By calling the muted psychedelic folk-rock, blues, and tropicalia of Mutations a stopgap, Beck set expectations for Midnight Vultures unreasonably high. Ironically, Midnite Vultures doesn't feel like a sequel to Odelay — it's a genre exercise, like Mutations. This time, Beck delves into soul, funk, and hip-hop, touching on everything from Stax/Volt to No Limit but using Prince as his home base. He's eschewed samples, more or less, but not the aesthetic. Even when a song is reminiscent of a particular style, it's assembled in strange, exciting ways. As it kicks off with "Sexx Laws," it's hard not to get caught up in the rush, and "Nicotine & Gravy" carries on the vibe expertly, as does the party jam "Mixed Bizness" and the full-on electro workout "Get Real Paid," an intoxicating number tha...