Guero and the beauty of a rainy day

I picked up Beck's new album Guero, which is exciting as its probably one of the few CDs I'm going to let myself buy between now and May. I'd been waiting for this one for a long time, and it's the first proper 2005 release I've bought this year.

The good news is that I'm loving the album so far after about 3-4 listens. Not quite a masterpiece but much better than a lot of the critics have said. It's not the rehash of Odelay that some of the critics have labelled it, but neither is it like Sea Change. Yet it most certainly is Beck. That is no question. This isn't a revolution in sound, but rather a refinment. Which means it may lack the unleashed mishmash of samples or Odelay or the world beats of Mutations, but it's most definitely his sound.

Apparently the title of the album means "white boy" in the Spanish slang of LA where Beck Hanson grew up. Beck has grown up a little bit. He's still playful in inserting samples and enjoying beats, but he's more focused here and seems to be exploring some themes on some of the songs. I mean, he is in his mid-30's. He's not the young blonde experimenter who came out of nowhere with "Loser." What it does show is that he's a truly gifted musician/songwriter who is going to have a successful career after his youthful pranksterism has worn away.

Track picks: "E-Pro", "Qué Onda Guero", "Girl", "Black Tambourine", "Scarecrow", "Rental Car"

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Yesterday was a rainy day. It's been a while since I've enjoyed one what with all that white fluffy stuff that was coming down instead for the last 5 months. A rainy day is a day to reflect, a day to just enjoy oneself in the little things of life. I picked up a new CD, I went grocery shopping - I hadn't been to the new Superstore to shop since they rennovated. It's so big I had a hard time navigating - I went for fish and chips with Anton and Luke at the Black Duck, and then spent 4 hours talking about movies, comics, philosophies, people we know and things we want to do. I think a film project or 2 will definitely be happening this summer with us 3.