''Sunken Condos'' is the fourth and most recent solo album from Steely Dan co-founder Donald Fagen, released in October 2012 through Reprise Records. It contains eight new songs and a cover of Isaac Hayes' "Out of the Ghetto". Fagen began recording the album in 2010 and described it as having a lighter feel than his earlier work, rather than being a continuation of his '' Nightfly'' trilogy. On September 17, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' posted a full-length preview of the song "I'm Not the Same Without You". The song charted at number 28 on the '' Billboard'' Japan Hot 100 in October 2012. The album reached number 23 on the official UK album chart on October 21 and number 12 on the ''Billboard'' 200, becoming his highest charting solo album since 1993.

Critical response

The album was listed at No. 25 on ''

s list of the top 50 albums of 2012. The magazine stated that "the music is deceitfully lush, a snazzy cascade of rock, R&B and swing, with production as costly as a Santa Monica beach house." They also named the song "Weather in My Head" the 21st best song of 2012. Fagen appeared on '' Late Show with David Letterman'' and performed "Weather in My Head" to promote the album.

Track listing

All songs written by Donald Fagen, except where noted

Personnel

Musicians * Donald Fagen – lead vocals , piano ,

Prophet 5 The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith and John Bowen in 1977, who used microprocessors, then a new technology, to create the first polyphonic synthesizer with full ...

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

, B3 organ , clavinet , Fender Rhodes ,

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usua ...

, background vocals *Harlan Post (alias Donald Fagen) – synth bass *

Michael Leonhart Michael Leonhart (born April 21, 1974) is an American jazz trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist. Solo career In 1992 Leonhart was honored with the first Grammy Award for outstanding high school musician in the US (he attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia ...

– percussion,

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

, flugelhorn , mellophone , mellophonium , Fender Rhodes , minimoog , clavinet , L100 organ , M100 organ , Prophet 5 , Wurlitzer , mellotron , B3 organ , Juno 6 , accordion ,

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist ...

, glockenspiel , background vocals , scream *Earl Cooke Jr (alias Michael Leonhart) – drums *

Jon Herington Jon Herington (born Jonathan Reuel Herington on April 14, 1954) is an American guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and session musician. Career Herington was born in Paterson, New Jersey, and grew up in West Long Branch, New Jerse ...

– guitar ,

twelve-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

, rhythm guitar , solo guitar *

Walt Weiskopf Walt Weiskopf (born July 30, 1959 in Augusta, Georgia) is an American jazz saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, author and educator. He has released sixteen albums as a leader, and performed on countless other albums as a sideman. He has ...

– alto saxophone ,

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

, clarinet *Charlie Pillow – tenor saxophone , clarinet , bass clarinet , bass flute *Roger Rosenberg – baritone saxophone , bass clarinet *

Jim Pugh Jim Pugh (born February 5, 1964) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. He grew up in Palos Verdes, California and at age 10 began taking tennis lessons from John Hillebrand. He played tennis at UCLA. He became a doubl ...

–

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

Carolyn Leonhart Carolyn Leonhart (born July 10, 1971) is a jazz singer, daughter of jazz bassist Jay Leonhart and sister of the trumpeter Michael Leonhart. She has performed as a back-up vocalist for Steely Dan on several tours and recordings. Childhood and educa ...

– background vocals , ad-lib vocals *Jamie Leonhart – background vocals *Catherine Russell – background vocals *Cindy Mizelle – background vocals *Joe Martin – acoustic bass * William Galison – harmonica , bass harmonica *Lincoln Schleifer – bass *Gary Sieger – guitar *

Larry Campbell Larry W. Campbell (born 28 February 1948) is a Canadian politician that served as the 37th mayor of Vancouver, Canada from 2002 until 2005 and since 2005 has been a member of the Senate of Canada. Before he was mayor, Campbell worked for th ...

– rhythm guitar *

Jay Leonhart Jay Leonhart (born December 6, 1940) is a double bassist, singer, and songwriter who has worked in jazz and popular music. He has performed with Judy Garland, Bucky Pizzarelli, Carly Simon, Frank Sinatra, and Sting. Leonhart is noted for his cle ...

– acoustic bass * Freddie Washington – bass *

Antoine Silverman Antoine Silverman is a New York violinist, music contractor, and music arranger. The son of folk guitarist, writer and singer Jerry Silverman, Antoine began classical violin lessons at the age of three. By 5, he had discovered bluegrass as well, ac ...

– violin *Aaron Heicke – bass flute *

Kurt Rosenwinkel Kurt Rosenwinkel (born October 28, 1970) is an American jazz guitarist, keyboardist, composer, bandleader, producer, educator and record label owner. Biography A native of Philadelphia, Rosenwinkel attended the Philadelphia High School for the ...

– solo guitar Production * Donald Fagen – rhythm arrangements, vocal arrangements, horn arrangements, mixing * Michael Leonhart – vocal and horn arrangements, engineer, mixing * Charles Martinez – engineer * Normyn – assistant engineer * David Schoenwetter – assistant engineer * Ted Tuthill – assistant engineer * Pat Dillett – mixing, additional engineering *

Elliot Scheiner Elliot Ray Scheiner (born 18 March 1947) is a music producer, mixer and engineer. Scheiner has received 27 Grammy Award nominations, eight of which he won, and he has been awarded four Emmy nominations, two Emmy Awards for his work with the Eagl ...

– additional engineering * Amanda Hirsch – additional Pro Tools engineering * Jon Silverman – assistant mix engineer * Scott Hull – mastering

Charts

References

{{Authority control Donald Fagen albums 2012 albums Albums produced by Donald Fagen Reprise Records albums