Hypermusic.
Beck is back! Riding on a hyperdrive highway to Neptune with Pharrell Williams in the 'Star Wars' of this 'Hyperspace'. Illuminating the airwaves like a light saber. Or the neon of Japan. In the 80's Tokyo typography for your yellow Tower Records that graces this albums artwork with that era automobile for the people. Now as the headlights of this lipstick red classic open like Bill Murray's weary to in Shinjuku awe eyes, as his jet lag fever dream Shibuya crosses over to the electric opening of 'Lost In Translation', many music geeks are calling this Beck's best bet in years. As he takes "two turntables and a microphone" for some N.E.R.D. production from urban legend Pharrell (hey the Grammy guys still got it...he discovered this year's best new artist and album, Maggie Rogers in a past life somewhere between New York University and 'Alaska'), getting as hip-hop as a 'Devils Haircut' mop of a shaggy dog jumping cruft hurdles...'Odelay'. Although we bum rushing the stage like Kanye think two years ago his classic 'Colors' was the most "luminous moose", 'WOW' vibrant, album of the year. Just like Mr. West did when Beck took home the Grammy for the 'Sea Change' spiritual sequel of the 'Morning View' break-up ballad awakening iconic piece of art. As a matter of fact in this 'Modern Guilt', Beck has been on his epic experimental, lo-fi high standard like the rest of his career for the best part of a decade now. And now on the eve year of his, "I Keanu believe he's a half century" 50th birthday he's about to be awarded another. Sit down Yeezus! 'Jesus' may be 'King', but 'Hyperspace' takes the crown at warp speed...sorry wrong Trek.
Cool as a Casio with even more backlight in this digital age. 'ハイパースペース' begins with the immersive, ignition intro 'Hyperlife' , before beautiful beats bring atmosphere to 'Uneventful Days'. Which is classic Beck from the outset, like you've just now heard it for years when he sings, "Uneventful days, uneventful nights/Living in that dark, waiting for the light." But there's fondness in that familiarity. And there's even more in the country twang road stop of some 90's era Bek David Campbell on the 'Saw Lightning' surefire hit single that is still hip to Pharrell's hop. With the man from Virigina's background raps attesting. What began as rock star Beck working on the new N*E*R*D album (oh yes!) ended up being a as Williams tweets "highway music", Crockett and Tubbs partnership in this vintage ride. As Beck blesses this album with a speedometer discs avant garde artwork. Picture perfect for the return of the vinyl age in some white on red 'Miami Vice', South Beach suit, sleeves rolled up like an 80's classic that will feel like it's dust jacket been in the crates for cycles. The time to be alive in Japan and that age of American they still soak up like classic candy, John Hughes, throwbacks or thrift shop Tommy Hilfiger. Just like another sure to be single on 'Die Trying', were Beck lays it all down in wait. 'I don't care what I have to do" he yearns and burns. Or on 'Chemical' that is auditory 'Acid For The Children' like Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea's audiobook that alongside 'Me' by Elton John and Prince's unfinished last word of 'The Beautiful Ones' in a big three of books that is dominating the festive buying period this Christmas for music memoirs. We'd love one from the mind of Beck, a musical scientist...whose no Scientologist. But we get these pop art albums are exactly that, as right now he's the only artist this year to inhabit the same space as Maggie Rogers or King Princess, who are really doing something with the sound instead of just talking (or tweeting) about it. That's for the birds. Cheep, cheep.
We can look straight past all that transparency like 'See Through' that 'Sea Change' sounds underwater as you drown in the depths of sleep for this midnite hour city music that takes you higher than any substance in fading neon. On the 'Hyperspace' title track with Pharrell's production sounding halfway between Common's 'Universal Mind Control', or the Neptune planetary sign he reached with Kelis' 'Kaleidoscope', Beck sings about his life that shares the same name, "Faster / Farther / Longer / Harder / I just wanna grow and grow / Beauty, light and crushing life / Wanna feel more and more", taking it all the way to NASA, no problem Houston like Harden. Rocketing, electric life is his brain. Bowie beauty is reached for like the stars in this Ad Astra age, scraping the 'Stratosphere' in the playlists most epic and evoking track. "Turn me around/Collision course with the sun/Far above the ground/Halfway to oblivion", he sings at peace, "high as the moon," "somewhere (he) can disappear". Away from the 'Dark Places' which is another strong single that will be observatory played from the Big Smoke of London's Greenwich to the La La Land of Hollywood's Griffith in the hills park, dancing like Stone and Gosling to its vivid beauty. But nothing shoots for the moon like 'Star'...and nothing sounds quite like it, for the freshest cut on this set of classics. Before the 'Everlasting Nothing' of this LCD like soundsystem (oh baby) takes us all the way back home. "You threw the keys to the kingdom/Over a skyscraper wall/Sowing seeds somewhere obsolete/In the everlasting nothing/It's been a long night in the slipstream/I thought I'd crash and burn if I came down/When I did, I found a friend to take me home." All the way back down to the earth's atmosphere after a good half hour of your head being out of this world, in the clouds like Mercury, Venus, Mars. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Playlist Picks: 'Saw Lightning', 'Chemical', 'Stratosphere'.
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