The followup to Beck's 1996 classic Odelay had a mission: close out the millennium with a party record. Mission accomplished. Rather than unleash another musical mishmash, Beck took a more consistent route on 1999's Midnite Vultures, an entire album of hyper-sexual, '70s funk-inspired tunes that masterfully straddles the fence between goofy and sophisticated. To put it more succinctly, this is gettin'-it-on music.
Midnite Vultures has Beck digging through his vinyl collection and coming out with bits and pieces of way-back funk and soul along with some old-school hip-hop beats. He delivers these songs with a heavy bit of falsetto and plenty of that oddball lyricism that we'd already come to expect and love from him. One might be tempted to call this a throwback album, but not so fast. He seamlessly mixes in a good deal of modern styles and effects (like the electronic sounds at the end of "Mixed Bizness" made to sound like "robots doing the nasty") so that this album not only celebrates some of the best of the 20th century but also looks ahead to the 21st.
It's clear that Beck takes some musical cues from Prince on this album, but he certainly doesn't ignore the former unpronounceable symbol's penchant for overtly sexual lyrics. First track "Sexx Laws" makes the opening statement "I wanna defy the logic of all sex laws," letting us know that anything goes when you're using Midnite Vultures as your background music. "Sexx Laws" was the first single and remains the best-known MV track due to its horn-section-enhanced, upbeat nature and superior danceability. More fun is to be had on party tracks like "Mixed Bizness," which sings about making "all the lesbians scream" and has Beck spouting phrases like "Word up" with white-boy irony that somehow begs to be taken seriously. "Get Real Paid" is heavy on the electronic blips and airy video game effects, which may turn some off but is executed well enough to please those who dig that style. Some familiarity appears as a little bit of Odelay creeps through on "Broken Train" and a somewhat hard-rock guitar riff drives "Pressure Zone." But for the most part, even on those tracks, the album keeps a consistent feel.
Some of the most interesting tracks, however, are the slow and smooth ones. Due to Beck's falsetto and strange wordplay, these are the kinds of songs that will make you laugh ... until you realize how well done they are. Closing track "Debra" has Beck hitting on a girl he just met at JC Penny with the hopes of getting with her and her sister. This one is delivered so smoothly you almost don't notice the silliness of lines like "I coldstep to you with a fresh pack of gum / Somehow I knew you were lookin' for some." Likewise "Nicotine & Gravy" has that WTF-ness we've come to expect from Beck with lyrics like "I think we're going crazy / Her left eye is lazy / She looks so Israeli / Nicotine and gravy" crooned in a fun and somehow sophisticated way. The album's sexiest track is easily "Peaches and Cream," a suave number that takes us for a sensual, leisurely ride on "the Good Ship Ménage à Troi."
Beck's gone through a wide range of styles throughout his impressive career, giving us lots of fun tracks along the way. His most consistently fun album yet, however, is Midnite Vultures. This thoroughly engaging party album shows that there is no limit to Beck's list of influences nor to his flair for compiling those influences into something all his own. You might not think of getting your groove on to the guy who gave us "Loser," but that's just one more sexx law you really should defy.
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