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

When people call them elevator music, it kind of feels like a misunderstanding of seventies musical language.

Pachebel's "Canon in D" is to "All BLues" as "Stairway To Heaven" is to lazy-ass Classic Rock stations

this is not how analogies work!

― example (crüt), Wednesday, February 18, 2015 9:36 AM (21 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
They are when I lose interest in the middle; it's a tiresomely common radio practice.

It's how they *do* work when etc.; sorry.

How music works, ideally, in an elevator? When it's bland, sometimes wan, keeping strong emotions and impressions filtered, sentimentalized and watered down, controlled, in an efficient, mobile cubicle of sound. Don't get me wrong, background music can be just right, and the last thing I want to hear between floors is death metal. But when I sit down to listen, I want more. That was true in the 70s as well. So this thread got me finally checking Katy Lied, next stop is The Royal Scan. Speaking of cubicles, better get back to it.

I can't remember the last time I heard music inside an elevator.

i guess i'm of the mind that whatever i think of "smooth jazz" (and i do like a fair amount of stuff in that category, more bob james than kenny g) i don't think it's a bad thing if rock fans and critics get their assumptions shaken up from time to time, and late-70s steely dan's inclinations toward "smooth jazz" function in that way.

and the way that the dan's melodies stand out, and the way their lyrics rub against the occasionally copasetic textures of "gaucho" in particular, is important.

but i'd be lying if i said i could embrace "gaucho" unreservedly as john darn1elle and others in ILM steely dan threads have been able to do.

bland, sometimes wan, keeping strong emotions and impressions filtered, sentimentalized and watered down, controlled, in an efficient, mobile cubicle of sound

this is so relative, it could describe any music, smooth or not.

but it's true, steely dan gets played on smooth jazz stations.

interestingly, "smooth jazz" is an endangered species--sales, radio stations, etc. all down from previous heights.

http://jazztimes.com/articles/54758-crossing-over-is-smooth-jazz-dead

(from 2012, but probably even more true now)

yeah, i almost typed "got/was played on smooth jazz stations"

aja and gaucho are the best... a masterpiece of hope and a masterpiece of despair

RIP smooth jazz some things are too smooth for this world

My muñequita

my Spanish Harlem Mona Lisa

Just tried on The Royal Scam: most of it doesn't grab me right away like most of Katy Lied, but the title track does; ditto "Kid Charlemagne," "The Fez," "Green Earrings"--especially that last, with its jumping rhythm and the stir of sounds, even that flying insect synth from "East St. Louis Toodle-oo" comes in on the fade--but some other tracks start great, then get too settled-in, about half-way through: something about the tempo. Also the music winks at us sometimes, "don't take the narrator too seriously." Which works on the traffic islands of "Haitian Divorce," but I prefer total loon commitment of "Green Earrings" etc., not that the music ever gets as out there as the guys in the lyrics are (doing their damndest to get, in some cases: hey they gotta be them).

smooth jazz is alive and well on the pop charts

or seventh chords are at least. close enough.

George Benson was one of the most blatant touchstones of the Daft Punk disc, so ...

(GB being a great example of a dude with chops so sick he basically burned through trad jazz, fusion and all sorts of stuff as a relative kid and probably had nowhere else to go but smooth.)

the last thing I want to hear between floors is death metal

you lost me here man

Don't want to hear death metal while I'm in an elevator, just something nice and vague and reassuring. Re never hearing any kind of music in elevators any more, of course the term, like the Steely Dan music I'm complaining about, is from the 70s/early 80s, or that's its "prime." Anyway, glad this thread got me to check out Katy Lied and The Royal Scam/

Royal Scam = best Dan.

Only one I don't love is Pretzel Logic, because after the 'hits,' it contains the most filler of any SD album imo

^ otm re: pretzel logic

it's funny though, as with every 70s SD album except for Can't Buy A Thrill, there's people who'll say "that's the best one." For me the songwriting on Pretzel Logic isn't at the same level as Katy Lied or most of Royal Scam but the groove gets pretty great, it's easy to underrate Rikki but it's an amazing tune

There's not a single duffer in any of their 70s albums, imho.

I'm just now getting into Everything Must Go. And that's all she wrote. Where do you go after absorbing their entire catalogue? The solo albums? Weather Report? BS&T? Chicago?

Fagen's "Nightfly."

Latest Fagen is great too

Cant buy a thrill is the best one fyi. Its the one i listen to the most anyway.

Cant buy a thrill is the best one fyi. Its the one i listen to the most anyway.

Most people here prefer the last 3 records to the 1st 4 records, right? I think I slightly prefer the 1st four--CBAT just kills...

yeah i prefer the 1st four records too

I've been finding putting Citizen Dan on shuffle (Spotify) has been getting me interested in songs that previously didn't really do it for me.

The Nightfly is essential if you dig the 7 Dan albums form the classic era. ESSENTIAL!!

Yes, Nightfly should be looped into the Magnificent Seven. Kamakiriad is always a disappointment to me.

except "On the Dunes"

both of becker's solo albums are great but they kinda diverge from the dan sound

how's his voice, ok?

okay! better on the second than the first

i'll stan for katy lied... i don't know if it's there "best," but it seems the most lyrical (and catchy) to me, so it's my favorite.

dr. wu is probably my favorite steely dan tune

"everyone's gone to the movies" is the darkest track by a LONGSHOT, too

*their

can't buy a thrill and pretzel logic are both so obviously littered with filler to me. it's not the dan i love.

like i do not need to hear "barrytown" ever again or "change of the guard" or the pointless "e st louis uptown toodloo" cover

you don't need to hear "barrytown" again?

"barrytown" is awesome

yeah the "Barrytown" bridge is a top 10 Dan moment for me, good grief

The filler tracks on Pretzel Logic for me are East St Louis, With a Gun and Monkey in Your Soul but none of them are terrible or anything. The first four tracks are so classic though.

When it comes to that initial run of albums I can't pick between eras, my top 3 would be Countdown>Aja>Gaucho and then the other four are more or less equal, I love the whole lot.

gaucho is suuuuch a good album to get a venereal disease to

i'd imagine)

i wish they'd done more songs like "pearl of the quarter." that one's so pretty.