129. Steely Dan - Gaucho

I have this weird relationship with Steely Dan, which started with Aja . I tried really hard to like them, because I thought I was supposed to like them, as someone who claimed to appreciate music. And I did appreciate their musicianship; I went through this psuedo, rock/jazz phase for a while where I listened to a lot of Jeff Beck and Jean Luc Ponty, so I enjoyed Steely Dan's jazzy rock style, and I felt like I could smugly say I listened to it for the music and not because everyone else thought it was a great make out album.

Then Gaucho came out and I gave them another try, even though Hey Nineteen was on the radio constantly and I was at that phase where I eschewed radio hits. But hey, they did make a reference to pot in the song and, being an 18 year old in 1980, that meant something to me. So I bought Gaucho and smoked some fine Columbian while I listened to it, fully expecting to dismiss it after one song and go back to Motorhead.

I liked it, though. It was really good "mellow out" music. There's definitely some albums that are made for sitting back, closing your eyes and letting the music wash over you while you come down. You don't think much when you listen to it, and it becomes part of the ambience of the room you're in, like the posters on the wall or a lamp on the desk, it's just part of the whole of what's there.

Listening to Gaucho now, for the first time in many years, it still feels like that. It's not something I'd purposely take out and play, but it does give the room a bit more ambience.

Favorite song: Time out of Mind
The biggest Steely Dan fan I know