SOUNDTRACK: BECK-“Loser” singles (1994).
Beck has a new album out so I decided to listen through his back catalog for some context. Which meant going back to “Loser” and beyond. The first few things he put out all came around the same time. So even though there are dates for when things were recorded, it’s not always clear what really came first. Since the three full lengths all came out in 1994 and this single came out before Mellow Gold, I have arbitrarily decided to start here.
I own two “Loser” singles. They both have the same cover, although one was an import. The first one was the obligatory “this song is huge” single. The second was because it had the delicious B-side “MTV Makes Me Want To Smoke Crack.”
The US CD features 4 B sides, which really demonstrated the variety of styles that he would bring to the album. They don’t quite span the gamut of the things he had recorded on his other records, but you hear the catchiness and the weirdness as well as the utter chaos (at the end of “Fume”).
All of the songs are well-produced but not glossy. “Corvette Bummer” seems like it should have been on the album. “Soul Sucking Jerk (Reject)” is a different version than the album version. It’s less interesting musically (it’s quite stripped down) and the chorus is really quite different. I prefer the album version, but it’s interesting to hear this variant. “Fume” is a funny song about huffing fumes (I thought Scientologists were anti-drugs). It’s a silly song that is kind of anti-folk until the screaming noise that takes up the large portion of the end.
My UK single also has “Corvette Bummer” but it includes the mellow folky song “Totally Confused” which really shows the more folky side of him that he demonstrated before releasing Mellow Gold (and later on subsequent albums). “MTV” is a bizarrely wonderful song. It starts off as a kind of spontaneous (so many of his early lyrics seem spontaneous) dis of MTV. After a verse, the song stops, the engineer asks, what’s the matter, and then the song morphs into a lounge piano song also called “MTV Makes Me Want To Smoke Crack.” Beck totally morphs his singing voice into a lounge lizard style and the song just gets goofier and weirder It’s a wonderful B-side. And these two singles really show what early Beck would be all about.
[READ: March 9, 2014] Nolas’ Worlds #1
Nola’s World is a three-part graphic novel series. I never would have guessed it was originally French (true, author Mathieu Mariolle’s name should have clued me in, but you never really know). Anyhow, it was translated very naturally by Erica Olson Jeffrey.
The book is set in Alta Donna, a beautiful peaceful paradise on the water. Which is utterly boring. Nola’s parents are divorced and Nola’s mom works so much that Nola barely sees her. (her parents are peripheral to the story but essential to Nola). No unrelated, she also tends to be late for school a lot.
There’s a new boy at school named Damiano. He’s a good-looking and interesting guy. He also has a sister Ines, who seems to get away with whatever she wants–in school, out of school, everywhere. And Nola makes it her mission to find out what is going on with them.
Ines catches on quickly that Nola is tailing her, and she instantly invites her shopping, where they get a ton of stuff and a have a ton of fun. This naturally upsets Nola’s best friend, the fun and sadly underutilized Pumpkin). But Pumpkin is more concerned with getting out of this school than anything else these days (she is two years older than Nola).
Despite the fun, and despite enjoying Damiano’s company, something still isn’t sitting right with Nola–some things have been unusual since the newcomers arrived–like the sudden collapse of the librarian. And Nola is convinced it is their doing–and she even confronts Damiano about it (in confusing scene at a psychiatric institute, which I hope is fleshed out more in subsequent books). And that’s when we notice these two creatures who seem to be following….someone around. They look like aliens, and yet at the same time, the person who is ordering them around seems human.
What could be going on?
The visual style of the graphic novel is kind of anime, but not slavishly so. Nola has pink hair and big eyes, but other characters are noticeably European looking, like using interesting aspects of anime and making them her own. The colors (by Pop) are very subtle and soft, really conveying the sweetness of the community and, for instance, the softness of Nola’s cat. But Pop also conveys the intensity of emotions and the severity of the storm that hits the island. It’s a lovely book to look at.
The title of the book is revealed in a surreal and wonderful way in the last pages. I am really looking forward to the next two volumes.
So glad you enjoyed this series! I appreciate your kind words about the translation. 🙂
My 8 year old daughter just read the first one and said, “How come you didn’t get me the other ones, I need them right now!” We only wish there were dozens more. Thank you!