A couple of nights ago, I came across this tweet from St. Vincent----
---and I didn't think much of it other than how it was crazy timing since a few days earlier; I watched a youtube video where Annie talks about Steely Dan and how Pretzel Logic influenced her masterpiece, Daddy's Home.
Apparently, St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark) was defending the Bard University jazz-rock kings after some producer named Steve Albini went off on twitter dot com about how much he hates them because he's soOoOoOoo punk rock.
I didn't even find out from that tweet because who the fuck is Steve Albini? I saw an article on IG when I was in the office (the bathroom) for my morning meeting.
Hand up, idk who Jenny Lewis is either, but everybody knows Zoolander. This is awesome!
This is an excerpt from NME's defense of Steely Dan. The World War II line is perfect.
Steve Albini wants to make sure that everyone knows just how punk he is. How punk is that, you ask? The Shellac frontman and storied producer, probably best known for his work on Nirvana's 1993 classic "In Utero," took to Twitter this week to announce that he "will always be the kind of punk that shits on Steely Dan." How much more punk could Albini be? None. None more punk.
After all, shitting on Steely Dan is much more than just a long-standing punk tradition: it's baked into the very origins of the genre. When punk rock first emerged in the mid-70s, its DIY ethos and unvarnished sound was a deliberate rejection of the perceived excesses of the cocaine-fuelled, middle-of-the-road soft rock personified by Steely Dan's Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. Half a century on Albini is still fighting that same war against jazz licks and smug musical competence, like the Japanese soldier who spent three decades in a jungle in the Philippines refusing to believe that World War II was really over. Albini isn't out of ammo yet. "Christ," he added disparagingly. "The amount of human effort wasted to sound like an SNL band warm up."
The vast majority of DOL songs of the day falling under the alt-rock umbrella, but I like to think I have eclectic music taste. There are no rules about who people can and can't like. I'm a rock guy, but when I work out (or am in any other life situation), I LOVE listening to Milli Vanilli. The other day I went from Spice Girls to Milli Vanilli to Stone Temple Pilots to The 1975 while on the bike. I don't give a heck! If I like something, I like something, and I fucking LOVE Steely Dan. I saw them last summer, and it was incredible (even though the crowd stunk on ice because they were all old and waiting to die instead of enjoying life).
I really shouldn't even be giving blog space to some loser who's "probably best known" for producing In Utero. That album turns 30 this September, but for the sake of detail, here's the whole anti-SD rant from some dude who peaked before O.J. became famous for "being involved" with something other than football or acting.
Only a fool would say that. What a hardo. I just don't get it. How can someone listen to Can't Buy a Thrill or Aja and think, "SNL warm-up band." What does that even mean? If anything, from what I learned about warm-ups thanks to HBO's canceled series Crashing, SNL probably uses a warm-up comic, and if by some chance they do have a warm-up band, there's no in hell chance they sound as good as Steely Dan. I don't even know who this blog is for, but I got up early today and decided to shit on some guy that neither I nor my shrinking audience has ever heard of because I love Steely Dan! People forget I wrote a covid parody of "Hey Nineteen."
When someone from literally one of the most influential punk bands in music history says he'd rather listen to Steely Dan than punk, you've fucking lost guy!! Steve Jones, the guitarist for the SEX PISTOLS, told The Telegraph last year: "I never really listen to the Pistols' music any more. I'm fucking tired of it, to be honest with you. I'd rather listen to Steely Dan." (via NME)
P.S.
Apparently the fool in "Only a Fool Would Say That" (my favorite Steely Dan song) isJohn Lennon. As if I needed anymore reason to love it!
Double P.S.
Upon further review, at least not all of this dude's takes are terrible.
Possibly our first Triple P.S. of 2023??
If you've stuck around this long, you've earned this.
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