As a driving force behind the Brooklyn label DFA, DJ James Murphy already had established an enviable career early in the new millennium.
March 18, 2007 (Press Release) --
As a driving force behind the Brooklyn label DFA, DJ James Murphy already had established an enviable career early in the new millennium: His skills as a producer were so in demand that he rejected a plea to work with Janet Jackson, and he walked away laughing after disastrous sessions with Britney Spears. But Murphy is also an indie-rock veteran who's played in bands his whole life, and like Pharrell Williams with the Neptunes, he needed an outlet to display his own talents on the other side of the board.
Partly a collection of earlier singles, including the hilarious parody of underground hipsters, "Losing My Edge," Murphy's self-titled debut as LCD Soundsystem was one of the strongest albums of 2005 -- a collection of smart, funny, melodic and most of all hard-grooving dance-rock that referenced myriad influences from the post-punk '80s while sounding like nothing you'd heard before. Less immediate (it's a slower build) but ultimately no less rewarding, LCD's second album, "Sound of Silver," continues the hero-worship, and music geeks will have a field day naming plundered sounds and riffs: "Hey, there's a little Kraftwerk, and there's some David Bowie! He just name-checked Pink Floyd! And doesn't that vocal sound like Julian Casablancas of the Strokes?' "
As with LCD's debut, however, you don't need to know the rock-school references to lose yourself in the throbbing bass lines, cowbell-enhanced rhythms or unforgettable hooks of tracks such as "Someone Great" or "All My Friends," or to appreciate the cheekily sarcastic humor of the lyrics. "North American Scum" is a rousing anthem in the mold of Kim Wilde's "Kids in America," re-written as a self-deprecating response to those oh-so-sophisticated Europeans ("We build our planes and our trains 'til we think we might die / Far from North America / Where the buildings are old and you might have lots of mimes"). And the disc builds to a strong conclusion with the perversely funny torch song, "New York I Love You."
Here, at last, is an homage to the dirty, crime-ridden, X-rated but unique Big Apple that existed before Disney remade Times Square. "New York, you're safer / And you're wasting my time / Our records all show / You were filthy but fine," Murphy croons. This fellow New Jersey native couldn't agree more: I hate the new New York, but I love LCD Soundsystem all the more for singing about it.
Source: http://www.msn.com
POSTED BY JIM DeROGATIS
Partly a collection of earlier singles, including the hilarious parody of underground hipsters, "Losing My Edge," Murphy's self-titled debut as LCD Soundsystem was one of the strongest albums of 2005 -- a collection of smart, funny, melodic and most of all hard-grooving dance-rock that referenced myriad influences from the post-punk '80s while sounding like nothing you'd heard before. Less immediate (it's a slower build) but ultimately no less rewarding, LCD's second album, "Sound of Silver," continues the hero-worship, and music geeks will have a field day naming plundered sounds and riffs: "Hey, there's a little Kraftwerk, and there's some David Bowie! He just name-checked Pink Floyd! And doesn't that vocal sound like Julian Casablancas of the Strokes?' "
As with LCD's debut, however, you don't need to know the rock-school references to lose yourself in the throbbing bass lines, cowbell-enhanced rhythms or unforgettable hooks of tracks such as "Someone Great" or "All My Friends," or to appreciate the cheekily sarcastic humor of the lyrics. "North American Scum" is a rousing anthem in the mold of Kim Wilde's "Kids in America," re-written as a self-deprecating response to those oh-so-sophisticated Europeans ("We build our planes and our trains 'til we think we might die / Far from North America / Where the buildings are old and you might have lots of mimes"). And the disc builds to a strong conclusion with the perversely funny torch song, "New York I Love You."
Here, at last, is an homage to the dirty, crime-ridden, X-rated but unique Big Apple that existed before Disney remade Times Square. "New York, you're safer / And you're wasting my time / Our records all show / You were filthy but fine," Murphy croons. This fellow New Jersey native couldn't agree more: I hate the new New York, but I love LCD Soundsystem all the more for singing about it.
Source: http://www.msn.com
POSTED BY JIM DeROGATIS
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