Customer Reviews

Lcd Soundsystem (Bril)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

It's fascinating: I can't remember the last album to be released that was so inexorably tied to indie-hipsterism and its fickle, ever-changing sense of what's "in." LCD Sound System are so cool that there's a critical/hipster backlash against them before they even released this, their first album. That they include a bonus disk of the early singles that got them where they are today is impressive -- it says that they are willing to let the new material stand beside the more acclaimed older stuff.

Cries of "derivative" are already being levied at LCDSS, and it's true that their taut, rhythmic pop owes a lot to their record collection: Can, Fall, Faust, Eno, Wire, etc. But why not steal from the best? The beats here are minimal, but incredibly nuanced in a way that LCDSS's forefathers never were, and above everything else, this is FUN music. Franz Ferdinand and Interpol are fine at the gloomy herky-jerky thing, but I don't think I'd ever put them on to facilitate having a good time...this is another story!

Not since the first Strokes' record has there been an album so fun and memorable that's been embraced by the smug, self-satisfied Pitchforkmedia generation. And not since the second Strokes album are you likely to see an absolutely unwarrented backlash against them.

But put aside this petty anthropology. Throw on the first disk and rejoice in the spell-binding beats, the amusingly self-efacing vocals, and the starkly propulsive vibe that surges the whole thing forward.

This CD really makes me move. I love most the songs here, but my only problem is that I find myself changing songs in the middle because eight nine and eleven minutes for a repetetive dance punk song is way too long. The second disc with the DFA singles suffers the most from repetitive progression, but there are still some choice tracks. I fill they should release more of these with a radio edit, Daft Punk Playing at My House Radio edit is perfect example.

Overall I really really like these guys. I love James Murphy and his brainchild DFA, and The Rapture. He knows how to make and produce music that is both fun, intense, and smart with a dance rock edge. At times this CD can rock your socks off with great dance riffs, but once again, i very rarely can listen to evey song all the way through before switching it.

Best tracks: daft punk is playing at my house , Too Much Love, Movement, Disco Infiltrator, Give It Up, Tired, Yeah (Crass Version). Beat connection would almost be a classic but it wears itelf thin by the 5 minute mark. But for those who like their dance music throbbing and long, this will not bother them. Overall a very good album.

It's official. LCD Soundsystem is 2005's best album, as of February 16, and, although it won't be bought by most for its dance tracks, is possibly the best dance record to come out of the USA since 1979.

If you could pick out one track -- any track -- from this eponymous album, as separate from the record as a whole, you might be able to define the genre, detemine influences, and draw comparisons to a reasonably similar band. But to do so would be entirely unfair to a record which, by its nature is entirely unique, disperse yet unified in vision, and destined to become a classic.

The overall feel of this eclectic album is of indie vocals over very well sequenced rhythms that alternate between vintage 80's, and the best of indie 2004 (the best single year for indie music ever, in my humble opinion). Some tracks are layered with rich experimental guitars, while others let the clever, often spoken but never boring lyrics take the lead. But just when you've got LCD Soundsystem (aka New York producer James Murphy, now co-head of red-hot label/production duo DFA) figured out as Talking Heads meets Cabaret Voltaire meets late model Bowie, as might have been produced and recorded by Factory Records circa 1980, you get thrown for a loop by a track like the perfect "Movement", an almost too-short track which stands out as the best of the record, and whose screeching guitars over industrial bass line and cymbal heavy drums are the rock high point of the record. This energetic plateau leads perfectly into the brilliant, mellow "Never as Tired as When I'm Waking Up", a track that could easily have been taken directly from Elbow's Cast of Thousands, but which seems to work so much better here as part of what turns out to be an incredible compilation of style. The record's closer, "Great Release" is quite comparable to the best you might hear from Moby.

Then you get to disc 2.

That's right. This record, which as a single disc was already brilliant, is a two disc set, for a single album price. That is: it's a two disc set unless you buy on iTunes (don't do this -- do yourself a favor and get the entire two disc record and the six additional tracks).

Disc 2 is even more danceable than disc 1 (which is no small feat). Concentrating more on rhythm, lyrics and soundscape than on hook and radio sellability, the second half of LCD Soundsystem takes off with the classic club anthem "Losing My Edge", which cleverly sounds off many of Murphy's most important influences, and announces, quite accurately, "We all know what you really want". This is followed by the standard club fare "Beat Connection" and then the groovy "Give it Up", which sees the Cramps meeting the Pixies. "Tired" is a thrash guitar celebration and the two versions of "Yeah" are pure modern disco bliss, 70's bassline and all. The second of these is an instrumental triumph of epic proportion.

If I sound excessively excited and annoyingly enthusiastic for this record, it's because I am. By the way, Daft Punk is always playing at my house.

Special features. Enhanced content. Bonus CDs. It's becoming de rigeur to tack extra gubbins onto most every new release these days. And, while it's nice to feel like you're getting a bit of extra bang for your buck, you've really got to wonder: like, why bother? How many times are you really going to sit through the extended version of "Return of the King", the "making of" documentary and director's commentary on that special edition DVD you just splurged on, or the demos and B-sides CD that came with the remastered version of 'Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain'? Answer: not much.

LCD Soundsystem's debut album, then, marks an interesting diversion in this morass of faux-bonus uselessness. Might this be the first instance in which a bonus CD has actually usurped the main feature to whose bosom it furtively clung? Whisper it, now: possibly.

It would, of course, be brutally unfair to damn LCD's effort with such faint praise: simply put, this is a pretty good album. The first four tracks, in particular, are - in their own respective ways - absolute stormers. The others, though less immediate, do kinda grow on you. But... Lordy! that second CD is fantastic. 'Losing My Edge' and 'Yeah' are two of the best singles to have been released so far this decade and, blah blah blah.

Anyway... 3 stars for the album, 5 for the bonus CD. What a warped world we live in.

... because this is a pretty good record.

The only thing I knew about LCD Soundsystem was what I read on Amazon. They sounded like my kind of act - any record that can spur comparisons to the Fall, Eno, Can, the Contortions, etc. is something that belongs in my record collection.

So I bought the disc... and was initially a little let down. On first listen, I realized that I'd heard "Daft Punk is Playing at My House" before, and didn't particularly like the song (I still don't). The rest of Disc 1 had its highs and lows, but it sounded a lot more disco-house than disco-punk. As a fan of the Rapture, !!!, et. all I was hoping for more guitars-and-electronics mayhem. Disc 1 has since grown on me a little - particularly the bleepy "Tribulations" and the lush, gorgeous trah "Great Release" that completes the album.

The real gem here is Disc 2, a collection of LCD Soundsystem's earlier singles. Basically, it's droning and at times stunning house (with and without vocals) interspersed with some pretty rauchous sludge-punk ... great stuff! This must be where all the Fall comparisons are coming from, because I really didn't hear it much on the first disc. "Beat Connection" and "Yeah" are fantastic house tracks. If you just don't like house, it'll sound repetitive and tired. If you DO like house, these two tracks in particular (among others on the record) reach some hypnotic heights.

The reviews here are pretty funny. On the one hand, this is a good album but it's far from a contender for "album of the year." It's probably not even the best example of this kind of music to come out in early 2005. But on the other hand ... what's up with the hipster backlash? It's as if some of these folks aren't content to be cool enough to like LCD Soundsystem - nope, it'd be that much cooler to DISlike them. With all the crap that's all over MTV and the airwaves these days, I don't understand picking on a band that's doing something a little different.

Fans of the Faint, the Rapture, !!!, and the whole electroclash revival (when did it happen the first time?) will be happy to add this to their record collections.

First things first; following the motions of many other reviewers here, LCD Soundsystem earns big bonus points for including a second disc of earlier singles to accompany this 2005 debut album.

With that said, the new material is quality stuff in its own right. It's a mixed bag with some nice surprises, and its share of letdowns. "Daft Punk..." and "Great Release" aren't nearly half as good as they are made out to be. On the other hand, there are some supeb tracks on the first disc, most notably in my opinion, "Movement," "Never As Tired...," and "Disco Infiltrator."

I'm not entirely sure what genre to plunk LCD Soundsystem in with... I don't think there is really one appropriate genre actually. Some of the tracks sound like what is considered "house" music. I'm also unsure of what sounds something has to consist of to be granted that label, but I suppose this record partially fits the description. Then you have the track "Never As Tired," which brings to mind for me, an experimental Syd Barrett flavour. Certainly not "house."

The first disc on its own merits a 3-star-rating, but the singles disc kicks it up a notch. The entire disc is excellent material, all of which is mind-bending. "Beat Connection" and "Give It Up" are on opposite ends of the spectrum, the former being very drawn out with building, acidic beats; the latter being an all out assault, but both fitting into the mix seamlessly.

"Losing My Edge" is just an undeniably fantastic track. I am at a loss for words describing it... it just remains painfully good every time I listen to it. Both versions of "Yeah" could be the best pieces of music I've heard over the last five years. The Crass version reaches over nine minutes, and the Pretentious version almost stretches out to twelve. Yet they both hold your attention for the duration. "Yeah (Crass)" is definitely the more danceable version, and will be keeping heavy rotation among my current playlists.

Overall, the spotty first disc prevents this album from being a classic. But between the worthwhile stuff found there, plus the duration of the second disc, LCD Soundsystem is well worth the price of admission.

After hearing so much about this band and not really knowing anything that they've actually done, I checked this out at a local public library. Well, this continues that current indie trend of the dance-punk. There is quite a bit of hi-hat used in most of the songs. It's also got lots of spoken word tracks as well. I feel that with this album that there isn't a whole lot to say, but even though it won't have much length, I can tell you that if you don't really mind the length of some of these songs that you might be okay. That has always been the problem with me: the songs seem to go on longer than necessary.

There happen to be the highlights though, songs that stop the album from being just dragging. I particularly like the two versions of "Yeah" quite a bit. Something about those stand out quite a bit. Also, there's "Tribulations" on the first disc which is a standout track, complete with its synth that gives it a new-wave feel.

So, yeah, that's all I can really say. It's not really awful by any stretch of the mind, although sometimes it's rather average. But it all depends on what you're looking for. If it's the dance-punk thing is for you, LCD Soundsystem is probably that too. It's decent, so I'm not gonna stop from recommending you this.

Review by Tyler Wagnon:

Dance music is an intricate and very eclectic genre of music that plays host to several sub genres and styles. There are dance punk bands, raver artists, simple electronica, etc. For the most part, dance music does little to nothing for me for several reasons. The main issue is with the repetitious beats that just thump thump thump with no point or purpose. However, when done right, you would be hard pressed to find a more rump shakin' infectious style of music.

That is where LCD Soundsystem comes in. Within this self-titled affair, LCD takes the listener on a (fantastic) voyage of funky basslines, infectious beats, and quirky vocal arrangements that will have you humming along for sure, if not shakin' that thang like you know you want to.

James Murphy, as part of the production duo DFA and main man behind LCD, shows that he can do more than twiddle behind the knobs. Vocally he covers ground between soft cooing and shouting with his always witty and insightful lyrics. More than a one-trick pony, Murphy takes the listener through simple two-step beats, disco chord progressions, and beats that are always danceable.

For a dance rock album, LCD Soundsystem has already gotten more plays in my stereo than most would stand a chance at. The beats are fairly repetitive, but the music and vocals make up for it with an eclectic, but fitting mix. Listen to this instead of The Faint please.

I was irritated with this CD at first and felt it was grossly overhyped. But, it grows on you. LCD/JM knows its history and deftly pays homage to a range of styles from elders and contemporaries. He's flaunting it without taking himself too seriously. Give it a few listens before rushing to judge (as I initially did). It's a good album, it just needs to breath a bit.

As co-founder of New York's painfully hip label DFA, James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem specializes in fusing dance groove and punk attack. DFA's trademark sound made waves in 2002 with the Rapture's jagged "House of Jealous Lovers," which Murphy co-produced. Next came the first LCD single, "Losing My Edge," the hilarious lament of an aging hipster who feels eclipsed by youngsters with even more esoteric reference points.

Included here on a bonus CD that gathers three early singles, "Losing" sets the template for much of this debut full-length. Several of the best tunes are inspired by Murphy's love-hate relationship with music: his struggle between wanting to be cool and feeling the impulse is loathsome, between his attachment to rock's heritage and his urge to rip it up and start again. Out of these clashing emotions emerges a prime contender for Best Album of 2005.

Murphy weaves together sounds from the last 25 years of dance music, with a slant towards early-'80s mutant disco - spiky Gang of Four guitar, punkily funky bass - and recent house and hip-hop. "Too Much Love," a brilliantly eerie song about overdoing the party potions, pivots around a grating synth that whimpers like a burned-out brain, while "Thrills" rides an utterly contemporary groove inspired by Missy Elliott's "Get Ur Freak