Did anyone see The LCD Soundsystem?

[canted_angle_again]

They came to London and done there thing, it was great.

Obligatory janky video I made...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQRe6aAli7k

Wait, is this Facebook?

[Head Gardener]

I have a couple of friends (who are a couple) who went to see them at Madison Square Garden on consecutive nights, they went on about it quite a bit, as you would I suppose. I thought it odd that they never took anything beforehand, no smoke/drink/e or even herbal tea, they just went and had a "bloody good time".

[The Mollusk]

I need to go back and revisit this band because despite liking their first two albums (the only two I've ever spent any real time paying attention to) I have this image in my head of them being a cheap imitation Talking Heads and their sound being really contrived and cynical. You know like when a new band comes out and they ape an old classic band who the current generation haven't heard, and they get heaped with praise and you're quietly seething a bit thinking "why wouldn't you just listen to <old band> instead?!" Yeah, like that.

Are they as bad as I'm thinking or are they actually worthy of merit? I mean obviously they are because a bunch of people my own age who know their onions said these recent shows were fantastic but still, explain it to me.

[Pdine]

I'm a big fan although I had to miss the Brixton gig due to illness. I can quite see the Talking Heads etc comparisons but I think that what Murphy et al do so well is create their own tracks alongside beautifully crafted pastiches. You could listen to All My Friends, roll your eyes, and mutter something about VU/Cale rip-off artists: it's so clearly inspired by All Tomorrow's Parties and the other 'piano exercise' VU tracks. It's not all it is though and rather than try to rhapsodise it (although I would) I'll just point to the fact that John Cale did his own version of the song for the single, eliminating the piano element and showing what was underneath. All I Want borrows the guitar from Bowie's Heroes, which is an audacious move and yet the song (for me anyway) somehow gets away with it. It's as though it doesn't so much plagiarise it as link to it.

Of course all of this is present in their first single Losing My Edge, which is barely musical and is more of a spoken word essay on post-modern musical culture. The message is clear but wry: being the best at music means being the first to be influenced by it and/or the first to reject its influence. In other words there's no originality; you just need to know enough to hear where the echo is coming from.

I'd recommend Murphy and Mahoney's Fabriclive which is (FFS) fifteen years ago now:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8MKvahlDi9hOoJoZm6s-UTOEwyQ1PUwh

Beautifully chosen and mixed, and full of subtle enhancements of the originals.

[dontpaintyourteeth]

always found the vocals too annoying to get really into this band

actually ended up liking that fuckin' exercise megamix thing they did more than any of the proper albums because of this

very much in the minority there though I know

they kind of remind me of primal scream in a way because they've clearly got great record collections but I'd rather just listen to the stuff they're copying, you know?

[The Mollusk]

I can quite see the Talking Heads etc comparisons but I think that what Murphy et al do so well is create their own tracks alongside beautifully crafted pastiches. You could listen to All My Friends, roll your eyes, and mutter something about VU/Cale rip-off artists: it's so clearly inspired by All Tomorrow's Parties and the other 'piano exercise' VU tracks. It's not all it is though and rather than try to rhapsodise it (although I would) I'll just point to the fact that John Cale did his own version of the song for the single, eliminating the piano element and showing what was underneath. All I Want borrows the guitar from Bowie's Heroes, which is an audacious move and yet the song (for me anyway) somehow gets away with it. It's as though it doesn't so much plagiarise it as link to it.

Mm, see I think this is where my beef lies: I don't think I can listen to their music as you've described it and it ends up just irritating me and, as mentioned in my previous post, simply wanting to listen to the originating artists they're aping instead.

Oops, fake edit: also what dontpaintyourteeth said.

that fuckin' exercise megamix thing they did

I love that Murphy tried to describe this as being something akin to a modern day E2-E4 and Manuel Göttsching got wind of this and was like "fuck off mate."

[Famous Mortimer]

I like in the Slint documentary that James Murphy told a story about Britt Walford moving in with him after Slint's dissolution and getting a job making erotic cakes.