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Article: Beck's 'Modern Guilt': Downbeat, but Catchy
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- July 8, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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As a songwriter, Beck Hansen is something like an abstract
expressionist. Over a 16-year recording career, this grandson of
Fluxus artist Al Hansen (and the son of Andy Warhol protege Bibbe
Hansen) has earned notice -- and more than a few head scratches -
- for his output of elliptical songs, whose random lyrics are often
cryptic to the point of indecipherability.
On his morose new album, "Modern Guilt," the musician known
simply as Beck isn't exactly spinning linear narratives. But he does
manage to make this much clear: He's not in the happiest of places
right now.
"I think I'm stranded, but I don't know where," he declares on
the woozy, jangly album opener, "Orphans." As the song ...