Why Isn't Beck's "Colors" Heralded as the Most Important Party Rock Album Ever?
It's a damn masterpiece.
Dear life, I’m holding on
How long must I wait
Before the thrill is gone
—Beck, “Dear Life”
Party Rock—it’s an underrated genre. Sure, these kinds of songs can be pilloried as Yacht Rock:
subgenre of soft rock, popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s, characterized by its smooth, mellow sound, often evoking images of sailing or cruising on a yacht
But when you are throwing a rocking party—or simply need to get your day started—it can’t always be Rage Against the Machine.
Sometimes, you need to get the party started, but not explain more to your children than you have energy to support.
That is where I find myself today. I want to get the party started. I have some excellent choices when it comes to individual songs. No, I’m not talking about Party Rock Anthem. No, I’m not referring to Pitbull. I’m looking to get the party started, but in a way that will involve minimal cringe-induction.
I could always listen to Modest Mouse. OF COURSE, I could listen to Modest Mouse. I’ve been doing that since 1997. Readers of this newsletter who are fans of all things Owen could even listen to some of my music. It’s not great party music, though. If you want to have a really navel-gazing party, one could listen to American Football.
Yes, this newsletter is a stealth music newsletter. I get that. We have a whole series of articles comparing hip-hop classics to portions of the rules around mental health parity.
Say My Name: The Department of Labor & Destiny's Child Have In Common--CHEATERS WILL BE CALLED OUT!
And among my favorite articles of all time:
No Scrubs: TLC has advice about Mental Health Parity enforcement for the DOL
Previously, in this newsletter’s series on a request by the Department of Labor to have more robust reporting about mental health parity we learned new things!
Now, returning to my point:
If you want to get the party started, and it is not Christmas, in which case Sufjan Stevens has you covered, and it’s crucially important to keep your “I like good music” credibility intact…I have a solution for you.
For the life of me, I can’t understand why this remarkable record— Colors by Beck—Is my choice to save both your party and your sense of yourself as having good taste in music.
The brilliance of Colors—11 sublimely upbeat songs—is that they both get the party started…and don’t suck. Beck is responsible for some of the most sublime music of the last 30 years. Sea Change’s “Paper Tiger,” anyone? But much of it is mournful or absurdist. Colors is neither—while still asking serious questions in its lyrics.
Take “No Distraction”…a funky love song that also, effortlessly, reminds us— distractions that pull lovers out of the moment are bad:
It’s not the words I want to tell you
It’s not the tension that I feel
It’s not the face that I’m showing you today
That betrays the way, the way I want to feel
What I need
What I need
What I need right now is right here
Right in front of me
What I need
What I need
What I need right now is right here
Only you and me.
Distractions are a giant slapping movement to that phone in both of your hands, and gets you to wiggle your hips enough to make it plausible that you might just be forced to put them down while you both shimmy.
How does Beck make colors bounce so hard? The old-fashioned way—with excellent musicians playing actual music…here is a partial list of the talent on the record:
Yes, they had two more double bass players, but I ran out of room on the screenshot. And Greg Kurstin? He also co-produces many of the tracks. Legendary mastering engineers, including Emily Lazar (who won a Grammy for this record) and Tom Coyne (whose mastering suite I have spent a non-zero amount of time in), also polished it up at the end. This is an album of actual music created by actual musicians, and it shows. Beck Hanson did the string arrangements himself!
What makes Colors great? Great musicians, with well-arranged music, singing and playing well-crafted music, with instruments that move air and analog signals, breathing life into lyrics that are about our lives, with a timelessness that’s hard to ignore.
Take that, synth pop.
Thanks for joining me on this Sunday musical excursion. If you—or someone you know— needs the most advanced mental health care? That is an option, across 18 states by telemedicine, and with our in-person interventional centers in 3 states already. Yep, it’s my day job, Radial.
Modest Mouse 🎉