[eclein]

Just grabbed it after reading about it on the web, Donald Fagen-"Sunken Condos"...CD is $9.99 on zon...thats OK by me...gotta have it!!!!!!!

[drummermitchell]

We'll I took a chance and ordered it as I really like Fagen's NightFly(excellent LP-CD).

[medium jim]

Thanks for the heads-up! 

Jim

[WC]

Sounds quite a bit like a Steely Dan album.

[Doublej]

I was thinking to myself, sounds like mall music and then I read the Rolling Stone review which uses the phrase botique pop...BINGO

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/sunken-condos-20121016

[satfrat]

I was thinking to myself, sounds like mall music and then I read the Rolling Stone review which uses the phrase botique pop...BINGO

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/sunken-condos-20121016

Good album samples on that link, thanks for posting them. 

But I like his earlier albums better,such as The Nightfly, Kamakiriad and Morph The Cat much better. Definitely too Steely Dannish for my liking, ymmv.

Cheers,
Robin

[Doublej]

I think you can listen to the album in its entirety on mog.

[medium jim]

Sounds quite a bit like a Steely Dan album.

Already ordered and it is very Steely Dan which to me is a good thing! Can't wait to get it in my hands and give it a listen!!!

Jim

[Emovac]

A Steely Dan like Fagen release is a welcome event. 

[Rclark]

^

Welcome aboard, I'm glad I was able to drag you over. 

[rjbond3rd]

I saw this thread, ordered it and the first time through, I wasn't that excited.  But having listened now about 10 times, there are several songs that (to me) rank among the best-ever Donald Fagen tunes.

"Slinky Thing" is about an old man with his arm-candy younger girlfriend.  He realizes that some younger guy may steal her away, so he "holds onto that slinky thing."  It sounds very "Gaucho"-era to me, and there's even a lyrical reference to "Hey Nineteen" (unless I mixed up my lyrics) as well as sonic similarities (but in a good way).

"Good Stuff" is a crime noir story, very novelesque, about some kind of successful mobster enforcement actions, with the chorus humorously noting, "better break out the good stuff, because the boss wants to party all night."  The harmony vocals are gorgeous, reminiscient of "Aja".  There is a nasty wah-wah guitar winking at the listener, "This is a crime story." 

The lyrics to "Planet D'Rhonda" are cryptic -- it has something to do with the fashion world, maybe intersecting with the club world, I think.  And that's the fun of the whole album, de-crypting the lyrics.

I'm less enthusiastic when certain songs start off and -stay- in a blues groove (that reminds me too much of certain old songs).  I am more excited by the songs which have the very "angular" chords which just sound wrong and strange, yet intriguing and unique.  There are so many layers upon layers, yet the sound is very clear, and there's a somewhat atonal quality.  That's the best of the Steely Dan sound for me.

As far as nitpicks, I don't like hearing that melodica (or whatever that little keyboard is, that you blow into).  I'd rather hear Wayne Shorter blow some mean sax instead.  Also, some of the guitar playing is (for me) at times a little too reminiscient of old Steely Dan tracks, just meandering and noodling over the groove.  But having said that, there is some of the -best- guitar-playing (very abstract and atonal at times) to be heard on this album.

Overall, this is the most exciting album I've gotten in a few years (outside of classical and jazz).

[rjbond3rd]

A little more:

1. The apparent "Hey Nineteen" reference is actually in Planet D'Rhonda ("She's from a small town somewhere upstate / I guess she's somewhere between nineteen and thirty-eight").  The theme of old man / younger woman started at least as early as "Babylon Sisters" and seems to pop up frequently.

2. The title, "Sunken Condos," seems on the surface to be a reference to (what else) our times -- the underwater real estate market, but also, that condos are a sign of boom times.  Every bubble must burst.  And all good things come to an end.

3. Track #2 "I'm Not the Same Without You" is an uptempo song addressing an ex-lover, and how (impossibly) amazing everything is now, without him/her.  The person is now developing superhuman capabilities, and so is evidently much deluded in the post-breakup.  This song does sound old-fashioned to me, and has that darn harmonica, which feels like a wasted opportunity with all those great horn players relegated to background duties.

4. Track #3 "Memorabilia" seems to be about sifting through historic junk, photos, etc. in a vacation home (?)  It reeks of the inevitability of decay and the folly of human enterprise.  I love absolutely everything about this song except the chorus.  Musically, it reminds me of "On the Dunes" (Kamakiriad).

5. Track #4 "Weather in My Head" is a minor-key Chicago blues groove, with B.B. King-style guitar playing (right down to the guitar pickups, to my ears).  The lyrics are (of course) very clever but I feel this is too much of a jam.  It's why I can't listen to "Do It Again" anymore.

6. Track #5 "The New Breed" is a perky, gaucho-type synthy medium-tempo song about a (older) guy who loses his lady to an upstart "new breed" computer guy.  "It's best if I just leave you here / To your new dotcom slash life."  Hysterical but there's that harmonica again.  Again the theme of endings, like "Everything Must Go" (the song on the album of the same name).

7. Track #6 "Out of the Ghetto" is a remake of an Isaac Hayes song which didn't work for me.  Authentic soul, done in the very studio-produced style, with a violin solo.  It's fun but doesn't quite belong here.

8. Track #7 "Miss Marlene" is a mid-tempo looking back on bittersweet times with a lady-friend, from the perspective of her fellow bowler and lover.  Needless to say, good times were had but she got away.  This one could have used a wild sax solo.

9. Tracks #1 "Slinky Thing," #8 "Good Stuff" and #9 "Planet D'Rhonda" were mentioned in the previous post.

It goes without saying that the above doesn't even scratch the surface of a very great album.  I'm sure I've made mistakes above so please jump in.

[medium jim]

It's pretty good indeed. 

Jim

[whell]

It's also up on HD Tracks for download in hi res.  The music is great IMHO, and the sound / production is first rate - pretty much what you'd expect from Fagen.

[sts9fan]

I give it an "ok".
Dudes not much into exploring new spaces.

[rjbond3rd]

Yes, in terms of the music.  But lyrically, I like the territory he's mining.

In "Planet D'Rhonda," a very staid and conservative gentleman named Jim goes for a walk on the wild with a younger, artsy and irresponsible gal.  His friends try to warn him, but he's powerless to resist her charms as his youth fades.

Yes, it's mid-life crisis material, and yes, that atonal guitar solo sounds like it could have been on "Aja."  But for me at least, it's a completely mesmerizing story if you're anywhere near Fagen's age (he's 64).

[medium jim]

I give it an "ok".
Dudes not much into exploring new spaces.

It's not his best solo effort, but still satiates the Fagen/Steely Fan enough to make it a doable CD.  Again, it is pretty good.  I agree, Fagen's lyric's are worth the price of admission and then there is the flawless recording that translates very well to CD.

Jim

[TONEPUB]

I think that sums it up.  Sounds like a bunch of Aja/Two Against Nature outtakes.  But a fun listen either way.

[medium jim]

I think that sums it up.  Sounds like a bunch of Aja/Two Against Nature outtakes.  But a fun listen either way.

I don't get the Two against Nature aspect to it.  Personally, I feel Two against Nature was Steely Dan's worst effort.   

Jim

[eclein]

I dig it, took some time but I did it, I like any of either guys stuff, are there clinker tunes on any of them-sure!
But hey they bat pretty close to perfect for me....