release date: Jan. 24, 2005
format: cd (2 cd)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]
producer: The DFA [Tim Goldsworthy & James Murphy]
label: DFA, Columbia - nationality: USA
Track highlights: Disc 1: 1. "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House" (4 / 5) (live on Letterman) - 2. "Too Much Love" - 3. "Tribulations" - 6. "On Repeat" - 7. "Thrills" - 8. "Disco Infiltrator" - - Disc 2: 1. "Losing My Edge" - 7. "Yr City's a Sucker (Full Version)"
Full-length studio album debut by LCD Soundsystem after having released a number of singles and the self-titled ep LCD Soundsystem in 2004 where one will find all 4 tracks on this album (tracks #1, #3, #6 & #8). The album was released both as a 2-disc album as well as an ordinary 1-disc album with the tracks #1-9 on DFA Records - founded by British musician and producer Tim Goldsworthy with American dj and musician James Murphy together with manager Jonathan Galkin. Together the two are producer-unit The DFA ('Death From Above').
LCD Soundsystem is a mere musical collective consisting of 7 individuals with songwriter James Murphy at its centre. As it simply states on the back cover info of the album: "most sounds": James Murphy [and] "other sounds": Tim Goldsworthy, Eric Broucek, Tyler Pope, Nancy Whang, Patrick Mahoney, Mandy Coon [the remainders].
Musically, it's clearly built on electronic but there's bold use of classic rock instruments like ordinary electric guitar, bass, keyboard and drums, or: it really depends on the individual tracks. "Movement" and "Never as Tired as When I'm Waking Up" are indie rock, alt. rock tracks, but the majority of the tracks are more indietronica-founded with various elements from synthpop and alt. dance, and there are clear funk-elements on most tracks. At times I find that the music by LCD Soundsystem sounds much like a combo of Talking Heads and B-52's in updated versions, at other times more like Devo, Depeche Mode or Gang of Four with the addition of funky and / or electronic bits, and then it also strikes me to build on (primarily) British electronic music exemplified by The Chemical Brothers and Underworld, but nevertheless, in an original blend.
It's a quite dance-oriented album and it harvested broad critical acclaim as well as a number of nominations including the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Electronic / Dance Album.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Q, Rolling Stone, NME 4 / 5, Blender, Uncut 5 / 5 stars ]
