MELOMANIA back with new music, new music, new music and a listening journal for you
Hopefully, you are liking the occasional BONUS playlist
A RETURN (CHANGE IN THE AIR)
Another week with all the best releases hitting the store e-mail blast. Down here in Melomania-land, we are scheming about how to handle the influx of singles that are coming out. Either there are too few or too many (no need to make examples, your list is more important than ours - so let us know.) With the changes in Twitter and Threads, we went back to the communities of Reddit. So far, the communication here has been great. In addition, this format is perfect for two-line Christgau-size reviews and enticement. So, if you would like to join us: r:/ NewMusicReport
Thank you for your consideration and continuing support.
APHEX TWIN - Blackbox Life Recorder 21f/In A Room7 7F60 EP [LP](Warp/Redeye)
On his first release in five years, Aphex Twin sounds revitalized (the way he composes his “Doppler” sounding synth washes against the vocal-synth note/bass note undertow on the A-side title) and tougher (“zin2 test5” tests a House beat, but keeps it minimal, forcing you to give in to the beat.) Overall all four tracks show an influence of Grime, but with the bleeps and blips cleaned up - so to speak. “Blackbox” EP definitely will send you back to those muscular early Nineties works where his skittering beat was immediately identifiable.
PWNT - Play What’s Not There [LP](Acrophase)
Nashville’s Kosta Galanopoulos sounds like an obsessive creator on his warm, Beatles-esque second album. On the best tracks, all the pieces fall into place and yet still have that fuzzy, lo-fi glow. “All Depends on You” with Will Fox actually works around the limitations of their recording, cutting them together with one expert click. Like Tame Impala and countless others, PWNT never settles on one mood. While the lengthy “Intro” catches you off guard with its Brian Wilson-isms, “From Me To You” follows it with harpsichord and a breezy Seventies groove (extra points to Galanopoulos for singing through the Leslie) that turns into 10cc. So “Play What’s Not There” is a sonic journey through classic Sixties/Seventies production, but Galanopoulos has a true ear for Pop hooks. “Clouds” slips up on you with its mild Psychedelia turning into '66-style Sunshine Pop. In addition, he knows how to punch up a track (“Lonely”) with a big enough beat to qualify for BritPop status. Later, it is dreamy flutes, tape effects, and a very slurry (in a good way) Galanopoulos even spinning a little Soul into “Never So Bad.” With so many influences at play and so much of a sonic feast, PWNT’s biggest feat is never feeling overstuffed and self-aware. People Will Need This (once they hear it.)
SKELETEN - Under Utopia [LP](2MR/PIAS)
Australian Russell Fitzgibbon has a very simple, straightforward idea of what makes good SynthPop: warmth. “Mirrored” is probably his single. Like so many EDM/Pop crossovers it pushes that Eighties boom/tap/boom/tap beat far forward in the mix and then smartly hangs each new part on it to build tension. However, what Fitzgibbon does to truly make it work is slowly raise the equalization as the chorus approaches so that the multiple voices do not appear out of nowhere. Like Larry Levan, Fitzgibbon knows not to disturb his groove. “Walking on Your Name” throws in some funky bass to sound a little more like a cooler, whispery Style Council or Scritti Politti. “Under Utopia” is infused with a lot of Soul, and that rubbery Funk like Human League or Heaven 17 used to crank out. “Heart Full of Tenderness” and “Colour Room” are very sleek and spartan in their quest to reach back to 1982. However, Fitzgibbon can also roll off a ballad too. With an effected bassline, the title cut is earnest and soothing whereas others might come off as icy. Skeleten has the hooks and a good chorus-writing sensibility (“Sharing The Fire,”) but when Fitzgibbon gets the temperature just right - you could listen to the same bars all night.
LISTENING JOURNAL
STEELY DAN - Can't Buy A Thrill (1972)/Countdown To Ecstasy (1973)/Pretzel Logic (1974)
Donald Fagen and Walter Becker could have been your classic Hippies. However, their bent Beatnik-speak could spin Jazz influences into Pop spun gold. Back at Annandale in 1967, they were living off the grid playing only the best covers while looking like a local version of early Velvet Underground. Did they purposefully put off the people around them to get their way? To get noticed? Or perhaps, slip the muses they held close to their hearts in what stemmed from their fertile minds.
Moving to the Brill Building in New York City, Fagen and Becker tried their hand at songwriting but likely learned more here than back at the old school. Everyone needs that dough and wants to hit the road, so it became Jay, Walter, Donald, and The Americans. Not much for "This Magic Moment," Fagen and Becker made their most important connection - producer Gary Katz. The Brill Building experience turned into a house gig at ABC Records. However, no one could handle the complexity of their songs. So, naturally, they assembled a band that could.
1972's "Can't Buy a Thrill" carries all the hallmarks of a grand debut. However, the cloudy political landscape could be characterized in "Kings," those striking chord changes and the chorus with Fagen and the background singers are all you need to raise a glass. Drummer Jim Hodder sings pretty well on the early L.A. sounding (think "Werewolves of London") "Midnite Cruiser," but the crisp harmonies on that chorus and how they phrase over the changes is sublime. Nuclear operator Roger Nichols, Steely Dan's secret weapon, manages to make this brand-new band sound fully formed and balanced.
When they try to sound like they are fitting in ("Brooklyn (Owes The Charmer Under Me" with fantastic pedal steel accents and leads from Jeff "Skunk" Baxter) - they simply do not. So when they toy around with Latin rhythms on "Do It Again" and complex but driving beats on "Reelin' In The Years," Steely Dan is definitely on to something. Fagen's singing and lyricism on "Reelin'" carry a unique perspective on the past glory that even leads you to think the sunny, harmonious chorus might be a facade. Then, a guitar solo from Elliott Randall wipes the whole slate clean.
Finally, what about the carefully arranged and constructed "Dirty Work." David Palmer does the dirty work of singing the track as sweetly as it can be delivered. It works in contrast to the painful lyrics ("I foresee terrible trouble") and beautifully sets up yet another harmonious chorus that is rife with implications. He could be mumbling those lines to himself while being with her or after "the job" is done. "Can't Buy A Thrill" established Steely Dan as an intelligent new Rock band for the Seventies living far outside the lines.
Another weirdly ineffective cover envelopes "Countdown To Ecstasy," the record that Becker and Fagen wrote for their band. There are no real "problems" to correct between albums. Fagen should sing them all, his ability to vault from wiseass to sincere works far better to promote the image of Steely Dan staying an "outsider" band in insular Los Angeles. While everyone else in the Valley and Laurel Canyon is consumed with themselves and how to leave the rat race behind, Fagen and Becker only view this city as one of excess and hidden vice years ahead of everyone else finally growing jaded and faded.
The Latin textures of "Do It Again" morph into the elegant "Razor Boy" where the best aspects of "Thrill" come together to create a different grimy vision. The pedal steel provides a counterbalance for Fagen's nightclub motif on how it all can just vanish overnight. "The Boston Rag" combines an almost Zappa-esque melody with Sixties Baroque Pop turned upside down. While it is one of early Steely Dan's most straightforward storytelling songs, the muscular chorus is new, and the sliding guitar part that ends the verses is the ultimate expression of pathos from the band. Finally, "Your Gold Teeth" is underrated not in its complexity, but in the development of Fagen and Becker in writing the lyrics with sound words ("Dumb luck my friend/Won't suck me in this time.") They are finding implied ways to sneak the most salacious activities inside the gates. Unlike "Dirty Work" or even "Do It Again" (which toys with sound words on the immortal line "Then you love a little wild one" and "games" in Vegas,") "Your Gold Teeth" puts life on the table and says someone else may be rolling the dice.
When they depart to write about another LA on "Pearl of The Quarter," Steely Dan turns in their first Country ballad. While they tick all the boxes for New Orleans lyrics, there is a majesty present (especially in the descending chorus progression) that makes you wonder how it would sound syncopated and sung by Allen Toussaint. While "King of The World" is lyrically slight, playing that twinkling guitar riff with the delay and chorus makes it all worthwhile.
While "Countdown" was not the hit generator that "Thrill" was, it manages to swing hard (as opposed to rock) in the development of its best-known singles. "Bodhisattva" is a ridiculously great arrangement and song that matches their intent. Becker and Fagen set out to make fun of the guru movement of the Seventies and wind up exposing it as a capitalist grifter's dream. With very few lyrics, the pieces of the song are mixed to never overexpose one part. The orchestral ringing out of the piano. The Fifties riffing guitar hidden to sound diffuse in the background only makes Denny Dias' fiery guitar solo (and interplay with the organ) sound less like "solo+vamp" and more like the second part of the song. The slinky "Show Biz Kids" manages to do even more damage to the California mystique with a bluesy solo from guest Rick Derringer (especially the brutalism of him sliding and slashing against the rhythm - which really makes that late-song push powerful.)
"Countdown" may not have been what Steely Dan (and the label) thought they were capable of delivering at the moment of its release. However, unlike "Can't Buy A Thrill." Steely Dan is actively breaking rules (for example, starting with a showstopper like "Bodhisattva") and they don't give a f#$% about it.
Well, it is farewell to the road (and the band format) on 1974's "Pretzel Logic." Like the guys who slipped a song into Streisand's repertoire, hooks, melodies, and pushes can get you anyone you want. Their biggest hit yet "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" is where Tango-meets-Horace Silver-meets-a love song. So longtime fans could translate "number" into whatever subversion they choose. However, newly-minted listeners could revel in the simplicity of an arrangement that is truthfully complex. Victor Feldman's flapamba introduction allows it to start in its own time. Jeff "Skunk" Baxter's guitar solo hits only highs. Fagen and Becker's piano part (played by Michael Omartian) is downright hypnotic. Effectively, Steely Dan reduced their attack to exactly four minutes and conquered the charts as they wished.
Los Angeles musicians were starting to catch up with Steely Dan (dig that transition between Little Feat circa 1974 on "Feats Don't Fail Me Now" and 1975 Feat on "The Last Record Album.") Naturally, Fagen and Becker seeing the others in the rearview mirror bring in the best musicians to leave them all in the dust. In hindsight, this always feels like a weird point. Competitiveness in any studio/music scene tends to lead to the best product possible. However, unlike Little Feat's battle between Funk, Jazz, and Rock, Steely Dan seems to never be content.
"Any Major Dude Can Tell You" carries all the characteristics of mid 70's Gold. Push that warm electric piano right up front in the mix. Keep the drum fills subtle, and the melodic riffs brief but exciting. However, the real excitement of "Major" is how carefully it manages to sound "hip" ("my funky one," and "super fine mind,") "hippie" ("Any major dude will tell you" of course,) wise ("Any major dude with half a heart surely will tell you my friend/any minor world that breaks apart falls together again.") and wiseass. This idiomatic balance of power makes this track feels so warm and welcome, even if you do not know what a squonk is (they didn't either at the time.)
The second side of "Pretzel Logic" is where Steely Dan's reductive reasoning actually finds its own pattern. "Parker's Band" is so eager to tear it up like the Yardbird, you may not notice the opening is really them phoning home from L.A. to "On Broadway." Jeff Porcaro's drums are so precise, his high-hat pulls take the place of cymbal crashes and the galloping kick patterns effectively build until the saxophones scream in. "Through With Buzz" is a strange delight that uses strings to make the chords of the verse sound less jarring and those in the chorus emphasize the changes. "Charlie Freak" is even more challenging with its Bach-like bounce, Christmas bells, and grandiose ending. A cautionary New York tale, "Charlie Freak" reimagines a "Good King Wenceslas"-ish story of helping the poor with a dash of "The Twilight Zone." Becker and Fagen's lyrical brilliance really shines what can only be described as a tense 2:43.
If anything, side two matches up to the cognitive dissonance of living in a world where even doing the right thing has consequences.
It is fitting that the title track of "Pretzel Logic" is actually its centerpiece, Steely Dan has always had the blues. "Pretzel Logic" is the Steely Dan of the future taking shape. Guitar parts mix with horn parts. The chorus harmonies finally overwhelm the song ("Over a long time ago" and how the "oh yeah" is its denouement.) Even as they employ Blues imagery, "Pretzel Logic" actually has the audacity to end before it peaks. So, for the first time, Steely Dan truly leaves you wanting more.
Steely Dan's first six albums represent radical shifts in the band's chemistry and composition. At nearly every turn where you think they have finally found themselves, they were wise enough to look in the mirror and see that it was only a mirror. With the exception of 1980's "Gaucho" (which honestly is underrated,) the greatest trick Fagen and Becker ever pulled was making you think this was a band. Becker seems to always be ready with Chuck Rainey or Wilton Felder standing by on bass. Fagen may have become a more confident singer because of the intercession of David Palmer in the beginning (listen to how well he sings like a blues singer on "Pretzel Logic" but does not overemphasize or ape.) Steely Dan grew from two outsiders who wanted to play their own music into a vision of boundary-less music that dared to celebrate the crumbling world.
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