The Inexorable Influences of Fleetwood Mac & Steely Dan

This morning alone I have encountered enough music by myriad artists to fully comprehend the undeniable and inexorable influences of Fleetwood Mac and Steely Dan upon modern-day musicians. Though it may have begun with a sense of irony, there exists now an entire sub-genre of indie rock that can trace its roots directly to these two pioneering acts. The resurgence of late in this style of jazzy rock saturated with multiple vocals harmonizing effortlessly is a bit puzzling. My question is whether this is simply a passing trend (shall we call it The Fleetwood Dan Influence? The Steely Mac Influence? No, I've got it...), or if The Steelwood Man Influence is here to stay.

I'm not sure who to hold responsible for originally utilizing the sounds of Fleetwood Mac or Steely Dan. Given their own profound influence in the past decade, however, I'm going with Pharrell Williams and his cohorts in The Neptunes and N.E.R.D. - specifically Chad Hugo. With the latest N.E.R.D. album, Seeing Sounds, dropping yesterday, this seems as good a place as any to start. Even though the vast majority of Neptunes' work in the mainstream is known for its minimalist beats (think Clipse, pre-Timbaland JT), the side project of N.E.R.D. has always incorporated a strong Steelwood Man Influence in addition to soulful Motown sounds. More Steely Dan than Fleetwood Mac, check out 2002's "Run to the Sun":

It's practically a remake of "Ricky Don't Lose My Number". Maybe not exactly, but you get the idea. Seeing Sounds gives us plenty of beat-filled dance-jams, but it also gives us the vibraphonic, "You Know What", another undeniable Steely Dan throwback:

Following along the same lineage are Next Big Thing, Chin Chin. The band's own Myspace page describes their sounds as "Brass Construction doing New Edition covers arranged by Steely Dan for Dick James Enterprises". In case the Dan influence wasn't obvious on "You Can't Hold Her":

Clearly Steely Dan have left their mark. Before moving on to Fleetwood Mac, let's first enjoy this classic from The Royal Scam:

Now, the Fleetwood Mac influence upon modern artists is confounding, as their soft rock sound is so iconic to a very specific time period. Female vocalists have been attempting to mimic Stevie Nicks for years (a couple of them recently - Neko Case & Rose - getting very close). But the artists I've heard this morning alone, as I mentioned at the start, are all young up-and-coming indie acts spanning the country, yet all integrating complex harmonizing into their songs.

From Texas, Midlake:

From Washington state, Next Big Thing Fleet Foxes:

From Brooklyn, mC fave Yeasayer:

What's most interesting is that these are modern bands making new music that sounds new, but The Steelwood Man Influence is unequivocal. As these artists continue to make music, and as they continue to garner press and media attention, their own influence will propagate. As a result, the jazz-infused neo-psychedelic blues-rock of the late 70s is poised to stick around. Let's just hope the accompanying fashion statements of the epoch aren't resurrected as well.

-J2

Best Albums of 2006

Well it's about the time of year for middleCoast to share with all its loyal readers our list of the Top 10 Best Albums of 2006. This would have led to a most heated debate between OtherJason and JasonToo, to be sure, but middleCoast is quite certain that an agreement would have been made on the following:


1. TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
Just a brilliant display of musical talent from the NYC art rockers. Reminiscent of Kid A, from our anti-rock critic's point of view.

2. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
Pop music as pop music should be. Here's hoping that DangerMouse's ADD can subside long enough to put together 14 more jams with Cee Lo.

3. My Morning Jacket - Okonokos
We realize that live albums shouldn't technically make album-of-the-year lists, but live MMJ is the best thing ever. Enjoy your rock bubble.

4. The Roots - Game Theory
Rap music is a bland and jaded commercial enterprise. Hip Hop is an art form mastered by The Roots. Game Theory is one of their most creative and enjoyable pieces yet.

5. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
The soul of the New Pornographers gets to the heart of great singer/songwriter albums: that bittersweet ache actually feels good.

6. The Flaming Lips - At War With the Mystics
It's no Soft Bulletin, but who says it has to be? Wayne and the boys still make the best music for dying from a heroin overdose.

7. Wolfmother - Wolfmother
Stealing other bands' sounds has been the root of all rock music, so suspend your disbelief and rock your socks off.

8. The Black Angels - Passover
Texas psych-rockers make The Doors sound like The Beach Boys. Proof that drugs are way better today than they were when your parents were freakin out.

9. Band of Horses - Everything All of the Time
Shoegazers that power-pop with the best of them. Great melodies and great lyrics that can just as easily be great background music.

10. Silversun Pickups - Carnavas
From the quiet noise school invoking My Bloody Valentine, Pavement, and Smashing Pumpkins all at once, keeping it interesting upon every listen.


So we at middleCoast are well aware of the fact that we left off some albums that just as easily could've been ranked number one, or at least should all be number eleven: The Decemberists, Tokyo Police Club, The Changes, +/- (Plus/Minus), and Arctic Monkeys are all solid Honorable Mentions.

Also key to this list is the fact that, fortunately or unfortunately, mC is not a professional rock critic, and therefore does not receive every album ever released for free. We at mC have to actually purchase our music, so a number of potential Best of 2006 albums have not even been heard. Albums like the latest from Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, and Yo La Tengo may happen to be much better than the 10 listed above, but alas, we spent the money on beer instead.

That said, any artist or record company is more than welcome to supply middleCoast with free records for review. Most likely, they will immediately jump to the Number 1 album of the year.

-mC