Beck: Odelay

The first time I heard this album was at a friend’s house in New Jersey. It was during the summer and we were listening to what was actually a promo CD version on the front porch on a lousy boombox. Even as we sneezed from the citronella and endured the sweltering heat and mosquitoes, we could tell this was a great album. We played the thing over and over, enjoying each track more and more with every listen. The amazing mix of funk, hip-hop, rock and electronic music melds perfectly without distracting the listener with the genre-hopping. We went to see a show on the Odelay tour at the Roseland Ballroom, and it is to this day one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Beck robot danced, called people on stage to have them beat-box and put on one hell of a fun show. This album smashed barriers and made everyone want to party.