Top 40 Beck Songs

A list of my favorite Beck songs. In the words of Beck, "Please enjoy, HELL YES."

-Julian

40. Gamma Ray











39. Broken Train











38. Totally Confused











37. Gold Chains











36. Dark Star











35. Rental Car











34. Soldier Jane











33. Think I'm In Love











32. Soul Suckin' Jerk











31. Qué Onda Guero?











30. Profanity Prayers











29. Jack-Ass











28. Deadweight











27. Diamond Bollocks











26. Peaches & Cream











25. Missing











24. Nobody's Fault But My Own











23. Lazy Flies











22. Girl











21. Paper Tiger











20. Hotwax











19. Debra











18. Loser











17. Static











16. Novacane











15. Tropicalia











14. The Golden Age











13. Pressure Zone











12. Milk & Honey











11. Cellphone's Dead











10. Nicotine & Gravy











9. The New Pollution











8. Beercan











7. Lord Only Knows











6. Sexx Laws











5. Cold Brains











4. Timebomb











3. E-Pro











2. Mixed Bizness











1. Devil's Haircut











Almost made it:
Bottle of Blues
Fuckin' With My Head
Lost Cause
Ramshackle
Black Tambourine
Modern Guilt
Replica
Orphans

Wavves - King of the Beach

Sound-a-likes: Jay Reatard, Surfer Blood, Free Energy, Male Bonding

There's no doubt that Nathan Williams is a decent song writer, and this shines on songs like When Will You Come, Baseball Cards, and Mickey Mouse, which stick out from all the noisy, guitar-rock happening, long enough to keep me interested and make the album more diverse. However, some of the vocals and lyrics on King of the Beach tend to come off as a little bratty and irritating, like on the chorus of Post Acid, or in the songs Take On the World and Green Eyes; "I still hate my music, it's all the same......my own friends hate my guts, so what, who gives a fuck". I just wish he'd lighten up a bit and/or write better lyrics.

And I know Williams wanted to make a different record when he adopted Jay Reatard's old backing band, but I'll admit, I miss the fuzz and lo-fi. It's what made his second album Wavvves so original and embracing to me. But regardless, this is still a fun record, and his ability to write catchy, empty-headed surf rock tunes still makes King of the Beach worth a listen.

For those of you who, like me, enjoy the distorted side of Wavves, problem solved.



-Julian

Wolf Parade - Expo 86

As genre names continue to become less and less relevant and we are bombarded with terms like “post-grunge-new-wave” and “retro-art-pop/rock,” one line that is a little less gray is that between pop and rock. A good pop record is supposed to be popular, thus its name. Rock, on the other hand, you don’t have to like, in my opinion. Along those lines, a good indie pop should be listenable to a large audience,while a good indie rock (there go those genre names again) band fits a smaller niche. That doesn’t mean it can’t be very good as well, mind you. Over the past couple years, bands like Handsome Furs and Sunset Rubdown have set the bar pretty high for their indie rockers, so Wolf Parade had some big shoes to fill. Unless, that is, you consider that Wolf Parade is just Dan Boeckner of Handsome Furs and Spencer Krug of Sunset Rubdown and a couple other guys (sorry Thompson and DeCaro, you’re more than a bit overshadowed here). What Boeckner’s Handsome Furs excellent 09 release needed was a just little more substance while what Krug’s Sunset Rubdown needed was perhaps a little less. Wolf Parade are the perfect combination of the two. They cut out the crap, took out the trash, or whatever you want to say. They tidied things up for a record that allows them to live up to their basically-a-super-group status. Although I am a bit wordy myself, I am a fan of conciseness (see The Strokes for definition), one thing that Expo 86 is not. The 55 minutes tend to ooze by, but the quality of whatever is oozing generally makes up for the continuous five and six minute songs. An important thing to keep in mind is that Expo 86 is a rock record characterized by lots of guitars and some pretty hefty riffs, be it labeled indie-rock, post-grunge-punk-rock, or whatever. It will either be enjoyed and played until your CD scratches to death or immediately rejected and occupying space in your likely already full trash bin.
Either way, it’s a solid all-around record.



-Owen

Louie

Louis C.K. has been one of my top favorite comedians for a long time that no one appreciates. Louis had a short lived show on HBO, "Lucky Louis," that was a demented version of Family Matters, that was tragically canceled after 16 episodes. Now, Louis is back with a show on a basic cable network, written, directed and produced all by Louis himself. He brings his stand up in every episode (like Seinfeld with more profanity) and he also works in his dismal sense of humor into the plot line of the show that makes it a total cringe-fest. I love Louis style of self hatred comedy, but sometimes it is a little too depressing to see Louis try to succeed at something every week and fail every time.
My Review: B

-Brendan

Stars - The Five Ghosts

One comment that really frustrates me goes along the lines of “This band’s new
album doesn’t sound like them at all.” This comment leaves me asking, “Well, if
they don’t sound like themselves, then who does?” A new album may not sound
like a previous one, but a band’s sound changes. Just ask Beck. So, does The
Five Ghosts sound like our favorite Set-Yourself-on-Fire–Stars? Not really. But
does it sound like them? Of course.
On The Five Ghosts, Stars drop the saxes and trumpets and pick up some
synthesizers with the volume knobs stuck on mellow. Amy Milan and Torquil
Campbell still find their groove as they kick (or gently push, rather) Ghosts of to
a great start with Dead Hearts, which should be grouped with some of their best
stuff. For me, Stars falter for the first time in their career on Wasted Daylight,
where the similarities to alt-poppers Metric are almost unbearable (check out
Help I’m Alive and compare). However, Stars return to some of their best on
I Died So I Could Haunt You. More complaints would be raised about Fixed
pertaining to how Stars may be looking to duplicate ‘05 hit Ageless Beauty if the
song just wasn’t so catchy. We Don’t Want Your Body picks up the tempo before
the quite poor He Dreams He’s awake. The album slumps on Changes where
there is a bit too much Amy Milan, who really works better with Campbell than
without him. A sequence of surprisingly memorable tracks close out the album,
with The Passengers being a personal favorite, where above point is verified
about Milan and Campbell. The cute The Last Song Ever Written still leaves
space on the album for an up-tempo How Much More and an unfortunately
forgettable Winter Bones.
Stars’ sound is still showing signs of healing after the loss of the brass section.
However, we are dealing with Stars, a band who have a knack for writing neat
albums, ones that complete thoughts and feel more natural from beginning to
end as they hit their highs and lows with no sense of urgency.
Stars are slowly confirming themselves as some of the best indie-poppers in
the business as fellow Canadians Broken Social Scene have started to misfire.
Another all-around display from Stars earns quite decent marks.



-Owen