Midnite Vultures

Editors’ Notes “Can’t you hear those cavalry drums/Hijacking your equilibrium,” croons Beck Hansen aboard the triumphant horns of “Sexx Laws.” It’s a fittingly visceral introductory image for a fourth official record that all but buttonholes the listener and drags them, gasping, on a sultry sonic voyage. Dripping in funky lover-man falsetto (“Mixed Bizness,” “Peaches & Cream”) and peppered with effective cameos (that’s Johnny Marr noodling on “Milk & Honey”), Midnite Vultures is a celebratory blast of pop playfulness that, impressively, doesn’t once slip into pastiche.