"Woke up this morning, found a love light in the storm..."

After all the Kanye/Grammys/Beck business, I've gone back to Morning Phase and have given it a fair few spins. Not that I really give a toss about the Grammys, but I was happy about the wins the album received. I've liked a lot of Beck's music over the years, and Morning Phase was my favourite long player from last year. Not that I listen to a whole heap of modern music these days.

One of the first comments I heard about Beck's newie was that it sounded like psychedelic Dylan. I became very interested once I learnt that it was offered up as a companion piece to 2002's Sea Change, one of my favourite albums of all time. I loved the prominently acoustic arrangements on that record, and I had been hoping that Beck would return to those sounds and moods again.

I didn't get into Sea Change immediately. It was one of those albums that I bought at a CD clearance sale in the old Burswood Dome. I think I bought because it got a pretty favourable review in Rolling Stone, and someone around me quite liked the track Paper Tiger. It was a "yeah, nah, why not?" purchase. 

Even after buying it, I think it took me a few years to really listen to it. I quite liked the opening track, The Golden Age, but I only became aware of the song after The Flaming Lips released a cover version on their Fight Test EP. As time has gone by, it's become one of my go-to songs when I want to chill out or relax, or just feel good. I love those first couple of strums of the acoustic guitar before that soothing piano line comes in; yes, soothing. It soothes me. Musical perfection and transcendence. It's one of my favourite driving tracks as well, when I'm in absolutely no hurry. Possibly as much as ten years after its release, I really started to appreciate how fantastic Sea Change really is.

Firstly, it's a break-up record. Any kind of emotional turmoil can really get the creative juices of an artist flowing. Particularly those who use their art as a form of catharsis. Anyone who's ended a relationship, or instigated the break-up (and that's most people, I guess), can relate to a lot of the lyrics here. It's not all doom-and-gloom though. There are songs that wallow in self-pity briefly, of course, but then there are contrasting ones about just getting over it and continuing forward. Apart from the first song, my other favourite tracks include Guess I'm Doing Fine, It's All In Your Mind, Lost Cause and Sunday Sun. 

The latter features a very Beck-esque outro of a squelchy, electric cacophony that almost threatens to become unlistenable before mercifully reaching its end. I think it's a nice touch. The album is more Mutations than Odelay!, but it's certainly a lot mellower, and I think it may be one of Beck's more accessible efforts.

Morning Phase doesn't the have the angst of a failed relationship hanging over it, so the subject matter isn't as brooding or downbeat. The second song Morning is wonderfully melodic and even a little uplifting. Easily my favourite track, it has a very similar musical motif throughout that reminds me of The Golden Age, which I think was deliberate. Even the instrumentation is the same, which only confirms the link back to Sea Change. I find the album suits a lazy Sunday morning down to the ground, bar a couple of the more downbeat tunes.

My other highlights on this record are Blackbird Chain, Blue Moon and Heart Is A Drum. The two short instrumental tracks, Phase and Cycle, add to the overall feel of the album nicely, without seeming pretentious or wasteful.

Anyway, if you're only familiar with the sample-heavy, rap/rock stylings of Beck, I thoroughly recommend these two albums. I'm considering taking the best tracks from both to create Morning Change...or Sea Phase.