Any Major Dude

Lately I've been driving the Psychedelic Eskimo crazy with my obsession over a bad review that Pitchfork gave Steely Dan's "Two Against Nature" five years ago. The chump who "reviewed" it made a bunch of lame Kenny G jokes and cracked wise about men with little pony tails driving SUVs. Ha, ha. Mixed imagery aside, the dude didn't even bother to review the record, he just vented his allegedly informed indie biases against the long dead schlickmeisters of 70's rock, may they rust in peace. I suspect a little Oedipal drama in that review...

Let's just put the guy's ignorance aside for a moment (for example, Kenny G doesn't have the chops to hang in with the Dan's Fagen and Becker--they're beboppers, not smooth jazzers), and consider this: Many of Steely Dan's fans probably do have little ponytails and drive SUVs. They probably did listen to Aja and Goucho while hanging out in fern bars while gold coke spoons that hung around their necks tickled their chest hair. These people probably shell out hundreds of dollars for the latest Eagles farewell tour and if you aren't careful will bore you with the wonders of colon cleansing.

Yeah, well let me tell you this: Steely Dan makes fun of these people, they always have. Steely Dan are everything that an in the know Pitchfork writer thinks they are: hip, worldly wise, sardonic, ironic. Their intricate funkish bop delivers a subversive message through those SUV speakers, and they're named after a dildo.

To put it in the argot of the hip pop critics of the day: Steely Dan are anti-rockist. They were as "Post Rock" as the Post Punks, as steeped in black music as any pop music diva of today (and Donald Fagen's voice is as thin and warbly as theirs). So, put that in your soy chai latte and drink it!

Comfortably Numb

Hey You,

I was lying on the floor in the living room earlier today listening to "The Wall" and sinking into the ennui that has so recently been my state of being. I was inspired to spin this platter because I saw "The Squid & The Octopus" the other night. If you've seen it, you'll know why I was listening to the record. I think "The S & The O" is a better interpretation of "The Wall" than the film "The Wall."

I do love Pink Floyd, but I'd have to say that I admire "The Wall" rather than like it. Roger Waters's struggle with emotional fascism takes over the songs too much. A little of his screechy voice goes a long way (and I don't just mean when he's singing). However, I think "Comfortably Numb" (sung by David Gilmour, right?) is a fucking great song.

Another platter I spun today was a collection of tunes by Ivory Joe Hunter on the dodgy Everest label. That, finally, ends the vinyl "H's"! Ivory Joe Hunter, if you didn't know, was an r&b singer in the Charles Brown/Nat "King" Cole mode who excelled at doing country-style songs. Due to the fact that he was African-American, he never got a chance to do a full on country record until very late in his career. The record I have is a mixture of country and westernish r&b tunes, pedestrian Charles Brownish blues numbers, and a cool rock and roll tune. I'm gonna have to track down Ivory Joe's country records. If you didn't know I love the genres of country soul and soul country. The most comprehensive book on these sub genres is "Say It One Time for the Broken-Hearted," by Barney Hoskyns.

Lately I've been reading books I used to collect when I was thirteen or fourteen but was too young to understand--namely, Raymond Chandler and Michael Moorcock. Also, I've just started the freaky "Titus Groan," by Mervyn Peake. I remember having the Ballantine editions of his Gormenghast Trilogy when I was twelve or thirteen and not being able to make head or tails out of it.

Finally, I read Philip Roth's new one, "Everyman." Damn you, Roth! Why do you make me read all of your books, even though I have gripes with you? Why doesn't this man have the Nobel Prize?