Beck- Guero

"Missing" mp3

It's a little harder in the digital electronic era (today) to truly measure an artist's evolution. With the internet having such a large presence in music distribution, it's a lot easier to get a hold of the latest hit or maybe some track from a few years ago that you haven't heard in a while. After the iPOD hit the market, I honestly stopped using Compact Discs unless I'm burning a data disc to transfer music from a buddy's iPOD to my own. The reason I bring this up is it seems that it's getting more and more difficult for artists to relay their album in its entirety to their listeners. Back in the day before the internet, most of the time you had to buy the entire album and you really didn't have a choice but to listen to the whole thing. Keep in mind, I'm excluding hard core music fans and superfans to any particular musician or band. There are too many loopholes in the marketplace and if you only want to pay $1 for that one track or even download it somewhere illegally for free, you can do it. I always try to listen to full discs a couple times even if a few tracks aren't so compelling. It's kind of the 'preciate cha' you're giving the musician.

Every once in a while you'll find a diamond in the rough. To qualify for this catergory, every single track (or at least all except 1) on the artist's release must be a somewhat memorable track. How easy is it to put in Pearl Jam- "Ten", The Beatles- "Abbey Road", or Beastie Boys, "Check Your Head" and comfortably listen to the whole album in its entirety?

Beck's latest album "Guero" has by far been my most listened to disc the past few months. It's completely different from his previous albums and his approach this go round definitely doesn't sound like a lot that's out there. All of the tracks feature originality yet the complete album blends together with the mysterious, spanish-like tone and offers a variety of styles and sing-a-longs. The track I've featured above is currently my favorite but I'm sure next week it will be another one off the release.