The comparisons to Nick Drake (or Leonard Cohen) on Sea Change are unavoidable, but Beck still wrote a strong song cycle performed with emotional impact. What's wrong with that? Holding pattern? I didn't see any faux funk/soul crossed with hip hop on Sea Change. Though we will see with his next release, whenever that is due out. A friend of mine said that O'Rourke couldn't be poppy even if he tried. He did and had very enjoyable moments on Eureka, etc; however, there is certainly enough to alienate pop fans. The noise interludes or that endless shaker solo between songs, which tries even my patience. It's not groundbreaking; it's just from a genre that doesn't sell well. -----Original Message----- From: Perfect Sound Forever [mailto:perfectlist@furious.com] Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 11:51 AM To: zsteiner@butler.edu; zorn-list@mailman.xmission.com Subject: RE: Pop innovators (was The Experimental Side of Burt Bacharach) I agree that Beck seems like he's in a holding pattern now (the latest one sounds like bad Nick Drake). O'Rourke is a good example too but he hasn't really broken out into any pop market yet (even as part of Sonic Youth though that'll cerrtainly help him).