Use The Tubes
Product Of My Environment.
I'm white guy with glasses. Born between 1950 and 1970. Have a considerable rock collection accented by the usual rock-guy batch of jazz anchored by Miles and Thelonious. Took several years of piano lessons. Spent many formative hours as a small child listening to department-store and grocery-store versions of Bacharach classics. Has a fairly decent sense of humor.
Which is the long way of saying: With these environmental factors coalescing as they did, I'm not sure there was any possible way I would not thoroughly enjoy the Classic Albums DVD devoted to the making of Aja. But the fickle finger of fate aside, what's not to like? Highlights include:
Ultra-dry repartee between Fagen and Becker as they discuss the process at the mixing board. Any other pair would give some little nod to the camera for some of the banter, but they play it totally straight. Moments include isolating a Michael McDonald background vocal just to point out that pieces of great songs can sound silly by themselves, and also making fun of a few rejected solos for one track.
Fagen revealing that in "Home At Last", he "wrote a little blues for Ulysses. Quality alternate title: "Ulysses' Little Problem."
Hearing anecdotes from the bevy of top-shelf studio guitarists (Larry Carlton, Dean Parks, Lenny Dias) who participated in Becker/Fagen's little habit of mixing/matching songs with entirely different lineups. Also, chatting with Wayne Shorter.
Fagen speaking the lyrics to "Black Cow" along with the playback. You have/had to be there.
A cocky but undeniably impressive/persuasive deconstruction and illustration of the "Purdie Shuffle" by the veteran studio drummer. Watching and hearing him explain it and scatting over this tailor-made shuffle ... amazing. The story goes that in his prime, he would show up at the studio with two signs, putting one on either side of his kit. The first said, "You done it," and the other said, "You done hired the hitmaker."
All this footage is interspersed with these players back in the studio in the present, playing through some of the songs. Throw in the first-hand glimpses of Becker and Fagen's unified vision, and their unorthodox and incredibly successful technique of managing personnel to reach the sound in their collective brain, and it's an absolutely quality rental. I mean, if you like eccentric but catchy songs, hybrid session lineups, rock solos over diminished fifths, and jokes from two of the unlikeliest "rock stars" ever imagined as they discuss the high point of their catalog.
(Did I mention that Phil Hartman did the album art? How random is that?)
