Kamakiriad

Kamakiriad
Studio album by Donald Fagen
Released	May 25, 1993
Recorded	1990–93
Studio	River Sound, Clinton Recording Studios and The Hit Factory (New York City, New York) Hyperbolic Sound (Maui, Hawaii)
Genre	Jazz-rock
Length	50:31
Label	Reprise
Producer	Walter Becker
Donald Fagen chronology
The Nightfly (1982) Kamakiriad (1993) Morph the Cat (2006)
Singles from Kamakiriad
"Tomorrow's Girls" Released: 1993 "Trans-Island Skyway" Released: 1993 "Snowbound" Released: 1993

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	B− [4]
The Great Rock Discography	7/10 [5]
Los Angeles Times	[6]
NME	[7]
Q	[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]
Uncut	8/10 [10]

Kamakiriad is the second solo album by Steely Dan artist Donald Fagen, released in 1993. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year 1994.

Overview

The album was the second collaboration between Donald Fagen and Walter Becker since Steely Dan disbandment in early 80's (the previous was on Rosie Vela's album Zazu ). Becker played guitar and bass and produced the album.

The album is a futuristic, optimistic eight-song cycle about the journey of the narrator in his high-tech car, the Kamakiri (Japanese for praying mantis).^{[ citation needed ]}

Promotion

Music videos were produced for "Tomorrow's Girls" (starring Rick Moranis) and "Snowbound" (using stop motion animation).^{[ citation needed ]}

Fagen and Becker embarked on their first tour as Steely Dan since 1974 which also supported the album Kamakiriad.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Donald Fagen, except where noted

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Trans-Island Skyway"		6:30
2.	"Countermoon"		5:05
3.	"Springtime"		5:06
4.	"Snowbound"	Walter Becker, Donald Fagen	7:08
5.	"Tomorrow's Girls"		6:17
6.	"Florida Room"	Libby Titus, Donald Fagen	6:02
7.	"On the Dunes"		8:07
8.	"Teahouse on the Tracks"		6:09

Bonus tracks, from The Nightfly Trilogy MVI boxed set

No.	Title	Length
9.	"Big Noise, New York"	5:21
10.	"Confide in Me"	4:15
11.	"Blue Lou"	7:01
12.	"Shanghai Confidential"	4:54

Personnel

• Donald Fagen – vocals, keyboards, horn and rhythm arrangements
• Paul Griffin – Hammond B3 organ
• Craig Siegal – sampling, digital delay acquisition
• Walter Becker – lead guitars, guitar solos, bass guitar
• Georg Wadenius – guitars
• Chris Parker – drums (1, 2, 6, 7)
• Dennis McDermott – drums (4)
• Leroy Clouden – percussion, drums (3, 5, 8)
• Bashiri Johnson – percussion
• Lou Marini – alto saxophone, clarinet, flute
• Ronnie Cuber – baritone saxophone
• Roger Rosenberg – baritone saxophone
• Cornelius Bumpus – tenor saxophone, tenor sax solo (6, 7)
• Illinois Elohainu – tenor saxophone (a fictive musician, actually Fagen himself plays a saxophone sample on the keyboard), tenor sax solo (2)
• Lawrence Feldman – flute, tenor saxophone
• David Tofani – flute, tenor saxophone
• Birch Johnson – trombone, trombone solo (8)
• Jim Pugh – trombone
• Randy Brecker – trumpet, flugelhorn
• Alan Rubin – trumpet, flugelhorn
• Angela Clemmons-Patrick – backing vocals
• Frank Floyd – backing vocals
• Diane Garisto – backing vocals
• Amy Helm – backing vocals
• Mindy Jostyn – backing vocals
• Brenda King – backing vocals
• Curtis King – backing vocals
• Jenni Muldaur – backing vocals
• Catherine Russell – backing vocals
• Dian Sorel – backing vocals
• Fonzi Thornton – backing vocals

Production

• Walter Becker – producer
• Roger Nichols – chief engineer
• Wayne Yurgelun – house engineer
• David Michael Dill – engineer
• Tom Fritze – engineer
• Dave Russell – engineer
• Tony Volante – engineer
• Phil Burnett – second engineer, digital technician
• Andy Grassi – second engineer
• Troy Halderson – second engineer
• Bob Mitchell – second engineer
• John Neff – second engineer
• Jay Ryan – second engineer
• Craig Siegal – sample editing
• Glenn Meadows – mastering at Masterfonics (Nashville, Tennessee)
• Lisa Starr – production coordinator
• Carol Bobolts – design
• James Hamilton – photography
• Marinella Terziotti – car photograph
• Donald Fagen – liner notes
• Tim White – liner notes

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for Kamakiriad

Chart (1993)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [11]	80
Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [12]	23
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [13]	13
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [14]	24
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [15]	30
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [16]	10
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [17]	9
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [18]	27
UK Albums (OCC) [19]	3
US Billboard 200 [20]	10

Year-end charts

1993 year-end chart performance for Kamakiriad

Chart (1993)	Position
European Albums (European Top 100 Albums) [21]	99

References

1. "Allmusic review". Allmusic . All Media Guide . Retrieved 2011-06-15.
2. Robert Christgau review
3. Larkin, Colin (2002). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Virgin Books. ISBN   1-85227-923-0.
4. David Browne. Entertainment Weekly review May 28, 1993
5. Strong, Martin Charles (2002). "Steely Dan". The Great Rock Discography. The National Academies. ISBN   1-84195-312-1.
6. Los Angeles Times review
7. NME, 1993-05-29, p. 31
8. Q, July 1993, p. 86
9. "Rolling Stone Music | Album Reviews". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2011-06-15.^{[ dead link ‍]}
10. Uncut , "How to buy Donald Fagen", Jaan Uhelszki, December 2012
11. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (pdf ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
12. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0992". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
13. "Dutchcharts.nl – Donald Fagen – Kamakiriad" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
14. "Offiziellecharts.de – Donald Fagen – Kamakiriad" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
15. "Charts.nz – Donald Fagen – Kamakiriad". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
16. "Norwegiancharts.com – Donald Fagen – Kamakiriad". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
17. "Swedishcharts.com – Donald Fagen – Kamakiriad". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
18. "Swisscharts.com – Donald Fagen – Kamakiriad". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
19. "Donald Fagen | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
20. "Donald Fagen Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
21. "1993 Year-End Sales Charts - Eurochart Hot 100 Albums 1993" (PDF). Music & Media . December 18, 1993. p. 15. Retrieved April 20, 2022.