Customer Reviews

Guerolito

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2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was thoroughly pleased with Beck's newest album "Guero," which was released in March. I thought it echoed several elements of nearly all of his previous releases, but was still a great collection of songs nonetheless (easily the best of 2005, and, yes, I'm biased.)

If you find yourelf hankering for more of Mr. Hansen's work this holiday season, you really can't go wrong with his new remix album "Guerolito," hardcore Beck fan or not. If you're a Beck completist (which I am), you'll discover after your first listen that only nine of the album's 14 tracks are new -- a few were snagged from the deluxe version of "Guero," a few more from the vinyl- and online-only "Ghettochip Malfunction" EP, and a few from the "Girl" and "E-Pro" singles.

For the most part, the remixers at the helm of these tracks do good work with the source material. None of the remixes quite surpass the original songs, but they are all as good or almost as good, to a point.

As long as Beck is still making music, I'll still listen to it. Now, the two things on my list for next Christmas are a live album and a B-Side/unreleased/scrapped/alternate take box set from Mr. Two Turntables and a Microphone.

I bought Guerolito after hearing "Heaven Hammer," the remixed version of Guero's "Missing." That remix, by Air, is the sort of product that makes remixes valid - it takes the passion and yearning lost in the original production of "Missing" and makes it feel at home in a louder, more tempting sonic landscape. That song became astonishing where the Guero song was simply alright, and the new song, "Clap Hands," is at least a good time. However, it's hard to swallow the cobbled remixes on the rest of Guerolito - the beat and the original of, say, "Earthquake Weather," (here as "Terromoto Tempo") are both individually appealing enough, but together sound dismayingly like they're from different planets and belong nowhere near each other. "E-Pro" becomes a groaning mess, the lovely "Farewell Ride" an electronic nightmare, and both those descrptions would be apt to describe the record as a whole.

In March, 2005, Beck issued "Guero", his best album since "Odelay" and the album that returned Beck to commercial success after the ambitious but disappointing 2002 "Sea Change" album. Then, without much hoopla or fanfare, Beck issued "Guerolito" (literally, Guero-lite) in December, 2005.

"Guerolito" (14 tracks, 54 min.) brings the 13 tracks of the original album, plus 1 new song. The tracks are presented in the same order as on "Geuro", and that helps a lot for the flow of the album. The amount of reworking of the tracks varies but generally speaking is never so dramatic that you wouldn't recognize the tune, which is definitely a plus. Best of the bunch for me are "Ghost Range (E-Pro)", "Terremoto Tempo (Earthquake Weather)" and "Ghettochip Malfunction (Hell Yes)". The new track "Clap Hands" is a great collaboration between Beck and the Dust Brothers, with lots of scratches and, well, handclapping.

While I'm generally not a great fan of remix album, I must say that this one was pleasant from beginning to end. This is not art with a capital A, and it never intended that. Just some fun remixes of fun songs. Perfect for the summertime.

Very Different from Guero. Three quarters of the album can be shelved after a listen, just a interesting/inferior other version. The remaining tracks shine, giving you a total different sound. The mellow remixes are rewarding.

Guero was (in my opinion) one of Beck's soundest albums. It combined his acoustic musings found on Sea Change with more eclectic offerings similar to Odelay. That in no way made it a rehash of his previous albums.
Guerolito, however, seems a little dry. It almost seems that sending it to contributing remixers like Adrock (of Beastie Boys fame) and Boards of Canada removed the jingly, catchy "Beck" sound.
Recommended if you are a fan of Beck's music, otherwise, check out Odelay or Guero before picking this one up.

I'm a big fan of Beck. And was very excited about picking this album up. However, every time I've listened to it, I've found myself taking it out after 5 or 6 songs and putting Guero on. I don't know, the production and re-mixing work is pretty good. But every song just left me wanting to hear the original.
Now that Amazon is sold out, and you have to get it from 3rd party vendors, it's just not worth it.

The thing you have to be prepared for- which I wasn't- before buying this is: (if you know Guero inside and out) most of these songs will sound a bit off. The vocals I've become accustomed to hearing over Beck's strange fusion mix on the original album sound alien to hear over the soundscapes created by the remix artists here. There is only one track I could say is better than the original, and thats E-Pro, Girl is as good as the original, but the rest are inferior. Don't get me wrong, its still a fun listen, but like I said, something is off with most of the tracks. I prefer the original wholeheartedly.

I am writing this as someone who really likes Beck but is not a total Beck-head (if that's even what they call themselves?). In fact, I should admit that my Beck history is probably a bit odd -- I started with "Mutations," then stayed away until I read a great review of "Guero" (which is now one of my favorite albums), and only recently bought "Odelay" (also terrific, although not as mature or coherent as "Guero"). Then just today, I stumbled on "Guerolito" and picked it up without knowing much about it -- I was willing to give it a try hoping it would only be half as good as the original. Well, my initial guess was pretty accurate -- after several listens, it still strikes me as only half as good.
Now, just as I am not a Beck cultie, I freely admit that I don't know much about any of the artists who've done the remixes, so my response to this album is not based on any prior knowledge or bias. Furthermore, in my humble opinion, none of the new tracks are as good as the originals, if by "good" you mean the quality of holding up under repeated listenings. That being said, several of them strike me as intelligent responses and/ or interesting variations, complementing their predecessors in ways that make you recognize Beck's own talents even more, while also appreciating how the remixer has made the song his own. By that standard, the best tracks here in my estimation are "Ghost Range (E-Pro)," "Shake Shake Tambourine" (Black Tambourine), "Terremoto Tempo (Earthquake Weather)," "Scarecrow," and "Emergency Exit." In fact, this last track comes closer than any of the others to being better than the original -- where Beck's song was rather ponderous and heavy, this new version is sleek and fun.
Unfortunately, a couple other remixes a really pretty bad. "Que Onda Guero," which is lively and compelling on "Guero," is just slaughtered here -- slowing someone's vocals down until the batteries sound like they're dying is never a good idea! Plus, "Ghettochip Malfunction" is a pretty lame version of "Hell Yes" -- I know someone else (who's probably more in the know then me) has written that the latter is actually a stripped down version of the former, but to my ears "Hell Yes" is already plenty funky and silly, and needs no further remixing. Also, let me add that while I can appreciate the artistry of the remake of "Girl" (which, by the way, I thought was a terrific single and a great parody of a Beach Boys song, despite what the Beck purists will tell you), I wish the mixer hadn't decided to take the song apart electronically at the end, rendering the last 45 seconds impossible to listen to without wincing.

In sum, "Guerolito" is an interesting, but not entirely successful, experiment. Many of the new remixes show flashes of genius; none of them sustain such genius the way Beck does in his originals. Furthermore, because the styles of many of the remixes are so different, the album as a whole lacks the coherence and overall cool mood of its progenitor. Unless you're a total Beck fan or a remix addict, I'd say just play "Guero" again!

beck is a great artist. guero was rather good, but very far from "mellow gold" or "odelay", but a good album.
this remixes are better than the original, remixes make it fresher and more interesting...i guess this was the original guero!


but no scientology please...a destructive cult should not be "subliminal"
encouraged! religious freedom is not religious abuse!
read this...
http://www.stylusmagazine.com/feature.php?ID=1710

"Guerolito" consists of remixes of Beck's "Guero" album from a diverse assortment of artists, which is, in some ways, more interesting than it's source material. While I must admit to being a big fan of a number of the remixers and certainly the remixee, this CD is well worth the $12 and is ultimately more engaging and more fun than any remix project I've ever heard.

Air and Boards of Canada have always appealed to my notions of what electronica should be (simultaneously mellow and engaging) and their respective versions of "Missing" and "Broken Drum" are both compelling and appropriate. Also, I have always been a fan of the Beastie Boys, and in the last few years have come to admire the sonically brutal loops of producer/rapper El-P. El-P and B-Boy Adrock deliver as expected; but one of my favorite moments of "Guerolito" is frequent Beastie-collaborator Mario C's version of "Earthquake Weather" which re-imagines the folky original as an ominous and spooky tribal drone. For me though, "Guerolito's" standout is Diplo's "Wish Coin" which utterly transforms the slow-burn funk of "Go It Alone" into a soulful ska jam that will have you reaching for your old English Beat LP's.

"Guerolito" stands as a fascinating and quirky reminder that we can all hear the same song in a different way.