Beck's Midnite Vultures (1999)

Take a look at the cover of Beck's Midnite Vultures. Is it at all surprising when I declare this album to be something of a joke, an album-long spoof of all things Prince? Unlikely. The real surprise is that over the course of the album, the joke simply doesn't grow old. Listen to it repeatedly for years and it will still be your go-to party album. Concentrate on the lyrics and, as nonsensical as they are, they will continue to bring a smile to your face. It revels in frivolity, but Midnite Vultures is built on a terrifically solid musical base.

By the time Midnite Vultures appeared in November of 1999, Beck had already fashioned himself as a lo-fi troubadour, a deadpanning rapper and had even dabbled in country music. Now was the time for Beck the Lounge Lizard. Fortunately for the listener, this sleazeball has an excellent sense of humor. He might have only one thing on his mind, but he's just as adept at firing off hilarious non-sequiturs as he is with goofy pick-up lines. The party starts with horns a-blaring on "Sexx Laws," which can be seen as a manifesto setting the tone for the light-hearted debauchery on rest of the album:

I want to defy

The logic of all sex laws

Let the handcuff slip off your wrists

I'll let you be my chaperon

At the halfway home

I'm a full-grown man

But I'm not afraid to cry

The lyrical tone rarely changes, with Beck fixing to "feed you fruit that don't exist" and "leave graffiti where you've never been kissed" in "Nicotine and Gravy" or being brought "to his knees...in a garden of sleaze" in "Milk and Honey." It is as ridiculous as it is lecherous and unfailingly funny. This faux-Prince persona, however, is only half of the story. The music itself is as irreverant and attention-grabbing as the lyrics. Lounge Lizard Beck wants to enjoy himself, and therefore he's composed a slew of bouncy, supremely catchy songs, only slowing things down towards the end when the party winds down. While you can certainly dance to the music, you can also listen closely through headphones and be delighted by the constant appearances of whimsical blips, beeps and buzzes, strains of fuzzed-out guitar and ever-funky keyboards. Even banjos and xylophones are welcome at this party.

The only time Beck gets serious is on "Beautiful Way," the one instance where the listener gets an inkling that there might be a dark side to all this partying. It is such a stately piece that one cannot help but be drawn in. It is a fleeting reminder that Beck can do much more than create party anthems. The listener absorbs this knowledge, only to be thrown right back out onto the dancefloor for the percussive "Pressure Zone." Heavy drumming placed right in the forefront of the mix powers this penultimate track right through into the slow dance of "Debra." Musically, it's a jazzy, grooving piece replete with upright bass and subtle brass accents. Lyrically, it is the most obvious and over-the-top of them all:

I met you

At JCPenney

I think your nametag

Said "Jenny"

I coldstep to you

With a fresh pack of gum

Somehow I knew

You were lookin' for some

Ahh, romantic, isn't it? It is a perfect end to a party where yes, sketchy characters are constantly coming on to you but they're so damn funny you can't help but enjoy yourself. Besides, the DJ is spinning all the right tunes. Ever let a cowboy sit in your lap?

Links: Hollywood Freaks, Beautiful Way