"The New Pollution" is a song by American musician

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...

, released as the third single from his fifth album, ''

Odelay ''Odelay'' is the fifth studio album by American musician Beck, released on June 18, 1996, by DGC Records. The album featured several successful singles, including " Where It's At", "Devils Haircut", and "The New Pollution", and peaked at number s ...

'' (1996). It samples the song "Venus" by Joe Thomas. In the US, the song peaked at number 78 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

and number nine on the ''Billboard''

Alternative Airplay Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart. In Europe, it was a Top 10 hit in Iceland, peaking at number nine.

Critical reception

Justin Chadwick from Albumism picked "The New Pollution" as one of the "unequivocal standouts" of the ''Odelay'' album, describing it as "buoyant" and "exhilarating, pop-friendly fare". British magazine ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated the song four out of five, adding, "Similar to

Devils Haircut "Devils Haircut" is a song by the American musician Beck, released as the second single from his fifth album, ''Odelay'' (1996). It peaked at number 94 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number 23 on the ''Billboard'' Modern Rock Tracks chart and n ...

in execution, this mellow outing from ''Odelay'' should follow its predecessor into the Top 30." Editor Alan Jones called it a gem, adding, "Like the hit Devils Haircut, it sounds very tongue in cheek and combines the psychedelic swirl of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

Within You, Without You "Within You Without You" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. Written by lead guitarist George Harrison, it was his second composition in the Indian classical music, Ind ...

with the bass line from

Taxman "Taxman" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album ''Revolver''. Written by the group's lead guitarist, George Harrison, with some lyrical assistance from John Lennon, it protests against the higher level of progress ...

, although it doesn't really sound like a Beatles record. It does have their freshness and is very commercial and is sure to score." David Sinclair from ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' viewed it as a "sneaky re-working of that old Taxman riff."

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "The New Pollution" was directed by Beck himself. It features 1960s-style dancing and background. The video contains visual references to

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, actor, author and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provoca ...

's music videos for "Monsieur William" and "

Melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

", as well as the bands

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albums ...

and

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...

. The opening scene references

The Lawrence Welk Show ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 195 ...

. The video features actress

Mary Lynn Rajskub Mary Lynn Rajskub (; born June 22, 1971) is an American actress and comedian who is best known for portraying Chloe O'Brian in the action thriller series '' 24'', and the character Gail the Snail in ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia''. Rajskub ...

. The music video received nominations for Video of the Year,

Best Alternative Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Alternative Video (also known as Best Alternative Music Video) was first given out at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. Prior to being called Best Alternative Video, it was known as Best Post-Modern Video in 1989 a ...

, Best Direction, Best Choreography and Best Art Direction at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, winning the latter three.

Live performances

As of January 13, 2019, Beck had performed the song live 374 times.

Track listings

* US 12" Vinyl # "The New Pollution"

P Version P, or p, is the sixteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''pee'' (pronounced ), plural ''pees''. History The ...

- 3:39 # "The New Pollution" emix by Mickey P.- 4:08 # "The New Pollution" emix by Mkey P. & Mario C.- 3:49 # "Lemonade" reviously Unreleased- 2:22 # "Richard's Hairpiece" Devil's_Haircut"_remix_by_Aphex_Twin.html" ;"title="Aphex_Twin.html" ;"title="Devil's Haircut" remix by Aphex Twin">Devil's Haircut" remix by Aphex Twin">Aphex_Twin.html" ;"title="Devil's Haircut" remix by Aphex Twin">Devil's Haircut" remix by Aphex Twin- 3:19 * UK CD Pt. 1 # "The New Pollution"

- 3:42 # "Richard's Hairpiece" emix_by_Aphex_Twin.html" ;"title="Aphex_Twin.html" ;"title="emix by Aphex Twin">emix by Aphex Twin">Aphex_Twin.html" ;"title="emix by Aphex Twin">emix by Aphex Twin- 3:21 # "Electric Music and the Summer People" - 4:41 * UK CD Pt. 2 # "The New Pollution"

- 3:42 # "The New Pollution" emix by Mario C. and Mickey P.- 3:51 # "Lemonade" - 2:21 * Japanese CD (released as ''"The New Pollution" and Other Favorites'') # "The New Pollution"

- 3:39 # "The New Pollution" emix by Mickey P.- 4:08 # "The New Pollution" emix by Mario C. & Mickey P.- 3:49 # "Richard's Hairpiece" emix_by_Aphex_Twin.html" ;"title="Aphex_Twin.html" ;"title="emix by Aphex Twin">emix by Aphex Twin">Aphex_Twin.html" ;"title="emix by Aphex Twin">emix by Aphex Twin- 3:21 # "Thunderpeel" reviously Unreleased- 2:41 #* This version is different from the one on ''Stereopathetic Soulmanure'' # "Lemonade" reviously Unreleased- 2:23 # ".000.000" reviously Unreleased- 5:26 # "Feather In Your Cap" reviously Unreleased- 3:45 #* This version can be found on the ''

SubUrbia A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include Commercial area, commercial and mixed-use development, mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a ...

'' soundtrack.

Personnel

*Beck Hansen: Vocals, guitar, bass, clavinet, organ, programming *The Dust Brothers: Programming *Written by: Beck/The Dust Brothers

Charts

References

External links

* Beck songs 1996 songs 1997 singles Songs written by Beck Song recordings produced by Dust Brothers Songs written by John King (record producer) Songs written by Michael Simpson (producer) DGC Records singles MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction {{1990s-rock-song-stub