Beck

Between wacky producer Danger Mouse and the wackier Beck, Modern Guilt could have turned into, well, a total whack-off. But together, the two cancel each other out and leave us with face-melting melodies that bounce off funhouse-mirrored reflections of their psychedelic-tinged, genre-hopping yearnings. Beck goes from evoking the Zombies on "Orphans" and Caribou on "Chemtrails" to a "Sexyback" JT on "Youthless," Kid A-era Radiohead on "Replica" and his own Sea Change self on "Volcano." Sure, it's all over the place, but that's what makes it so groovy, man.

Welcome to Beck's midlife spiritual crisis. As he nears his 40th birthday, his hair has grown
as long as the Maharishi's. The BFFs on his MySpace Top Eight include Aristotle, father of
metaphysics. And he's never addressed a higher power as directly as he does on his 10th
album. Modern Guilt finds him questioning what the soul is made of, wondering if his
prayers can be answered and generally putting himself through the karmic reha... More >