Steely Dan: "Steely Dan's name has been popping up as a hip musical crush. Remember, this glossy bop-pop was the indifferent aristocracy to punk rock's stone-throwing in the late 70's. People fought

it's all in the artwork for mirror traffic.

Brighten the Corners name checking Monk's Brilliant Corners

I thought Brighten the Corners was a direct quote from some poet Malkmus was into (name escapes me at the moment)

this thread and its revives really make me think all of ILM should go into therapy for constantly and willfully subjecting themselves to horrible music writing

or horrible post writing

was that an insult? i can never tell around here

Brighten the Corners name checking Monk's Brilliant Corners
I thought Brighten the Corners was a direct quote from some poet Malkmus was into (name escapes me at the moment)
― four Marxes plus four Obamas plus four Bin Ladens (Shakey Mo Collier)

From Wikipedia, fwiw:

Brighten the Corners is the fourth studio album released by Pavement. All songs were written by lead singer Stephen Malkmus, apart from "Date with Ikea" and "Passat Dream". The title is likely a reference to Ella Fitzgerald's Brighten the Corner, or to the 1957 Thelonious Monk album, Brilliant Corners.

yeah Malkmus is actually a decent call except for that whole "avoid the appearance of trying" thing that he spearheaded. but lyrically he's the right combo of craft and pisstake, like some of his most tender-sounding post-Pavement tunes are the most vicious ("Post-Paint Boy" - I don't have any idea who he's talking about but jeez), there's a Dan-y sensibility there

also, maybe you are thinking of Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain which is from a poem by Silver Jews bandmate David Berman (Slanted & Enchanted is from Keats, no joke)

"brighten the corner where you are" is like a old gospel/religious phrase that is picked up in the ella fitzgerald song. so i'm not sure it points to any specific influence.

here's a song with that title from 1913

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/b/r/brighten.htm

this thread has taken a few left turns hasn't it?

i'm still bitter about how the rolling stones thread was hijacked by a tom petty discussion

It was free fallin'

People fought

Field Music? xpost

✌ we never polled the steely dan album art ✌

Daft Punk's 'Fragments Of Time' track references The Nightfly as much as it does Steely Dan IMO.

I don't really get the passion that SD inspires on both sides. Their hits are great, and I like all of their songs that went into the top 20. The rest of their album tracks are pretty forgettable though. I get why they have a cult following but I think the intensity of the debates over them is way out of proportion.

so says you

that's true, I did just say that

so you're trying to end the conversation by offering your own opinion on their music as definitive?

good luck w/ that

The rest of their album tracks are pretty forgettable though.

lay off the weed then

anyone who says that every track on Aja isn't A+ is fronting

^^^

perhaps you're forgetting "I Got the News" ??

I got the news is great

steely dan and royal trux are two bands that I found were incredibly rewarding to learn to love

wk has some news for you

there's some weird tense shit going on in that last post I made sorry

anyone who says that every track on Aja isn't A+ is fronting

it's all great but it doesn't really stick with me for some reason. nothing wrong with that though. it's nice to listen to.

On the Aja Classic Albums doc, 'I got the News' is played during the closing credits...fitting, I thought.

steely dan and royal trux are two bands that I found were incredibly rewarding to learn to love

Absolutely.

so you're trying to end the conversation by offering your own opinion on their music as definitive?

I didn't think my post sounded very definitive. full of lots of "I think", etc. wasn't trying to end any conversation. I'm not really clear how "so says you" continues the conversation in any interesting way though.

I find it weird that people who don't like Steely Dan are always asking people who do like them to explain themselves. example: Marc Maron

Marc maron, future trivia q

maron should do an ep with fagen and becker and ask them to explain steely dan

perhaps you're forgetting "I Got the News" ??

lol only one of the best horn arrangements on the album and some of the best close harmonies anywhere on the bridge, plus the lyric...I will never forget the first time I parsed "slow down, I'll tell you when/I may never walk again" and what's actually going on in the song

every song here, A+ forever

I will never forget the first time I parsed "slow down, I'll tell you when/I may never walk again" and what's actually going on in the song

If you care to, please share with us

"i got the news" is so funky and undeniable

the sudden michael mcdonald vocal action then solo is just about my fave dan moment ever

The piano tremelos delight me.

you guys are right its a horrible song

I will never forget the first time I parsed "slow down, I'll tell you when/I may never walk again" and what's actually going on in the song
If you care to, please share with us

― calstars, Thursday, May 16, 2013 4:34 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

i assume it has something to do w/ the line earlier 'you / got the muscle / i got the news'

"warm soulful secret" innit

yeah... i was speculating as to why he might never walk again

or walk like a new born baby colt

I enjoyed the Malkmus and Fagen discussion upthead. In terms of their personalities, they both come across as really smart, and maybe quietly bitter, dudes who smoked so much weed in high school and college that everything becomes filtered through winking and smirking. Even their aforementioned anger in songs is depressed because of that smart-aleck sensibility. And of course musically the jazz, they're record-collector/pop-music history bros (and rock critics will always respect that).

michael mcdonald is sort of like bob nastanovich

That's an overly harsh thing to say about Michael McDonald.

"take it in your hand/all the sirens and the band get to bending my ear"