Friday, March 03, 2006

The Donald's latest solo

Not Trump, Donald Fagen of Steely Dan

He has a new album Morph the Cat coming out March 14. I pre-ordered at Amazon.

I wasn't a huge fan of the latest Dan record Everything Must Go, but the one before, Two Against Nature had, for my money, two songs that stand up to the best of old tyme Steely Dan: the title track and Jack of Speed.

Fagen/Becker (Walter Becker) are one of my favorite songwriting duos, along with Lennon/McCartney and Flansburgh/Linnell (They Might Be Giants).

I definitely prefer Donald to Walter though. Mainly because none of Becker's solo work has ever grabbed me, and the man's voice is nothing to rave about either. But if Fagen had never done anything else musically, he should be revered for the sci-fi ironic-patriotic electro-pop subversive supermarket masterpiece that is IGY (International Geophysical Year) from Fagen's first solo album way back when in '82, The Nightfly. Hearing the opening synthesizer of IGY, especially in the supermarket, always makes me perk up in anticipation. The very fact that you can experience such smooth and knowing irony in a supermarket makes the world seem like a fun and funky place, if only for a moment.

Also, Walter Becker has a sort of leering old sleezy uncle persona, whereas Donald Fagen has a far more appealing resigned-to-life's disappointments uncle persona.

I had to laugh at Fagen's reply in this week's Time Out New York interview when asked if any of his songs were optimistic:
I think they're all optimistic in the sense that I wrote a song. In other words, if I didn't write any songs, that would really be pessimistic. The fact that I wrote the song and took time to do the arrangement, got the musicians to show up on time, arranged to pay them somehow, went out on tour, played for people, charged money and stuff like that - that's really optimistic.


And I am optimistic that I'm going to like Morph the Cat.

But it would be hard for anybody to match the excellence of songs like Time Out of Mind, Sign in Stranger, Boddhisatva, My Old School or IGY.

If you haven't heard IGY, go listen to it at your earliest convenience. Amazon has a snippet that doesn't do it justice. The lyrics alone don't do it justice either, but they're still fun to type.
Standing tough under stars and stripes
We can tell
This dream's in sight
You've got to admit it
At this point in time that it's clear
The future looks bright
On that train all graphite and glitter
Undersea by rail
Ninety minutes from New York to Paris
Well by seventy-six we'll be A.O.K.

What a beautiful world this will be
What a glorious time to be free

Get your ticket to that wheel in space
While there's time
The fix is in
You'll be a witness to that game of chance in the sky
You know we've got to win
Here at home we'll play in the city
Powered by the sun
Perfect weather for a streamlined world
There'll be spandex jackets one for everyone

What a beautiful world this will be
What a glorious time to be free

On that train all graphite and glitter
Undersea by rail
Ninety minutes from New York to Paris
(More leisure time for artists everywhere)
A just machine to make big decisions
Programmed by fellows with compassion and vision
We'll be clean when their work is done
We'll be eternally free yes and eternally young

What a beautiful world this will be
What a glorious time to be free

Banyantrees.net for the hard-core Dan fan

Watch Donald and Walter do Taxicab Confessions.