CD 2008, XL Records This is probably the most remarkable entry for What’s On ever. If the last entries tended to look like regular reviews, this one has a good old personal story to it. Last Tuesday I went to see Beck perform in de Melkweg in Amsterdam. It seemed a rather small venue for this artist and an odd date to say the least, since his new album was not to be released yet, for another week. So when we entered de Melkweg and I noticed they had the album for sale already I didn’t think twice. I even urged Roel to buy one too. Then Yeasayer played, which was nice, but I didn’t really get it. Maybe I have to listen to the album. And Yeasayer were finished the waiting started… … … Nothing happened, just roadies tuning the same guitars over and over again… … Then an aquaintance of us got a phonecall. He said people backstage were flipping because the local record shop had already sold the new album at the Melkweg. Someone had made a terrible mistake and everyone was really upset! So I happen to be one of the happy few to own it before it is released. The downside to this story is that when they eventually took the stage I thought Beck was someone who had dressed up as Kurt Cobain for Halloween, with torn jeans and big, cheesy sunglasses. They played a rather short set without saying a further word or even a smile. His mind was somewhere else completely. When I saw him in Vredenburg Utrecht a few years ago he wasn’t feeling well, but it turned the perfomance into an intimate night of singer/songwriter gone bonkers. Which was really beautiful. Last Tuesday it felt a bit like watching the Dire Straits. They got most of the notes right but for as far Beck himself was concerned there was no energy whatsoever. Oh and the album is really, really good! Please do yourself a favor and buy it. His cooperation with Dangermouse sounds perfect. The lyrics are almost understandable, he’s obviously worried about the state of the world today. Title track Modern Guilt sounds like a sixties pop song from space, Chemtrails sounds like Diamond Bollocks on acid. The album is totally cool, it’s short and snappy and really beautiful! For the first time in years he has really reinvented himself… On record, that is…