mutations or Mellow Gold.

I’ve never heard Paul’s Boutique though