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Bands That Sound Like Steely Dan

RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
edited June 2011 in Strut Central
This has to be a small genre.

Found this over the weekend and was shocked at how much it sounds like "the Dan"

Who else sounds like them?

http://www.divshare.com/download/15135543-246
http://www.divshare.com/download/15135525-06c
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  Comments

  • fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts
    rasa
    dominic troiano
    michael franks
    jack tobe
    mathew larkin cassel
  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    crabmongerfunk said:
    rasa
    dominic troiano
    michael franks
    jack tobe
    mathew larkin cassel

    The Troiano LP's I remember were straight hard rock....are there some in particular I need to check?

    Never heard Tobe or Cassel but will check them out.
  • StoneHandsStoneHands 341 Posts
    Some early Hall & Oates
  • fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts
    troiano did do a bunch of hard rock (mandala, james gang, guess who) but he was versatile. can't find the troiano clips i want on youtube but check out his self-titled debut.

    that jack tobe is a canadian album- i'll rip a couple of tracks one of these days...

    matt larkin cassell's records have been semi-recently reissued and have a soulstrut connection or two:





  • bobtheorangebobtheorange 432 Posts
    you forgot his best song:

    skip to 1:40
  • fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts
    sorry for the shitty quality rip but they should give you the idea:



    'Love to See You Dance"


    "Qualified"
  • DrWuDrWu 4,021 Posts
    The first Nu Shooz record has a bit of the Dan going on.
  • neil_somethingneil_something 993 Posts
    there's a uk band called talc who seem to be aiming for the steely dan vibe...

    can't seem to find that much of their stuff on youtube, and i'm not sure the lyrics on this will convince people that they're taking it seriously:
  • El PrezEl Prez NE Ohio 1,141 Posts
    good post esp w/ the Jack ???obi
  • WoimsahWoimsah 1,734 Posts
    I've searched hi and low for music coming close to the Dan. Not an easy feat. In my journeys, though, there have been a few, some of which have already been named. Some of the closer ones would be Alan Parsons, Starbuck, some of the earlier Erik Tagg stuff......it also depends on what era of Dan you're eluding to. Their earlier stuff where Fagen wasn't lead singer differs greatly from the later stuff where he was the focal point.
  • WoimsahWoimsah 1,734 Posts
    good call on that Cain though -- does have seriously similar overtones.
  • jamesjames chicago 1,863 Posts
    Rockadelic said:
    The Troiano LP's I remember were straight hard rock....are there some in particular I need to check?
    Try "Hi Again," off of his eponymous jernt.

    And not to say that some of these posted things don't sound real good, or that this is not an interesting topic, but it's important to note that Steely Dan is distinguished by their sensibility as much as their sound. A lot of folks don't think that matters, but the fact is that Don N' Nem's particular kind of fine-grain misanthropy does leave some kind of sine qua non sonic fingerpint, a fact that isn't always clear until you listen to junior-varsity shit like Matthew Larkin Cassell and realize that almost without exception anything but Actual Dan is gonna be lightning bug v. lightning.
  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    james said:
    Rockadelic said:
    The Troiano LP's I remember were straight hard rock....are there some in particular I need to check?
    Try "Hi Again," off of his eponymous jernt.

    And not to say that some of these posted things don't sound real good, or that this is not an interesting topic, but it's important to note that Steely Dan is distinguished by their sensibility as much as their sound. A lot of folks don't think that matters, but the fact is that Don N' Nem's particular kind of fine-grain misanthropy does leave some kind of sine qua non sonic fingerpint, a fact that isn't always clear until you listen to junior-varsity shit like Matthew Larkin Cassell and realize that almost without exception anything but Actual Dan is gonna be lightning bug v. lightning.

    Will do.

    And I agree with your comments....the Cassel was nice, real nice, but I didn't get a solid SD vibe from it.

    To my ears Becker & Fagan had the unique ability to have an edge in a style that notoriously doesn't have one.

    Music that is usually associated with hot tubs and butterfly kisses with lyrics about prison, dope dealing and religious cults.

    That's why those Jonathan Cain cuts threw me as I had never heard anything else that captured it in the same way.
  • HorseleechHorseleech 3,830 Posts
    Rockadelic said:
    To my ears Becker & Fagan had the unique ability to have an edge in a style that notoriously doesn't have one.

    So does Gary Wilson, imo, though it is a different sort of edge - more loner weirdo than erudite cynicism.

  • djwaxondjwaxon 411 Posts
    That Tobi Jack is great.

    I've had the Rasa album on heavy rotation for well over 6 months, its like crack to me.
  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    Horseleech said:
    Rockadelic said:
    To my ears Becker & Fagan had the unique ability to have an edge in a style that notoriously doesn't have one.

    So does Gary Wilson, imo, though it is a different sort of edge - more loner weirdo than erudite cynicism.


    Very much so......thanks.
  • jamesjames chicago 1,863 Posts
    Rockadelic said:
    That's why those Jonathan Cain cuts threw me as I had never heard anything else that captured it in the same way.
    Oh, no doubt. It really is uncanny: the punch, the characterizations, the venom, even the nasality.

    A lot of stuff that I read being compared to Steely Dan ends up being mostly toothless vocalese-tainted fusion (Mark Murphy/Ben Sidran type ersatz funk shit), but Jonathan Cain gets pretty close.

    That Gary Wilson is a good call, too.

    In my private mind garden, I refer to this genre as silk degrades.
  • TheKindCromangTheKindCromang 1,463 Posts
  • SupergoodSupergood 1,213 Posts
    This track by The Kane Gang reminds me of Fagen's IGY:
  • willie_fugalwillie_fugal 1,862 Posts
    bobtheorange said:
    you forgot his best song:

    skip to 1:40

    [/breaks-yooo!!!]

    better yet, don't just skip to the break/loop section and listen to the entirety of what's a better song than JUST that part.
  • DJFerrariDJFerrari 2,411 Posts
    I've always thought Burnier & Cartier sounded like the Brazilian version of Steely Dan...

  • jamesjames chicago 1,863 Posts
    Supergood said:
    This track by The Kane Gang reminds me of Fagen's IGY:
    Aw man, I haven't thought about this song in forever. I never thought of it as an "I.G.Y." bite, but yeah, listening to it now, it's impossible to miss.

    Can I get a ruling, though, on the only black people in this video for this song about Detroit being two janitors in their brightly colored coveralls dancing gaily in the unconvincingly gritty street? It's like a faintly racist Mentos commercial.

    b/w

    Oh shit--Supergood!
  • TDLT02TDLT02 149 Posts
    FortyFivan said:
    I've always thought Burnier & Cartier sounded like the Brazilian version of Steely Dan...


    Not sure on the sounding like Steely Dan, but a West Coast sounding vibe for sure!
    I always felt that Rio, although on the East Coast, is the South American equivalent of L.A.
    (Great weather, cool laid back vibe, hangin' at the beach on weekends, sophisticated breezy music)
  • bobtheorangebobtheorange 432 Posts
    bobtheorange said:
    you forgot his best song:

    skip to 1:40

    [/breaks-yooo!!!]

    better yet, don't just skip to the break/loop section and listen to the entirety of what's a better song than JUST that part.
    I just like the song from that part to the end better than the first 1:40 of the song. Its got nothing to do with breaks. I even kinda wish that he would have made the first part a separate song and extended the second part for another two minutes or so(not saying that the first part is bad, it just doesn't compare to the second part).
  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,955 Posts
    Edu Motta did a very Dan-esque tune on his Dwitza set called "Linduria". I can't find a rip on the tube but there is this live take where you can hear the Dan chords and I must also point out he's wearing a Strata East T under that cardigan (Edu Motta is like the Mack of Cardigans).



    Have seen him live and that Uncle Phil muhfug has the talent to go with his size.
  • WoimsahWoimsah 1,734 Posts
    Oddly enough...

  • funkfromthesunfunkfromthesun 212 Posts
    Great thread.
  • fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts
    that ian drury is ill. he was actually a talking head in a steely dan doc i saw sometime ago.



  • WoimsahWoimsah 1,734 Posts
    crabmongerfunk said:


    Good call -- however you're aware as to why this sounds so much like them, ya?
  • fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts
    but of course, i'm a recovering dan-phile.

    too bad she never did another record.

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