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

Every time I see this thread I imagine Fagen as the source of the titular quote.

I had "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" in my head this moring I think, and it's not something I had listened to or had in my head for a while. (I like Steely Dan though.)

i always read it as "hip musical crutch"

Royal Scam. That's the one for me. Although I like them all to varying degrees.

It's easy to hate them if you don't bother to go back and actually listen carefully. Same goes for Rush.

When I listen to Vampire Weekend, I keep thinking of "My Old School" and how much more fun and decadent that school sounds.

has it been discussed somewhere that skunk baxter works for the department of defense?

yes

"look, they were studio dudes. there is a *reason* they were studio dudes. they lacked the imagination and spark to do anything truly great. they are an energyless study in basic competence".

this is why they're so good, if you ignore the vitriol.

orbit was such a dumbshit

she's still alive.

*plop*

plolp

Dallas

I always thought this was written for Poco, had no idea the Dan had recorded it. You can here it on youtube, 'ts not bad.

HAVE YOU ANY IDEA HOW GREAT "CHANGE OF THE GUARD" SOUNDS ON A MUGGY MIAMI MORNING?

Steely Dan is the 70's version of Ween

get out.

back in high school, a friend of mine lived in a house way out in the woods in northern illinois. we used to all hang out there during the summers and drink and listen to steely dan, fleetwood mac, war, etc, and go swimming. can't buy a thrill was pretty perfect for those days.

http://www.slate.com/id/2207058/

Thanks for that link!
I would love to see Fagen and Becker put a book together. Wouldn't necessarily even have to be about Steely Dan. (Their liner notes for the late 90s SD reissues are maybe the best notes ever?)

Roger Nichols RIP

Steely Dan engineer, passed away due to pancreatic cancer. His family is apparently now broke after his medical treatment (thanks, health care system.) For those interested, there is a link to his website where people can make a donation.

http://www.crawdaddy.com/index.php/2011/04/12/roger-nichols-1944-2011/

Love this thread.

the full text of the review has never been pasted herein:

If you are a die-hard Steely Dan fan from "back in the day," let me first congratulate you on figuring out how this whole "Internet" thing works. The computer commercials promise plug-in-and-surf, but there's always a glitch. At work you're too embarrassed to ask the young tech guys how the "web" works. They'd snicker before cranking The Fragile back up and turning back to their monitors. Never show inferiority to subordinates. So, you pony-tailed Jeep-drivers and terrier-walkers, I'm crawling inside your minds like "Reeling in the Years" did so many decades ago. I know you've held silly suspicions, if just for a moment, that your ponytail was perhaps pulling back your hairline. I know that this review might hurt your feelings. Here, play with this shiny silver Nokia while I chat with somebody else.

If you're a regular Pitchfork reader... why are you even curious about Steely Dan in 2000?! Only their 20 year absence gives them any press or assumed credibility. Unlike Chicago, Rush, or Cheap Trick they did not slip down a steep staircase of increasingly prosaic Prozac records. Steely Dan dodged the 80's and they didn't make a Woke Up with the Monster. One can imagine the hype Rush would receive in 2000 if they'd jumped 20 years from 1981's Moving Pictures straight to Test for Echo. This would not make Test for Echo a desirable album. For those worth risking it, extended absence makes for great publicity.

Some of the smoothest objects know to humankind include the buttock of a baby, the belly of an otter, Downy-laden terrycloth, Palmolive, and rose petals. Add to that list Two Against Nature. The lengthy, indistinguishable tracks could pass for a Daniel Lanois-produced collaboration between the Dave Matthews Band and Kenny G. This putrid bait lures both the smooth jazz aficionados and the hackysackers. "Fusion" is too caustic a verb, better suited for nuclear physics and Don Caballero. "Making pudding" better describes this genre blending.

"Jamming" sax solos glide over neutered, bassless funk. Glass guitar and percussion clink along steadily like a chorus of jangling Tag Heuers, automatic Lexus locks, popping Le Croix cans, clicking laptop covers, crystal Cristal toasts, and smacking Hollywood cheek-kisses. The same slow-bop pace is rigorously maintained. Vocals exhale so innocuously you have to hold a mirror up under the speaker to make sure it's alive. The credits list 13 producers (!) who tackle tasks such as "editing," "horn arranger," "consultant," "project manager," and-- most tellingly-- "copyist." This is less music than "production." 23 musicians took part in this album's design, four of which simply played "snare." At least at the end of "Wild Wild West" Will Smith destroys the giant, evil machine.

Music is more than craft and technique. Steely Dan's seams are hidden, the instruments are digitally lacquered, and the edges are buffed. 20 years have passed since Gaucho and Steely Dan seem content to completely ignore them. Amazingly, 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 and died so our generation could listen to something better. Okay, so they died of overdoses and car crashes. They still had soul. Keep up the good fight. Put down this sports-utility vehicle of a record. As with the urban yuppie driver, the four-wheel drive is never activated.

— Brent DiCrescenzo, February 29, 2000

at least at the end of "Wild Wild West" Will Smith destroys the giant, evil machine.
at least at the end of "Wild Wild West" Will Smith destroys the giant, evil machine.
at least at the end of "Wild Wild West" Will Smith destroys the giant, evil machine.
at least at the end of "Wild Wild West" Will Smith destroys the giant, evil machine.

That whole review could be replaced by the words 'I love to rip on people.'

most tellingly "copyist"

this thread is full of lol

Some of the smoothest objects know to humankind include the buttock of a baby, the belly of an otter, Downy-laden terrycloth, Palmolive, and rose petals.

that line is amazing

my dad died in the steely dan wars, and how do i repay him? by listening to a sweet dan bootleg from 1974. sorry dad.

This is less music than "production."

funny this is i bet that dude is a huge fan of the sea and cake

and-- most tellingly-- "copyist."

^^^saddest part of a very sad review

Brent D's success in the music world: also very sad

tweet from this week
bdicrescenzo brent dicrescenzo
Stereolab is gone sadly. At least I have the Sea & Cake for my duophonic groove fix. New one gets loose like the Fawn. Which is great.

The thing that irritates me so much about that review is the unchallenged assumption that making mistakes is a sign of REAL, AUTHENTIC, RAW music; sometimes it's just a mistake, dude!

Plus really, going on and on about the soulless perfection of a band whose lead singer is Donald Fagen is some "magnets fuck my shit up" level of irony.

his mistake about what a copyist does is what makes it a REAL, AUTHENTIC, RAW review dontchaknow

lol @ "cranking the fragile"

Real authentic musicians don't bother to tune their instrument, real authentic music critics don't bother to check facts, even those as basic as what words actually fucking mean in a specific context.

guys, I am pretty sure Brent knew exactly what copyist meant given the tenor of the rest of the review; in fact, a room full of musicians capable of reading music plays directly into the anathema displayed here, let alone someone getting credit for generating legible scores

hmmm yeah upon re-reading this you may be right

The most risible paragraph for me addresses SD's "silence" during the eighties. It doesn't occur to DiC that the decision to refrain from releasing albums that embarrass their fans or legacy is itself deserving of praise.

lol I don't know why I'm defending this review (well actually I do, it's more fun than actually working) but I'm guessing Brent's assertion is that the return album is just as poor as the albums released by the folks who stuck to a regular release schedule, only in the Dan's case their critical cachet and modus operandi plays into their mystique and allows for people to fall all over themselves and accept stuff that most others would consider nonsense. I don't agree with this position but I don't think it's an unreasonable one to take.

Really the opening paragraph where he's openly mocking a demographic he clearly does not understand (anyone of the generation he's talking about who was reading Pitchfork in 2000 was almost by definition a self-selecting group of tech nerds a good bit more tech-savvy than Brent himself) is the only part that's wholly indefensible/stupid.

The most risible paragraph for me addresses SD's "silence" during the eighties. It doesn't occur to DiC that the decision to refrain from releasing albums that embarrass their fans or legacy is itself deserving of praise.

― Hey Look More Than Five Years Has Passed And You Have A C (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, April 12, 2011 3:06 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

plus fagan released a perfectly awesome steely dan record in 82 called the nightfly

yep

Here, play with this shiny silver Nokia while I chat with somebody else..

"I know you've held silly suspicions, if just for a moment, that your ponytail was perhaps pulling back your hairline."

http://www.colum.edu/specialevents/cnfw/images/Brent_dicrescenzo_smt.jpg

haaaaaaaaaaaa

http://kidsaquariumsquotes.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/1-blobfish.jpg

^^^^ visual illustration for "Third World Man."

it's hilarious that that entire review is derived from him being just outraged that members of the Dismemberment Plan and Braid were into Steely Dan

haha waht is that just hypothesizing or some real inside dirt