Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
Morph the Cat wrapped up an alleged trilogy in 2006 -- a trilogy that only became apparent when Donald Fagen's three solo albums were boxed in a set called The Nightfly Trilogy in 2007 -- and Fagen then busied himself with live performances, something he avoided at the peak of his popularity in the '70s and '80s. With Walter Becker, he took several classic Steely Dan albums on tour, he became a frequent fixture at Levon Helm's Midnight Rambles, and, in 2010, he became the ringleader of the Dukes of September, a superstar blue-eyed soul revue featuring Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs. All this high-octane rhythm can be heard on Sunken Condos, Fagen's 2012 album and easily the liveliest solo album he's released since The Nightfly in 1982. Much of that is due to a pronounced emphasis on rhythm. Sunken Condos doesn't ease on its groove, the way the otherwise excellent Morph the Cat did. Sunken Condos crackles with energy even when things are smooth; witness how "Memorabilia" and "Weather in My Head," jazzy funk numbers both, never succumb to lite comfortable grooves, as Fagen and his peerless band keep pushing at the contours of their rhythms, letting the music breathe. And that addition of space is a marked difference from much of Fagen's work since Gaucho, when he began to place an emphasis on precision over feel. Certainly, Sunken Condos boasts an immaculate production and there is not a note out of place but it is unmistakably a feel album, one where it's a pleasure to hear the band play and to hear Fagen play with his delivery, sculpting his phrases with an impish glee. That Sunken Condos also contains his sharpest songwriting in a long time -- whether they percolate like "I'm Not the Same Without You" or sweetly sigh like "Miss Marlene," the tunes are immediate the way the songs on Steely Dan's 2000 comeback, Two Against Nature, were -- is no coincidence. Long a master of obfuscation, Fagen plays it straight on Sunken Condos, tightening his songwriting and letting his music swing, and the results are an absolute joy.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From $10.83/month
Donald Fagen, Producer, Mixer, Piano, Lead Vocals, Writer, Arrangement Horn, Background Vocals, Synthesizer, MainArtist - Pat Dillett, Mixer, AdditionalEngineer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, AdditionalEngineer - Scott Hull, Masterer - Roger Rosenberg, Baritone Saxophone - Catherine Russell, Background Vocals - Jim Pugh, Trombone - Ted Tuthill, AssistantEngineer - Jon Herington, Guitar - Walt Weiskopf, Alto Saxophone - Carolyn Leonhart, Ad Libs Vocals, Background Vocals - Michael Leonhart, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, Glockenspiel, Percussion, Trumpet, Vibraphone, Arrangement Horn, Background Vocals, Clavinet - Jamie Leonhart, Background Vocals - Joe Martin, Acoustic Bass - Charlie Pillow, Tenor Saxophone - Armand Hirsch, Pro Tools - Charles Martinez, Engineer - David Schoenwectter, AssistantEngineer - Earl Cooke, Jr., Drums - Jon Silverman, Assistant Mixing Engineer - Normyn, AssistantEngineer
© 2012 Reprise Records ℗ 2012 Reprise Records
Donald Fagen, Producer, Mixer, Piano, Lead Vocals, Writer, Arrangement Horn, Background Vocals, MainArtist - Pat Dillett, Mixer, AdditionalEngineer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, AdditionalEngineer - Scott Hull, Masterer - Roger Rosenberg, Baritone Saxophone - Catherine Russell, Background Vocals - Jim Pugh, Trombone - Ted Tuthill, AssistantEngineer - Jon Herington, 12 String Guitar - Walt Weiskopf, Alto Saxophone - Carolyn Leonhart, Background Vocals - Michael Leonhart, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, Percussion, Trumpet, Arrangement Horn, Background Vocals, Fender Rhodes Keyboards, Mini Moog, Synthesizer - William Galison, Harmonica - Charlie Pillow, Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone - Armand Hirsch, Pro Tools - Charles Martinez, Engineer - David Schoenwectter, AssistantEngineer - Earl Cooke, Jr., Drums - Harlan Post, Bass - Jon Silverman, Assistant Mixing Engineer - Normyn, AssistantEngineer
© 2012 Reprise Records ℗ 2012 Reprise Records
Donald Fagen, Producer, Mixer, Lead Vocals, Writer, Arrangement Horn, MainArtist - Pat Dillett, Mixer, AdditionalEngineer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, AdditionalEngineer - Scott Hull, Masterer - Ted Tuthill, AssistantEngineer - Walt Weiskopf, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone - Michael Leonhart, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, Flugelhorn, Organ, Percussion, Trumpet, Arrangement Horn, Background Vocals - Lincoln Schleifer, Bass - Armand Hirsch, Pro Tools - Charles Martinez, Engineer - David Schoenwectter, AssistantEngineer - Earl Cooke, Jr., Drums - Jon Silverman, Assistant Mixing Engineer - Normyn, AssistantEngineer - Gary Sieger, Guitar
© 2012 Reprise Records ℗ 2012 Reprise Records
Donald Fagen, Producer, Mixer, Lead Vocals, Writer, Arrangement Horn, Clavinet, Wurlitzer, MainArtist - Larry Campbell, Rhythm Guitar - Pat Dillett, Mixer, AdditionalEngineer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, AdditionalEngineer - Cindy Mizelle, Background Vocals - Scott Hull, Masterer - Roger Rosenberg, Baritone Saxophone - Catherine Russell, Background Vocals - Jim Pugh, Trombone - Ted Tuthill, AssistantEngineer - Jon Herington, Solo Guitar - Walt Weiskopf, Alto Saxophone - Carolyn Leonhart, Background Vocals - Michael Leonhart, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, Percussion, Trumpet, Arrangement Horn, Synthesizer - Lincoln Schleifer, Bass - Armand Hirsch, Pro Tools - Charles Martinez, Engineer - David Schoenwectter, AssistantEngineer - Earl Cooke, Jr., Drums - Jon Silverman, Assistant Mixing Engineer - Normyn, AssistantEngineer
© 2012 Reprise Records ℗ 2012 Reprise Records
Donald Fagen, Producer, Mixer, Organ, Lead Vocals, Writer, Arrangement Horn, Background Vocals, Synthesizer, MainArtist - Pat Dillett, Mixer, AdditionalEngineer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, AdditionalEngineer - Scott Hull, Masterer - Ted Tuthill, AssistantEngineer - Jay Leonhart, Acoustic Bass - Jon Herington, Guitar - Walt Weiskopf, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone - Michael Leonhart, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, Organ, Percussion, Trumpet, Arrangement Horn, Background Vocals, Synthesizer, Mellotron, Wurlitzer - William Galison, Harmonica - Armand Hirsch, Pro Tools - Charles Martinez, Engineer - David Schoenwectter, AssistantEngineer - Earl Cooke, Jr., Drums - Harlan Post, Bass - Jon Silverman, Assistant Mixing Engineer - Normyn, AssistantEngineer
© 2012 Reprise Records ℗ 2012 Reprise Records
Donald Fagen, Producer, Mixer, Organ, Lead Vocals, Arrangement Horn, Background Vocals, MainArtist - Freddie Washington, Bass - Isaac Hayes, Composer, Lyricist - Pat Dillett, Mixer, AdditionalEngineer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, AdditionalEngineer - Scott Hull, Masterer - Antoine Silverman, Violin - Ted Tuthill, AssistantEngineer - Jon Herington, Guitar - Michael Leonhart, Producer, Mixer, Accordion, Engineer, Organ, Percussion, Vibraphone, Arrangement Horn, Background Vocals, Mini Moog, Clavinet, Wurlitzer - Charlie Pillow, Bass Clarinet - Armand Hirsch, Pro Tools - Charles Martinez, Engineer - David Schoenwectter, AssistantEngineer - Earl Cooke, Jr., Drums - Jon Silverman, Assistant Mixing Engineer - Normyn, AssistantEngineer
© 2012 Reprise Records ℗ 2012 Reprise Records
Donald Fagen, Producer, Mixer, Lead Vocals, Writer, Arrangement Horn, Background Vocals, Fender Rhodes Keyboards, Synthesizer, Clavinet, MainArtist - Pat Dillett, Mixer, AdditionalEngineer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, AdditionalEngineer - Cindy Mizelle, Background Vocals - Scott Hull, Masterer - Roger Rosenberg, Bass Clarinet - Catherine Russell, Background Vocals - Ted Tuthill, AssistantEngineer - Jon Herington, Guitar - Walt Weiskopf, Clarinet, Alto Saxophone - Carolyn Leonhart, Background Vocals - Michael Leonhart, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, Flugelhorn, Organ, Percussion, Arrangement Horn, Background Vocals, Synthesizer - Aaron Heick, Bass Flute - Charlie Pillow, Clarinet, Bass Flute - Armand Hirsch, Pro Tools - Charles Martinez, Engineer - David Schoenwectter, AssistantEngineer - Earl Cooke, Jr., Drums - Harlan Post, Bass - Jon Silverman, Assistant Mixing Engineer - Normyn, AssistantEngineer
© 2012 Reprise Records ℗ 2012 Reprise Records
Donald Fagen, Producer, Mixer, Piano, Lead Vocals, Writer, Arrangement Horn, Background Vocals, Fender Rhodes Keyboards, Melodica, Wurlitzer, MainArtist - Pat Dillett, Mixer, AdditionalEngineer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, AdditionalEngineer - Scott Hull, Masterer - Catherine Russell, Background Vocals - Ted Tuthill, AssistantEngineer - Jon Herington, Guitar - Carolyn Leonhart, Background Vocals - Michael Leonhart, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, Flugelhorn, Percussion, Trumpet, Vibraphone, Arrangement Horn, Mini Moog, Synthesizer - Armand Hirsch, Pro Tools - Charles Martinez, Engineer - David Schoenwectter, AssistantEngineer - Earl Cooke, Jr., Drums - Harlan Post, Bass - Jon Silverman, Assistant Mixing Engineer - Normyn, AssistantEngineer
© 2012 Reprise Records ℗ 2012 Reprise Records
Donald Fagen, Producer, Mixer, Lead Vocals, Writer, Arrangement Horn, Background Vocals, Clavinet, Wurlitzer, MainArtist - Pat Dillett, Mixer, AdditionalEngineer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, AdditionalEngineer - Scott Hull, Masterer - Ted Tuthill, AssistantEngineer - Jon Herington, Rhythm Guitar - Carolyn Leonhart, Background Vocals - Michael Leonhart, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, Percussion, Vibraphone, Arrangement Horn, Background Vocals, Synthesizer, Wurlitzer - Jamie Leonhart, Background Vocals - Kurt Rosenwinkel, Solo Guitar - Lincoln Schleifer, Bass - Armand Hirsch, Pro Tools - Charles Martinez, Engineer - David Schoenwectter, AssistantEngineer - Earl Cooke, Jr., Drums - Jon Silverman, Assistant Mixing Engineer - Normyn, AssistantEngineer
© 2012 Reprise Records ℗ 2012 Reprise Records
Album review
Morph the Cat wrapped up an alleged trilogy in 2006 -- a trilogy that only became apparent when Donald Fagen's three solo albums were boxed in a set called The Nightfly Trilogy in 2007 -- and Fagen then busied himself with live performances, something he avoided at the peak of his popularity in the '70s and '80s. With Walter Becker, he took several classic Steely Dan albums on tour, he became a frequent fixture at Levon Helm's Midnight Rambles, and, in 2010, he became the ringleader of the Dukes of September, a superstar blue-eyed soul revue featuring Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs. All this high-octane rhythm can be heard on Sunken Condos, Fagen's 2012 album and easily the liveliest solo album he's released since The Nightfly in 1982. Much of that is due to a pronounced emphasis on rhythm. Sunken Condos doesn't ease on its groove, the way the otherwise excellent Morph the Cat did. Sunken Condos crackles with energy even when things are smooth; witness how "Memorabilia" and "Weather in My Head," jazzy funk numbers both, never succumb to lite comfortable grooves, as Fagen and his peerless band keep pushing at the contours of their rhythms, letting the music breathe. And that addition of space is a marked difference from much of Fagen's work since Gaucho, when he began to place an emphasis on precision over feel. Certainly, Sunken Condos boasts an immaculate production and there is not a note out of place but it is unmistakably a feel album, one where it's a pleasure to hear the band play and to hear Fagen play with his delivery, sculpting his phrases with an impish glee. That Sunken Condos also contains his sharpest songwriting in a long time -- whether they percolate like "I'm Not the Same Without You" or sweetly sigh like "Miss Marlene," the tunes are immediate the way the songs on Steely Dan's 2000 comeback, Two Against Nature, were -- is no coincidence. Long a master of obfuscation, Fagen plays it straight on Sunken Condos, tightening his songwriting and letting his music swing, and the results are an absolute joy.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 9 track(s)
- Total length: 00:44:07
- Main artists: Donald Fagen
- Composer: Isaac Hayes
- Label: Reprise
- Genre: Pop/Rock Pop
© 2012 Reprise Records ℗ 2012 Reprise Records
Improve album information
Why buy on Qobuz?
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalog with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets, and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.
Playlists