Note: The Information is a Beck/Nigel Godrich collaboration that they’ve been working on for 2 ½ years (i.e. some of this material existed before Beck’s last album Guero). Nigel’s best known for producing/engineering the majority of the Radiohead albums and Beck’s Sea Change and Mutations.
Also Note: The artwork shown here is just one of an infinite number of possibilities - the album comes with a blank cover and a sheet of stickers (i.e. make your own cover).
Sound: A classic mishmash of Beck elements (funky folk, electro grooves, bluesy stomps, stream-of-consciousness rap and gentle melodies) meet Nigel Godrich’s bread and butter (spaced-out, elegant atmosphere created with unexpected sounds).
Heavy Rotation tracks: “No Complaints”; “Nausea”
Medium Rotation tracks: “The Information”; “Think I’m In Love”
Explicit Lyrics*: “Cellphone’s Dead” (but it’s only a barely audible ‘shit.’)
Recommended: At this point, the kitchen-sink, Beck approach and the progressive rock ambition of Nigel is less stunning than it once was. That said, The Information is still a strong album for fans of eclectic, rhythmic, multi-layered production. It’s just a little short on memorable hooks and bona fide hits.
Grade: B

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* Noting of explicit lyrics is for the benefit of radio music directors or anyone else that needs/wants to keep their music FCC-friendly.