Guerolito [Digipak]

Performer: Beck
Producer: Benjamin Morando; Suzanne Thoma; Mike Sandison
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Available only through select retailers Personnel: Beck (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Petra Haden (vocals); Nick Diamonds (acoustic guitar, synthesizer, background vocals); Justin Lingard (viola); Semay Wu (cello); Paddy Steer (harmonica, Clavinet, xylophone, bass guitar, drums, programming); J'aime (clarinet, glockenspiel, drums); Natalie Alcorn (French horn); Tim Kramer (upright bass). On 2005's well-received GUERO, Beck succeeded in fluidly incorporating most of his musical personas--rhyme-ready rocker, wistful folk troubadour, funky white boy, etc. Later in the year, Beck released GUEROLITO, a track-by-track reinterpretation of the former record featuring remixes by various peers and admirers. The 14-track outing, which also includes the frenetic non-album song "Clap Hands," begins with Homelife's "Ghost Range," a radical reworking of "E-Pro" that replaces a straightforward rock vibe with busy, burbling layers of added instrumentation, including cellos and violas. Longtime Beck friends Air and Adrock (of the Beastie Boys) also offer up winning contributions, with the former transforming "Missing" into the dreamy, synth-heavy "Heaven Hammer" and the latter tweaking "Black Tambourine" into the dub-like "Shake Shake Tambourine." Other highlights include Boards of Canada's shimmering take on "Broken Drum" and Diplo's "Wish Coin," which turns the bluesy "Go It Alone" into a shuffling dance track. While this dynamic disc stays true to Beck's adventurous aesthetic, it also takes his songs down intriguing (and sometimes unlikely) back roads, making it as fascinating and enjoyable as the original album.

Spin (p.92) - "Cut Mr. Hansen up, and he reassembles nicely..." -- Grade: B Entertainment Weekly (pp.82-83) - "It's a studio-geek jam session that, in terms of sonic inventiveness, nearly beats the DJ-savvy original." -- Grade: B+

Beck Hansen, the quintessential Gen X slacker, came up among the lo-fi ranks, pushing a blend of country blues, Dylan-inspired wordplay, punk, and hip-hop. His straight-out-of-the-gate 1994 smash, "Loser," made him a star seemingly overnight. Subsequent recordings found him alternately accumulating even more disparate influences in his "mess-thetic" approach (Prince, tropicalia, psychedelia) and scaling down for the occasional back-to-the-roots lo-fi album. He is recognized as one of the preeminent singer-songwriters of his generation.

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