4/18/12


Steely Dan is an American rock band consisting of core members Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop. Rolling Stone has called them "the perfect musical antiheroes for the Seventies."


The band's music is characterized by complex jazz-influenced structures and harmonies played by Becker and Fagen along with a revolving cast of rock and pop studio musicians. Steely Dan's "cerebral, wry and eccentric" lyrics, often filled with sharp sarcasm, touch upon such themes as drugs, love affairs, and crime. 


The pair is well-known for their near-obsessive perfectionism in the recording studio, with one notable example being that Becker and Fagen used at least 42 different studio musicians, 11 engineers, and took over a year to record the tracks that resulted in 1980's Gaucho — an album that contains only seven songs.


Steely Dan toured from 1972 to 1974, but in 1975 became a purely studio-based act. The late 1970s saw the group release a series of moderately successful singles and albums. They disbanded in 1981, and throughout most of the next decade Fagen and Becker remained largely inactive in the music world. During this time "a cult following" remained devoted to the group.


In 1993, the group resumed playing live concerts; later Steely Dan released two albums of new material, the first of which earned a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. They have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2001.

& For me... It was just :) a wonderful first time...

4/17/12

Victor Davies - Hear the Sound




Victor Davies’ third album, Hear the Sound, has much to live up to. His 2001 self-titled debut was met with critical acclaim leading Q magazine to declare that “Davies' caressing tones could sell sunshine to an Australian". In 2003 his next album, Hoxton Popstars, delivered a number one single in Japan (‘Fire’ held the spot for two weeks). 

This last release, Hear the Sound, which includes a duet with Grammy-nominated Brazilian artist Bebel Gilberto, shows all the signs of continuing this upward trajectory.
Victor’s distinctive sound is realized through his captivating fusion of Latin, Soul, Funk, Jazz and acoustic aesthetics. 

While his music has proved popular around the world Hear the Sound will be somewhat of a homecoming for Victor as it is his first release on a U.K. label. Having established his talent overseas the recent musical shift towards authentic artists in Britain confirmed that the time is right for the Thai kickboxing East Londoner to pursue such achievements at home.



Hear the Sound continues the tradition of artists such as Terry Callier, Jon Lucien and Gilberto Gil while also seeing Victor give a nod to his soul roots with tunes that recall the Isley Brothers and Curtis Mayfield. The album is comprised of songs relating to the emotions and feelings associated with relationships – love, lust, and obsession – as well as addressing political and social issues.

As on previous albums, all songs are written and produced by Victor who also plays most of the instruments (everything except brass and strings). “I found this album easier to record than the others,” Victor says, “I wanted it to be easy to listen to so I approached the recording in a relaxed manner in order to create a warm, comfortable sound in production.”


For an artist who has always been proudly independent of other musicians, this album is noteworthy for including Victor’s first duet track. ‘Comigo (With Me)’ was recorded in Paris with Brazilian star Bebel Gilberto

Victor says, “The idea was to do a real traditional kind of duet. I loved Bebel’s two previous albums so when she said she was into the track and would like to sing on it that was really cool. Bebel is very sweet and wears her emotions on her sleeve which comes across really well on ‘Comigo’.”
 
                   

Bebel adds: “When I first heard Victor's song 'Comigo', I immediately connected to his sound. As soon as we decided to do the recording, we end up in Paris singing and having a good time. It was that delicious and easy. Victor is such a talent and I’m so happy to be part of this.”

The decision to call the album Hear the Sound is significant to Victor. “The title is about getting people to listen to the music: don’t get distracted by the hype or the image, just listen. It’s a real back to basics statement.”