The Nightfly - Donald Fagen (1982)
Fagen was half of Steely Dan (o_O O_o). He and Walter Becker had accomplished a lot in the 70s but parted ways after the Moby-Dick-level obsession of completing the Gaucho album in 1980.
The songs aren’t radically different from Steely Dan, with a lot of the same personnel (Dan mainstay Larry Carlton plays the guitar solos). It’s all very thoughtful and pretty, but with an acerbic nihilism underneath the lyrics.
One of the first records to be recorded on digital multi-track, the sound is typically immaculate for anything Fagen involved himself in.
Tracks I Liked
IGY - midcentury childhood nostalgia
Ruby Baby - what passes for funk in Fagen’s world
The Nightfly - another pop gem
