Already Dead

Further (anecdotal) evidence that the record companies are pointing their fingers in the wrong direction: Sea Change is the first Beck album I have purchased, and I never would have done so had I not first listened to it via a file-sharing service. (By the way, Tom Petty also has a beef or two with the major labels.) Sea Change is a fantastic disc — right now it’s running a close second to Beth Orton’s Daybreaker for my Best of 2002. Beck has simplified both his songwriting and production, creating some odd mix of Graham Parsons and ELO. At the moment “Already Dead” is my favorite track, but there really isn’t a weak spot here.