FEATURE:
Nearly Dan
PHOTO CREDIT: cottonbro studio/Pexels
Living Out the Album Dream
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I did say that my previous feature…
IN THIS PHOTO: Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of Steely Dan/PHOTO CREDIT: Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis/VCG/Getty Images
concerning Steely Dan would be my last. This is sort of Steely Dan-adjacent! I think that many music journalists have that dream of recording an album. I am not a natural singer and I do not play instruments. That said, I have always been fascinated with songwriting and creating music. This feature might be a little self-indulgent, but it also mentions A.I. This is being used more and more in music. Steely Dan are relevant as, if I ever made an album, the songwriting style of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen would very much by in my mind. Fagen would never go for it, but you do wonder whether there would be any attempt to make Steely Dan A.I. A sort of ‘lost’ album. I will come back to this thought later. I have written about how many artists in modern music overlook important themes. Their music can be overly-personal, in the sense that there is not much room for other subjects. At a time when there is environmental catastrophe, divisions and hatred aimed at the trans and L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community as a whole, where is the outrage and musical condemnation?! Raising awareness through music is a powerful force. We don’t really have Hip-Hop artists like we did in the past making this political and incendiary music – and more is the pity! As we look ahead to the genre’s fiftieth anniversary in August, I do wonder whether artists need to be more conscious of addressing bigger themes and talking about things like discrimination, gender inequality, and climate change. Some artists do this already, yet there are so many who have the opportunity to do something genuinely important and reactive.
PHOTO CREDIT: Alexander Grey/Pexels
I think, it is I got the chance to do an album, it would be writing and assisting production, rather than singing on it. There would be a use of samples, similar to how Hip-Hop used them back in the day. As it is expensive and hard to get clearance, there might not be that many (though using a few would be good). I think A.I. would come in when it comes to instruments and effects. Maybe using it for production and some backing vocals. Steely Dan are key, as a lyrical approach that is quite witty and intelligent would make the songs more accessible and enduring. There are artists like Hak Baker who are talking about important thing. His new album, Worlds End FM, discusses struggles and conflicts. I am not saying no artists are doing something important and raising issues that need exploring. It seems to be less common. I have been really immersing myself in Steely Dan. Whereas they were never really political, they tackled unconventional themes and interesting characters in their songs. I know I will never get an album out there. But, as I have had ideas and I want to also explore deeper themes in music and A.I., I can lay the songs and concepts out there. I love the idea of having different singers take on the songs. The same rich and detailed compositions ‘The Dan’ used to do. An album that does take on some big things, but there is also humour, love, and these interesting and odd adventures. In terms of tracklisting:
IMAGE CREDIT: Posetrmywall.com
The opening track deals with sexual harassment and assault in the industry. Using Chanel perfume and a blue dress as a central point, it would end up as evidence in court. Not explicitly mentioning people like Harvey Weinstein, it would be a take on the more predatory nature of some men in music and Hollywood. Lawyers trying to discredit these women. Claiming they want stardom and are t blame. It would also allude to a court case where Taylor Swift was testifying about being sexual assaulted. There has not really been a #MeToo movement in music, so this is sort of a combination of highlighting the issues and calling for this movement. It may sound like a heavy start to an album, but it going to have a lighter composition. Maybe a sample from an older film (dialogue), together with a couple of samples. Forgive the self-indulgence, but St Germain’s What You Think About… (from Tourist) comes to mind, as would Girl by Destiny’s Child. It would have Steely Dan touches when it comes to the descriptions and scene-setting, but it would lead to something quite emphatic and huge at the end. Maybe a building of vocals and mood to this crescendo. Lasting about six minutes, it would be one of the longest songs on the album – the title and cover I shall cover at the half-way point. Local Celebrity would be more humours and Dan-esque. It concerns the differences between smaller towns and the city. Smaller towns residents that put stock in minor things. How a local celebrity could be someone quite minor. It is also about politics and voting for those who look after their best interests and not the wider world. I have been back to where I was born, and you people excited about the weirdest things. Not really aspiring beyond their ordinary lives. Not that there is anything wrong with that. You can feel the contrast when you go back into the city. It would be a shorter song but also one of the catchiest!
Summer By the Ocean is about climate change and rising temperatures. Maybe referencing Beach Boys songs and early sounds, it would be a satirical look at those who love the sunshine and burn in it, unaware that it is a bad sign. The fact that, soon, ocean temperatures will rise. In places, there will be floods and more natural disasters. The New Arrangement is the clearest Steely Dan nod. The Second Arrangement was a song they recorded for 1980’s Gaucho. It got wiped and, spending a massive amount of time and money to try to recreate it, they gave up. It is one of those music what-if scenarios that has been answered - as it has been recently discovered!. I am not sure about the content of the song, but it would be a nod that aborted track. I am thinking about a hustler. Maybe a legend who rolls loaded dice, steals women and uses street Kung Fu. Almost a mix between a spy theme and this 1970s-set Blaxploitation picture. David Has a Masterplan concerns gun violence in the U.S. A nation that makes abortion illegal in some states, and yet people are allowed to carry guns. The weird contrast between mass murders and gun tragedies and this Stone Age visions about women’s rights and abortion. This has been covered in music I think, but it needs to be more front and centre. The protagonist would be someone who has these placards and stickers about abortion and supporting making it illegal, but he has a gun to protect himself. Someone who seems to value unborn life above existing ones. The story would end with him carrying out a ‘masterplan’ about shooting out a school, but he is foiled and makes a mistake. Southside is also the name of a cocktail (which combines gin with lemon juice, sugar and mint). Other cocktails would be mentioned in the song, but it is a tale set on the south sided of L.A. A sort of loser who drifts through life. Other cocktails would be named and used as lyrical references – Manhattan, Jungle Bird, French 75, Old Fashioned, Naked and Famous. The song would end with him at a party having passed out in the bath as lewd acts happen around him. It would be another song that took into some samples.
IN THIS PHOTO: A Southside cocktail
As an interlude, I wanted to talk about album covers and titles. I think that album covers have become less ambitious and striking through the years. You do get the odd great one each year, but so many others are quite bland and plain. Maybe the artists will be on there in a pose, but you can do something original and new. Some say that there is less emphasis on covers because people listen digitally. Vinyl sales are climbing, so there is value in ensuring that the cover is memorable and as good as possible. My idea would be one that is quite busy but has a bold central image. Like the inside of a creative mind, there would be an outline of a brain or suggestion of it. The photo would be a single room with lighting. There is a woman in the centre holding a bottle of alcohol in one hand. The other one would have a book in it that is on fire. You do not see which one it is. The suggestion might be is she has had her mind blown or it is suicidal. There would be this image of her looking up with quite a shocked or enigmatic look. One that stays in the mind. Some of the song titles would play out in the photo. There would be items around the room such as cocktails. The woman would be in a blue dress that is torn. There is a scratch on her shoulder. In the room would also be a typewriter. It would sort of be similar to Harry Styles’ Harry’s House cover in a way. A sense of personal upside-downness and confusion. I am working on it – if conception ever is required to transition into execution -, but it would be a cover that is striking but has mystery. The title, Autumn at Katz’s Deli, refers to an iconic delicatessen in Brooklyn (and the words/reference is sung in the album’s final song). That could change, but the title has multiple meanings and possible connections - both literal and metaphorical.
IN THIS PHOTO: The cover for Harry Styles’ 2022 album, Harry’s House
I am not sure how the lettering would be displayed, but maybe in a neon sign or written on a wall, either in blue blood or lipstick. There would also be allusions to film, plot twists, environmental decay and political corruptness within the photo. In terms of the liner notes, there would be lyrics to each of the songs and the titles in this cool font. Alongside them would be illustrations. I think it is important to have as much detail as possible in the liner notes/booklet. You get the artwork on the cover, and there would be an interesting image on the back cover (the one I have used is for test purposes). Maybe the same room and scene from the front cover being cleaned up. The tracklisting would be on the back, with the thirteen tracks divided in the middle over both sides of a vinyl (one for C.D., two for cassette). There would be musician and production details and dates for each song. Having an artist paint pictures or little illustrations for each song gives them this life and personality. I was thinking, as she did such beautiful and interesting paintings for the book, Quantum Criminals: Ramblers, Wild Gamblers, and Other Sole Survivors from the Songs of Steely Dan, Joan LeMay could do some for the album. The whole album would be about art and trying to convey these different scenes. The colours, sights and smells that are contained within the world of the songs…
PHOTO CREDIT: Tayla Walsh/Pexels
Getting back to the album, and the second half would be a mixture of serious subjects and Steely Dan-like losers. There would be a couple of songs that utilise samples. Hipsterlooza is one of the less political and most Steely Dan-esque. Maybe about someone going to a music festival and trying to be cool. Someone who can’t keep track of new music and says things were better in the past. A wider tale of people pretending to be someone they are not or wearing fake clothes. There would be images between new generational branding and music, together with this out of step man who has a faded band T-shirt. It would, I hope, contain a Grateful Dead sample (affectionately placed, and not as a representation of that man’s musical delusions). For Those in the Back Rows is very much about women being overlooked in music. From festival bills being male-heavy to playlists featuring fewer women; older female artists ignored by some statins altogether. The title refers to rows on a festival poster, but also those who are in the back rows of a cinema or boardroom. Grabbing their attention or, if they need to squint to see what is in front of them, then they need to move forward. I hope to be able to use a Kylie Minogue and Madonna sample for this one. Four more tracks before I link it to my points around A.I. I do maintain a couple of things. Album covers have largely lacked real substance or effort. I can appreciate this is a digital age, but it is one where physical albums are as in demand now as they have been for many a year. Even though Steely Dan’s album covers were largely terrible, I have bought albums on the strength of the cover alone. More often than not, the music inside reflects the quality and innovation of the cover.
PHOTO CREDIT: wayhomestudio/Freepik
Antique Ruby has a few meanings. The title word ‘Ruby’ refers to both the shade of red and Jack Ruby (he murdered Lee Harvey Oswald). There is a lot of Americana and old-skool American references through the album, I know. A murder-mystery song with a vibe of a 1950s setting, but there are multiple meanings. Stuck in the Middle with Me is a generational thing about the narrator trying to understand the younger generation coming through and their references and slang and the older taste and values of his parents and their generation - and not being able to relate to either. It then leads to Control, Alt, Repeat. This is about corrupt and extreme governments taking a hold and then, when the public complaints, they still get re-elected. Not learning from the mistakes of history, an alternative and preferrable option is not taken. Katy’s Switch relates to the journalist and broadcaster Katy Montgomery. A trans woman, she often has to deal with a lot of abuse and hate online. People attacking the trans community. The song has her in mind, but it more about the ignorance displayed against transgender people. A need for people to educate themselves and stop posting such vile and misinformed comments. The album ends with I’ll Get to New York City One Day Soon... It is a gentler song that has, I hope, features a guest vocal by Rachel Brosnahan, and a musical cameo from Donald Fagen. The song has this desire and yearning for New York City. Seeing it portrayed on screen and in literature but never being able to reach it. I am hoping actually that these songs and album become a reality. Having different vocalists and musicians for each song – though many of the same musicians might spread throughout the album -, there will be a role for A.I. Rather than it being used to replicate existing artists and trying to replace them, it can create professional-sounding music at a low cost. Inspired by Steely Dan, getting that incredible sound from a lot of musicians will be costly and timely. A.I. can give access to technology and possibilities that were not previously there.
PHOTO CREDIT: wirestock/Freepik
I am not a musician or singer, but I have songs and ideas that I want to bring to life. Rather than letting them go to waste, A.I. is a way of being able to layer instruments and build a studio sound from home. It also helps in terms of photography and imagery. Being able to composite a shot that might be costly and difficult for real. Many might ask whether using technology like that through an album that wants to be genuine and old-skool is a contradiction. It has been interesting thinking about an album and every layer of it. I think so many people have that idea of what an album would be like if they set their mind to it. I have talked about Steely Dan enough but, after writing about them a fair bit lately, I have been compelled to think of songs and subjects. Their characters are always so vivid and intriguing. I wanted to do something similar A.I. is not trying to make this ‘lost’ Steely Dan album. Instead, it is giving license and opportunity to a fan of the band. Inspired by them, it would be awesome to see an album come to light. There are not many artists you can really compare to them. Shockingly few who are picking up the Donald Fagen and Walter Becker mantle. When it comes to features about Steely Dan, this is absolutely…
GOING to be the last (for a while!).