Beck is back, to rename the title of an old John Updike novel.

On his latest album, “Modern Guilt,” the singular artist with the single name sings of going to a volcano.

He’s in luck. We’ve loads of volcanoes in Central Oregon, where he performs Sunday at Les Schwab Amphitheater (see “If you go”), bringing with him a song catalog with somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,300,725 songs (give or take), and at least two turntables and a microphone.

Also in tow: opener Cold War Kids, an indie-rock band from California that has generated generally favorable reviews, except from the ever-crotchety Pitchforkmedia.com camp. Heck, we’ll even take the fact that they call Cold War Kids “serviceable” as a generous endorsement, considering the infamous source.

Headliner Beck took MTV by storm in 1994 with the kind of hit no corporate record honcho could have predicted: the slacker anthem “Loser,” a hybrid of rap and lo-fi alternative with lyrics that made the stream-of-consciousness absurdity of contemporaries Pavement sound like the monotone dronings of a tenured college professor (sample line: “my time is a piece of wax falling on a termite, who’s choking on the splinters”).

The single was followed up by Beck’s debut full-length album, “Mellow Gold,” and a reputation began to take shape: namely, for his ability to pour acoustic guitar, hip-hop, indie rock and synthetic ’80s pop (along with maybe a dozen other genres we’re forgetting) into a blender and mix it into something new.

“Stereopathetic Soulmanure” and “One Foot in the Grave,” a couple of albums of material mostly recorded earlier in his career, were released in quick succession, but it was the “Odelay,” released in 1996, that quieted any remaining doubters who may have viewed him as a novelty act. The album spawned singles such as “Devil’s Haircut” and “Where It’s At,” the latter of which won Beck a Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal.

A successful string of albums — the folk of “Mutations,” the Prince-like funk of “Midnite Vultures,” the sober introspection of “Sea Change” — showcased his growing maturity, consistent songwriting and ever-changing moods. And working with high-profile producers such as the Dust Brothers and Timbaland probably helped his cause du rock.

To this listener’s ears, 2005’s “Guero” was like a rebirth of Beck, or at least one hell of a realization of what makes Beck Beck. Produced by the Dust Brothers, “Guero” was welcomed by critics. “E-Pro,” “Hell Yes,” “Earthquake Weather,” “Rental Car” and “Girl”; all these tracks deserve their rightful place on any respectable mp3 player.

Beck seized on the momentum of “Guero” and released “The Information” the very next year.

“The Information” featured solid songs such as the ’80s funk of “Cellphone’s Dead” and “Think I’m in Love,” a cool little confessional with a gorgeous bridge and the simple sentiment of its chorus “Think I’m in love, but it makes me kind of nervous to say so.” That track alone might make the album worth the price of admission.

Still baby-faced at 38, Beck is touring in support of “Modern Guilt,” for which he tapped another in-demand producer, Danger Mouse. And once again, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, with “Modern Guilt” being a more completely realized work than it might sound on paper. And it sounds pretty good on paper, considering Danger Mouse is one half of Gnarls Barkley (“Crazy”) and the man behind the The Grey Album, a mash-up of The Beatles’ white album and Jay-Z’s “The Black Album.”

What does “Modern Guilt” sound like? It sounds like a Beck album: idiosyncratic, organic, unpredictable. He doesn’t reinvent himself here, but does find a way to sound fresh despite the overall dark themes he explores, such as, oh, meeting his maker, which isn’t usually how you get the party started.

But that’s just the subject he raises on “Orphans,” a lush if melancholic affair. On it, Beck asks “and how can I make new again what rusts every time it rains?” and it sure doesn’t sound like a rhetorical question.

Listening to track No. 2, the surf rock-inspired “Gamma Ray,” you can almost envision go-go dancers jiggling from the opening licks, and the resultant video, which you can see on Youtube, is appropriately trippy — or “psychedelic” if you’re over age 50.

“Modern Guilt” ends on the pensive note of “Volcano,” with a thoroughly disillusioned Beck singing about heading to a fiery crater. Admitting he’s “tired of evil and all the things that I don’t know,” Beck confesses “I don’t know if I’m sane/ But there’s a ghost in my heart/ That’s trying to see in the dark.”

But hey, he’s Beck. He could bounce back from the dark side in 2009 with another pastiche of fun-in-the-summer songs. That is if he doesn’t fall in the volcano.

If you go

What: Beck, with Cold War Kids

When: 6 p.m. Sunday, gates open at 5 p.m.

Where: Les Schwab Amphitheater, 344 S.W. Shevlin Hixon Drive, Bend

Cost: $38, plus service charges. Advance tickets available at all TicketMaster outlets, including Joe’s (541-388-5595) and The Ticket Mill (541-318-5457) in Bend, as well as www.ticketmaster.com and 866-866-4502.

Contact: 541-318-5457 and www.bendconcerts.com