Lo-fi production, old school hip-hop beats, funky guitar melodies, incomprehensible lyrics, and one crazy white boy who loves to rap.
Mellow Gold is un-doubtfully a strange album, possibly Becks weirdest creation. This was my first taste of Beck and I had no idea what to make of it. People kept on telling me different things about the guy and I didn’t really know where to start so I picked up the cheapest album of his that I could find. After collecting most of Becks discography I quickly realized why this album was the cheapest.
I don’t personally think that this is Becks worst effort, but damn it sure does sound half-assed. Not that that’s a bad thing, Becks nonsensical lyrics and mumbled rapping go well together given the right circumstances. Lo-fi production and hip-hop do not usually mix but somehow it works on
Mellow Gold. The combination gives the music a heavy “trailer-trash” atmosphere, most of these songs sound like Beck came up with the lyrics on the spot and then decided to record them with some old, dusty equipment that he found out by the garbage disposal. Sounds awful doesn’t it? If it weren’t for Becks loveable lyrics and relaxed personality then this album would have been a mess. Tracks such as
Loser,
Soul Suckin’ Jerk and
Fuckin’ With My Head all feature Beck rapping over old school beats and greasy guitar melodies. While most of the rap songs featured on the album can get too lazy and uninspired for their own good I always find myself humming along with them regardless of how stupid the lyrics are.
It may be stunning but the hip-hop tracks are quite normal compared to the rest of the album. Beck covers plenty of genres such as hillbilly folk (
Whiskeycolone Hotel, 1997), hypnotic psychadelica
Steal My Body Home and punk
Motherfuker. The albums spontaneity is what makes it so loveable, you never know what’s coming next. At points
Mellow Gold can get a little to out of control.
Sweet Sunshine is a prime example, it’s made up of a sludgy beat and Becks extremely heavy and distorted vocals. You can’t make out a single word he is saying and the song eventually wanders off into a wall of random noise and sound effects. The albums closer
Black Hole Sun is another folk influenced song and it’s another one of the more experimental tracks off the album. Beck plays his a strangely tuned acoustic guitar that kind of sounds like a sitar, he mumbles over the instrument and the music just goes nowhere.
Mellow Gold isn’t Becks finest achievement but it’s certainly his most hip-hop oriented and laid-back release. Although I enjoy the lazy atmosphere of the album sometimes
Mellow Gold gets to trashy and laid-back for its own good. The lo-fi production and hip-hop inlfuenced music was a unique and original idea, it’s not the best combination but Beck gives us an entertaining and interesting album with
Mellow Gold.
