Article: With his new album `Mutations,' Beck turns to mellower vibes.

Beck is on the phone from his home in Los Angeles' Silverlake section, describing the mood of the sessions that led to his new acoustic disc, ``Mutations'' (DGC). He's using words like ``relaxed'' and ``siesta,'' but every now and then he can't disguise his irritation. Seems there's a lawn jockey with a leaf blower cranked up to 11 next door.

``That thing is obnoxious,'' he says finally, as he escapes to a different room. Seconds later, the wheezing motor returns.

``He's following me! I can't get away from it.''

Oh, the postmodern predicament: Beck Hansen, the whiz-kid of the attention-deficit generation, whose sonic trademarks include vacuum ...

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