and still, the randomness

[auto-da-fey]

old random thread was at 24 pages.

I didn't really need Steely Dan on vinyl, but most of their discography, in pretty nice condition, for 99 cents a pop, was too effortlessly enticing to resist. Plus, who knows--liner notes, ads, bigger cover art, etc.

I've spent most of my three waking hours today playing Countdown to Ecstasy on repeat. and here is something I had never noticed: the random hand on the mixing board on the back cover. This doesn't add a whole hell of a lot to my listening experience, but it is something I never caught on the CD version (where the pic isn't back-cover but behind-the-disc, at least on the remastered version):

[auto-da-fey]

I guess it's also possible Jeff Skunk Baxter had a prolonged, boneless right arm and two left hands, that would actually explain a lot.

[peacocks]

or theres a guy under the mixing board grabbing something- or someone not part of the band and everyone was like "hey get under the table we don't want you in this shot!" and he probably said " but you guyyyys!"

[davy]

Ha! That's awesome.

[coldforge]

That's a great picture. I love that album. Buddy asked me what the best Steely Dan record was last night and I said it was that album, after some protestation.

[Black Amnesia of Heaven]

i think i finally decided it's gaucho but it's really a tie between that and countdown. both end in the most crushing way.

[Black Amnesia of Heaven]

great sequencing on countdown too. love how you kind of get lost in the solos on "show biz kids" and then are wrenched back into focus with "my old school."

[auto-da-fey]

I've always ranked Countdown relatively low on the Dan scale, hardly an insult to be sure but just not on par with Pretzel/Katy/Scam/Aja. Six consecutive spins have effectively folded it more seamlessly into that run for me, but I still find Kind of the World an anticlimax, "I think my face is on fire" stage-setting notwithstanding.

[auto-da-fey]

also I am randomly wondering: did anyone listen to that last Becker solo album? Guess I also missed Fagen's last one too, and that was a while ago. If either are under three bucks on Amazon, will probably buy this instant.

[Black Amnesia of Heaven]

can confirm morph the cat is excellent and you should get it.

"king of the world" is completely awesome and hopeless and maybe my favorite set of dan lyrics

[coldforge]

'King of the World' is actually my favorite Dan song!

[Black Amnesia of Heaven]

I'm reading last year's papers
Although I don't know why
Assassins cons and rapers
Might as well die

[auto-da-fey]

this is all very strange information to me. I would offer to listen again with these rave reviews in mind, but alas, I've had all the Countdown I can muster for the day and have since moved on to Aja. Guess I prefer slightly less direct expressions of that old Dan hopelessness.

Morph is en route though; Becker I will save for record-store browsing. I thought I had also picked up one of those old demo-compilations of theirs on vinyl, but in browsing through the stack it turns out it was actually Hall and Oates.

[coldforge]

There's a free (I think) album out of microhouse made entirely from Steely Dan samples. I actually found it quite characterless and boring :/

[jm]

There's a free (I think) album out of microhouse made entirely from Steely Dan samples. I actually found it quite characterless and boring :/

I was actually just about to ask you what it was called, because I was interested in hearing it. Now, not so much :/

[davy]

I've always agreed with adf on the topic of Countdown to Ecstasy. Listening again right now.

[peacocks]

Jeremiah was a bullfrog makes me angry.

[mixed cats]

Pennzoil is using that "heaven let your light shine down" Collective Soul song in a commercial
Let it shine
On motor oil

[Ignatius]

I haven't heard about pennzoil since middle school either so that sounds about right.

[jm]

DEW NEW NEEnewnew NEEnewnew neenew new YEH.

[reebty]

Boris

[RavingLunatic]

On that song "Ego" that Thom Yorke & Burial & Four Tet did together, I always thought the lyrics were "I bet bitches throw themselves at you." Then my brother was playing it just now, and when I was singing it, he was like "I think it's 'they just throw themselves' not 'bitches throw themselves.'" A quick Google search confirmed his interpretation.

Isn't there a thread for just this kind of lyric misinterpretation? I can't remember what it was called.

[nonotyet]

http://secretlycanadian.com/blog/2011/09/where-is-jason-molina/

[RavingLunatic]

Yeah, I read that a bit ago. Really sad stuff. If he lived in a civilized nation with a decent health care system, he wouldn't have to work on a goat farm to pay his medical bills. Major bummer.

[Ignatius]

I assume the goat farm thing is at least partly some means to calmly and quietly transition from rehab or a form of labor with some therapeutic benefit. But I'm with you on the main thrust of the complaint - it is crazy that anyone should have to solicit donations to maintain a basic level of wellbeing.