Track Listing

1. Sexx laws
2. Nicotine and gravy
3. Mixed bizness
4. Get real paid
5. Hollywood freaks
6. Peaches and cream
7. Broken train
8. Milk and honey
9. Beautiful way
10. Pressure zone
11. Debra

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9112 in Music
• Released on: 2002-12-23
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 58 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Beck Hansen's sixth album again demonstrates his unparalleled ability to mix and match genres without overwhelming his essential style. Midnite Vultures is his peculiar tribute to the pre-hip hop American urban music of the Eighties, not a million miles from the peaks of that other wilful eccentric, Prince. "Sexxlaws" is a catchy melange including horns and down-home banjo picking, the inexplicable "Nicotine And Gravy" harks back to George Clinton's early P-funk, while the superlative "Milk And Honey" steals knowingly from Grandmaster Flash's "The Message", alongside electro beats and a huge rock chorus. Throw in pretty country ("Beautiful Way"), nasal G-funk ("Hollywood Freaks"), Tom Waits-style dissonance ("Out of Kontrol", where he asks "Did you ever let a cowboy sit on your lap?") and the relentless funk of "Mixed Business" and you have nothing less than another eclectic masterpiece. --Steve Jelbert

CD Description
From the Stax-fried greasy horns that power the opening "Sexx Laws" to the falsetto-delivered slow jam of the closing "Debra", MIDNITE VULTURES is Beck's blatant funk-soul-brotherturn. Having pillaged, plundered, cut, and pasted the scopeof American heritage musics throughout his short extraordinary career, the slacker boy-wonder has made a party record to end the millennium, lascivious to the bone, and groove-ingto the core.
Whether he's blowing up Kool Keith-meets-Kraftwerk beats and rhymes on "Hollywood Freaks", getting intoPrince-ly funky rock on "Peaches & Cream", or rocking the old-school electro on "Get Real Paid", this year's Beck modelis more about mixing sci-fi R&B bizness with leather than staring down folk-derived dead ends. But don't believe he's forgotten how to masterfully collage his on-going postmodern pursuits into his new fashion--"Peaches & Cream" is self-conscious enough to quote Mississippi Fred McDowell, but as a sly sexy come-on, and repeated lyrics of juke-joint R&B standards help weave a thematic thread throughout MIDNITE VULTURES. Such sharp details help turn Midnite Vultures from a great celebratory mix-tape into one of the finest albums of 1999.

Customer Reviews

Culture chameleon turns purple
Beck's music has always been characterised by the effortless fusion of diverse musical genres, while still retaining an unmistakeable Beck blueprint. Having wowed all and sundry with his masterpiece Odelay, and then hinted at a more introspective side with Mutations, Midnite Vultures sees Beck slipping into a lurid purple catsuit and getting all dirty funky on our asses.

From the joyous horn ejaculation of single 'Sexx Laws' right through to the gorgeous tongue-in-cheek Prince pastiche of 'Debra', Beck is having a lot of fun and it's difficult not to get carried away by it all. Between these two beauties we're treated to electro, rock, folk, funk and hip-hop. In particular, the standout 'Hollywood Freaks' is utterly, utterly fantastic and very funny. He's got groove in his heart.

Some may question Beck's authenticity, wondering whether he puts any of himself into the music: it's easy to feel insecure when listening to this record, uncertain whether you've been reeled in by some bad joke. Beck does tend to come across at times like some clever spoilt brat. He's smart and mischievous, smashing up post-modern culture into spiky and difficult pieces before deftly rebuilding them into beautiful and complex musical shapes. He speaks a strange language, is simultaneously happy and sad, knows who he is yet constantly toys with his identity, and wears so many colours that they eventually become back and white. And this time the black and white reads 'Genius at Work'. Get down or get out.

Beck's call
Chameleons change to blend into their environment whereas Beck undergoes a process of continual reinvention to stand apart from his peers. He habitually mixes seemingly incompatible genres with panache. 'Midnite Vultures' was trailed as a meeting of funk and country but, with the exception of a banjo solo on 'Sexx Laws' and pedal steel featuring in 'Beautiful Way', there is little to excite interest from Nashville. An equally flimsy case could be made for it being a Beatles tribute as 'Nicotine & Gravy' combines 'Day in the Life of''s orchestration with the chorus from 'Hey Jude' and 'Broken Train' has melodic echoes of 'Tomorrow Never Knows'.

This album could be credited to The Artist Formerly Known As Beck such is the spectre of Prince both in musical and vocal styles, especially the falsetto and softly-spoken voice-over in 'Debra' and the feel of 'Raspberry Beret' suggested by 'Peaches & Cream'. 'Milk & Honey' weds 80s synthesizer to funky beats, rock guitar and groovy gibberish lyrics. Only 'Beautiful Way', including backing vocals from Beth Orton, would fit easily into his previous release, the acoustic 'Mutations'.

Such plundering could result in empty, fragmented postmodern fare but Beck transcends these potential reservations. His music has a rare energy and coherence as exemplified in the triumphant horns of 'Sexx Laws' or the downright dirty feel of 'Hollywood Freaks'. The latter includes particularly inspired surreal stream of sub-consciousness raps. The only quibble would be the gap between the final named track and a bonus piece of music. This is becoming an increasingly regular trait of CDs and Beck is the worst culprit yet with seven minutes of John Cage-type silence between 'Debra' and some Atari Teenage Riot-esque noise. That apart, 'Midnite Vultures' is magnificent. Beck might soon run out of genres to ransack but if anyone could successfully merge thrash metal with brass band tunes, it's him.

A Princely tribute to the Purple one
Has Mr. Hanson turned into the Purple one? Is this an album of lost Prince tapes I wonder? Midnite Vultures takes you back to the mid 80's when Prince was at his peak. The squawking vocals on Debra, could be straight from Sign of the Times, whilst Nicotine and Gravy from Diamonds and Pearls. A fantastic tribute to Prince if ever I heard one.

I can only think this was intentional of Beck, as previous recordings show he has many more facets to his music, than this collection of tracks would have us believe. Mutations being one of the best albums of all time, I eagerly awaited the release of Midnite Vultures rather hoping a for more of the same genius, but alas not so. My recommendation, dust off your old Prince albums, and play those, you can't get better than the original.

Don't be put off, Beck is one of the times great musical talents, buy early albums if you haven't got them already, and try to see him live, his performances will blow you away