Tom Breihan writes about Adam Yauch.

I know this is the most obvious answer, but I think Aja is my faverit Steely Dan album. At one time that would have been perennial crowd-pleaser Can’t Buy A Thrill. Later on when I got deeper into the groop it would have been Katy Lied or even Pretzel Logic, for which I entertained a perverse love at one time. My fondness for Katy Lied goes back to hearing “Black Friday” and “Daddy Don’t Live In That New York City No More” at my uncle’s house. I’d heard those tunes before but their badassedness really sunk in for me that day. I used to sing “Doctor Wu” nonstop too. Folks I know seem to prefer Gaucho these days. That LP was once my least favorite SD, but I’ve come around on it and have come to appreciate that it’s one of those discs that takes a minute to seep into you. Anyway, Aja’s the one I want to talk about. Here are a few of the reasons why it’s still my favorite:

How my dad had a pristine vinyl copy (I think it was the Mobile Fidelity version, but I don’t remember for sure) and how my big brother and I, fried on C-grade pot one afternoon with the house to ourselves, spun it and jammed to that endless interplanetary journey of an instrumental section in the song “Aja”.

How I realized the “tied to the mast” line in “Home at Last” was an allusion (having in whatever grade just learned the meaning of that word) to the Odyssey (and secretly thinking I was pretty smart for noticing).

How I studied the übercool “Deacon Blues” lyric…a mirage, an illusion, a dream…a still, glassy ocean with nothing underneath its surface…for a moment you think you can see thru it then those many colourd clouds come together again, obscuring what lies behind them, but light still passes thru it, like a stained glass window.

How it contains seven songs, the perfect number, in exactly the right sequence—the only possible one—an hermetic whole, not a cycle, not a circle, but an arc, starting and ending at zero, silence, as Hawking, in his bestseller, once described the universe—starting from nothing, a single particle, space expanding, then: contracting, reversing, the universe’s end a mirror image of its beginning, a big crunch, back to zero ((tho today cosmologists seem to favor infinite expansion)); a flash of lightning in the dark of night: darkness – brilliance – (an endless moment later:) darkness again; a journey from here to there, though there is just here again—Nirvana and Samsara are one: the Buddha was right here the whole time.

How Michael McDonald’s voice blends with the synth in “Peg”—I can’t tell what’s human and what’s synthetic…which statement, tho it might seem rather facile, could be a metaphor or a cynic dokee or an analog or a digital or something for the entire album.

How I Realized rather late what a jam “Josie” is.

How KNS sampled that little bass turn in “Black Cow” for Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz’ “Déjà Vu (Uptown Baby)” and how I just found out that Doom sampld a diffrent element of it (that dreamy lilting keyboard part) on “Gas Drawls” (tho I’m currently tripping on how he sampled “Poetry” (still one of my favorite tracks ever)).

I made a mix as a wedding gift for my friends Jane & Hamak. (Don’t worry, I got them a real gift too.) Here is the letter I wrote to go with it:

A tape…um, a disc, a flash drive, a disk in any case…full of luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuv sawngs in honor of you. You two. I don’t want to get overly sappy…I’ve tried to lean toward just straight happy, celebratory songs…but some of these tunes do reflect my feelings on the subject.

01.    Yeh Yeh – Georgie Fame & the Blue Flames

Was introduced to this song by They Might Be Giants’ cover (Mink Car 2001) but this version (1965) kind of blows it away. Fame has a great voice and a great vocal technique, and his tone blends so nicely with the sax.

02.    This Time It’s Real – Tower Of Power

One of the happiest songs ever. From Tower Of Power (1973).

03.    Groove Me – King Floyd

Sookie sookie now. From King Floyd (1970).

04.    Kiss – Prince

I defy U 2 name a better pop record than this. …I’m a little self-conscious about the last 2 choices. They’re a little obvious—they’re wedding DJ songs. But I’m not going use Kool & the Gang Celebration, okay? 1 tries not 2 B 2 obvious or 2 obscure. I was 1ce accused (by my 3rd-oldest friend!) of being willfully obscure. (It was over one of my spring tapes. The one with “Ain’t That Nice” and “The Real World” and the French version of “Chick Habit” and the Banana Splits and all that.) I’m not trying 2 B obscure, like just 2 show how cool I am, but I don’t want to give U just stuff U’ve heard a million times. As Cee-lo sed at a Gnarls sho just B4 singing “Crazy”—“I want 2 please U but I don’t want 2 bore U.” But these last 2 joints R so God damn good, who cares. …By the way, I stole this cut from a mix CD a certain bride & groom made as a party favor 4 their wedding, so it contains extra good karma for yall Bcause over 7 years later they remain 1 of the happiest couples I know (Bsides me & Jen of course!).

* Prince spellings in honor of Prince.

05.    This Must Be The Place – Talking Heads

Stop Making Sense version. (1984.) To get sappy for a second…this song is to me the most perfect description I’ve heard of what love is. It makes me cry. I imagine having a big, like, 50th anniversary bash like my grandparents did and singing this song to my dear wife. (I’d need to recruit a couple accompanists…a piano and a flute maybe.)

06.    Jeepster – T. Rex

From Electric Warrior (1971). Great record, “Jeepster”, great record….

07.    You’ll Be Mine – Howlin’ Wolf

Where Marc Bolan stole the opening lyrics (“You so sweet, you so fine/ How I wish you were mine”) and the bump-bump-bump rhythm from. This has always been one of my favorite Wolf tunes. From 1961, this is the classic Chicago Howlin’ Wolf band: Willie Dixon on bass, Sam Lay drums, Hubert Sumlin with that searing guitar of his.

08.    Wig Wam Bam – The Sweet

Self-explanatory. Side 1, cut 3 on the 1973 debut The Sweet.

09.    If It’s True – Yo La Tengo

Doing our best. Muddling thru. Together. I like that. Nicer really than some overblown epic True Love thing. Is it right, is it perfect, is it true? Doesnt really matter. From Popular Songs (2009).

10.    Love And Happiness - Al Green.

Let Al Green explain to you what love is and what happiness is. Another obvious choice? At least it’s not “Let’s Stay Together”. From I’m Still In Love With You (1972).

11.    If I Ever Needed Someone – Van Morrison

Is this here love song directed to God? From His Band And The Street Choir (1970)…which is a killer album.

12.    Some Say – Nina Simone

Such a wonderful, happy song. I luv it when Nina Somone gets all are-&-bea and shit. From my faverit by far of her albums, Silk And Soul. Like “Kiss” this was one of the high points I was trying to build up to. A mix has to have peaks & troughs and in-betweens.

13.    Eye Know – De La Soul

From 3 Feet High And Rising (1989). Nother good choice by De La wld’ve been “Talkin’ Bout Hey Love” from De La Soul Is Dead, but I couldn’t resist the sample. Did you catch it? [One of the records sampled in “Eye Know” holds a particular significance for Jane.]

14.    You Make It Easy – Air

That is what I want. Becuz everything is so damn hard. From Moon Safari (1998).

15.    Lint Of Love – Cibo Mato [my edit]

From Stereo Type A. (1999) Took out the shitty rap and the shitty guitar solo.

16.    Nobody But You – John Paul Hammond

I’ve always liked this song. From Nobody But You (1988). Sweet, simple sentiment. “Put the lid on the pot, put the salt in the bread.” There’s another song, by Ray Charles, which sadly didn’t make this tape (I’ma need to do a “bonus disc” of outtakes), which not only shares the same name but has a similar lyric: “Who is the salt in my bread? Nobody but you. I do mean you.” To be the salt in someone’s bread. Wow.

17.    My Babe – Little Walter Jacobs

Always loved this one too. 1955. So smooth.

18.    Rose Darling – Steely Dan

From Katy Lied (1975)…the first side of which really kicks ass.

19.    Here To Fall – Yo La Tengo

A similar theme to the other Yo La track; sort of a darker flipside. Also from Popular Songs.

20.    Don’t Worry Baby – The Beach Boys

By explicitly saying “Don’t worry,” this song goes further than the last one (“I know you’re worried, I’m worried too”). From their masterpiece, Pet Sounds (1966).

21.    I Love How You Love Me – Jeff Magnum

Such a pretty melody. Sung by such a haunting voice. This old standard, here misattributed to Phil Spector (who produced the Paris Sisters version), is a Barry Mann/Larry Kolber composition. This version comes from a live bootleg and may or may not be identical to the Live at Jittery Joe’s version.

22.    Asleep And Dreaming – The Magnetic Fields

I almost wanted this to be our wedding march, but Jen objected to the “I don’t know if you’re beautiful” part. From 69 Love Songs (1999).

23.    Little Star – Cub

What a nice thing to say about someone. From Betti-Cola (1993).


Welp. I wish much happiness to both of you. Congratulations to Hamak. He definitely got the best of this deal.

Aunt B:

When can the Empress sit on her throne and be recognized in all her territory? Seventy-five years later, her blood on that ground, and she [Bessie Smith] still doesn’t get to be a part of the story of the Delta blues.

Here’s Geeshie Wiley, from Natchez. I guess we have to pretend she doesn’t exist, either, but let’s listen to her sing once before we do so. Try to ignore Elvie Thomas with her spooky guitar accompaniment, since that’s also not worthy of being included in the great story of the Delta bluesmen.

(That’s a mother fuck of  a record. (Buy American Primitive Volume 2.))

KRS•ONE did a fake patois
Miss Cleo got a fake patois
Even Jay-Z did a fake patois
Bad Brains had a fake patois
My man Snow had a fake patois
Even Jim Carrey fuck with the patois
So you know he come through with the fake patois

Ron Rosenbaum:

I’d argued that Dylan and his impact had been misconstrued by most Dylanologists; that he should not be situated with rustic pastorals or popular-front folkies, but with the urban, mostly Jewish, mostly literary “black humor” movement of the 60s, which ranged across genres, from Lenny Bruce to Bruce Jay Friedman, Joseph Heller to Stanley Kubrick. A movement whose absurdist nihilism—which reaches a viciously eloquent peak in Yossarian’s denunciation of God in Catch-22—was a response to two holocausts: Hitler’s, still only 15 years past, and the nuclear holocaust that seemed—especially after the 1962 Cuban missile crisis—just a shot away.

[ … ]

In those eight words—”hitler did not change history. hitler WAS history”—it seems to me, Dylan is not saying Hitler’s evil genius was unique, exceptional. He’s saying Hitler represents—embodies—a distillation of all the horrors routinely perpetrated by human civilization.

“When they declare what you do dead, buck up, little trooper. it’s all part of the process.”

—El P