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Coincidentally, I was just listening to Aja. I even had a bit of a conversation with Google AI about it. Me: Art Pop is one of my favourite genres, especially jazz-tinged art pop. There's something about those chord voicings that just "hits me where I live". I also really dig Voivod's Piggy Chords, and I just want to learn how they compose and incorporate those elements. A lot of my music (that I write) is audibly "melodic minor" to me, and I'd like to expand my palette. It: (Too long, don't read.) After which the conversation shifted to The Colourfield's "Castles in the Air" ("the perfect bridge between Steely Dan and melodic minor"). ...Where art pop differs from traditional straight-ahead jazz is the voicing architecture. Art pop often avoids standard, textbook jazz "shell voicings" (Root-3rd-7th) in favor of highly colorful, open-sounding structures where the melody line can sing out over a flurry of inner voice movement. Add9 and Mu Major Chords: Popularized by Steely Dan, a "mu major" chord is a major triad with an added 2nd (or 9th) voiced directly adjacent to the 3rd. Example: Instead of spelling C major 9 as C - E - G - B - D, voice a C(add9) as C - D - E - G. The second interval between D and E creates a beautiful, shimmering harmonic "blur" that anchors the art pop sound. Slash Chords (Poly-harmony): Art pop relies heavily on playing a clean triad in the upper register over a completely foreign bass note. This gives you jazz extensions without the clutter. Bb / C: A Bb major triad (Bb - D - F) over a C bass note. This instantly yields a C7sus4(9,13) sound—sleek, modern, and deeply reminiscent of late '70s art pop. G / C: A G major triad over a C bass note, creating a pure Cmaj9 feel with a wide, cinematic gap between the bass line and the upper melody...

The October Suite by Steve Kuhn (1967) https://open.qobuz.com/album/0060246544132 Example: On the edge of avant-garde from time to time, and rarely gets into a groove. But it is rewarding with absolutely lovely melodies and variations like the example. Gary known for his compositions and arrangements died 1971 (aged 38).

Thanks to both for the worthy dialogue, keep going!

SACD Been listening to mostly plastic lately.

Let's talk about Steely Dan. The boomer jazz rock duo who took their name from a steam powered dildo described in William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch, best known for their super slick studio production. They were hugely popular with boomers housewives in the 70s and gained a significant following amongst aging boomers classic rock aficionados in the 80s and 90s. Their 1977 album Aja is considered a studio masterpiece by some, and the most wretched, excessive piece of wank imaginable by others. The late, great Steve Albini, a legendary punk rocker and and god tier record producer, absolutely loathed Steely Dan and Aja in particular. In the 21st century, Steely Dan is the source of ironic zoomer memes. Their albums have a following with audio snobs to tend to listen to equipment and not, you know, actual music. This can lead to some obsessive behavior (top comment: "jfc"). All of this is to say, I don't really like SD, at all. I had to endure them on the radio throughout my youth. I was in a hardware store a few years ago and they had their in ceiling speaker system up louder than usual. I got serenaded by "Do It Again" while I furtively looked for ant cups. That experience threw me in a depression for the rest of the day. I actually love 1970s music production. It's all analogue, full of optically compressed bass and often loaded with horn sections that are really well recorded. Obvious examples are Rev. Al Green's "Can't Get Next To You" and the 800 lb gorilla that is Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." Bonus points to Bobby Bland's Dreamer album. To their, uh, credit, Steely Dan managed to wankify 70s studio tech to the point that I find it physically uncomfortable to be around. A while ago, I was browsing the official YouTube channel of 70s music television show, The Midnight Special. It's a treasure. It has live segments, obvious lip syncing, and entire shows (one hosted by George Carlin!) They have a rare live performance by Steely Dan, featuring their original frontman David Palmer. This rendition removes more or less everything I loathe about the band. The slick studio sheen is gone. In my very jaded opinion, Palmer is both a better and more emotive singer than Donald Fagan. It's kind of hilarious what an absolute statue Walter Becker is on stage, especially as the rest of the band is making a considerable effort to be really into things. The guitar solo is still kind of wank, but that's the 2FA for knowing it's really Steely Dan. Not long after this performance, Fagan and Becker fired the rest of the band and became a masturbatory studio duo. It would be interesting to see what kind of band they would have become if they'd done the opposite.

I’m team performance then recording first. Without those the rest is irrelevant.

This is my latest to add to the growing collection, I think a may have a problem... oh well. This is a Simon Marty guitar, it features his innovative radial bracing, the back and sides are ancient Huon pine, salvaged before a dam flooded a valley, estimated between 1000 -1500 years old, the neck is Australian rosewood and the top is spruce.