LCD Soundsystem - Live at MSG

So one more band from my time calls it quits. Its sad to see them go, but like the White Stripes its comforting to know they managed to do it on their own terms. These guys however have the luxury of creating their own funeral party on one of the worlds biggest stages rather than enduring a prolonged breakdown that started in the Canadian badlands.

It leaves someone like me, a 22 year old music nerd in Australia with a music landscape that's becoming short on heroes that I can call my own. Like of course there are still great bands that are coming out with new awesome music that I really like. But there's always a sense that they're belonging to the kids (who are coming up from behind :P) that are younger than me. Maybe that's a misconception on my part, but its how I feel anyways. I mean lingering from my high school days there were a collection of bands that both became the the soundtrack to my life around that time and blew up big time in the indie sense.

So The White Stripes and LCD have called it a day. Kings of Leon I don't wanna talk about (suffice to say that the band who made Aha Shake Heartbreak, an album which more or less soundtracked the summer of my graduation is no longer there). The Strokes have pretty much fell off (still need to give the new album a propper listen, but needless to say we're never getting something of Is This It? quality ever again). Arctic Monkeys are still great, but they're more interested in being just another band these days rather than the creating of youthful anthems that were on "Whatever.....". Franz Ferdinand are still quality but seem to have vanished. Thank god TV On the Radio are still bringing the awesome (more thoughts on that soon.)*

But this is the rockist side of me talking. Indie music is always going to have lower benchmarks for success, and that's fine. It allows for different ideas to be experimented and run with without the pressure for commercial appeal and success. And that's fucking sweet. But at the end of the day, these were the successful bands that could be claimed as our own and we could turn to the baby boomer elitists and mainstream rock fans and say, "fuck you, this is how we do rock and roll and its just as good, if not better than yours, and its fucking cooler too."

As such its a disappointment to see them go. No doubt there will be a band as awesome to take its place soon enough. The only question is, are they gonna have a resonance with me like my high school bands did? Man, growing up is kinda shitty haha.

LCD Soundsystem - All I Want

*I only remembered Arcade Fire after, they're kinda on top of the world atm, would have put it in, but it'd have fucked up my rhythm haha

Best.Of.2010 # 1,2&3

#1

#2

#3


Yeah, this was just getting out of hand. If I didn't do something quick like this, it was never gonna get finished and this blog prolly would have ground to a halt. Still can't write anything coherent about my favorite album of the year. For those wanting insight into what it is, please read this fantastic series of essays on it. As for why its the best, simply it had more ambition than anything else this year and pulled it off, like an Olympic diver doing something with the highest degree of difficulty and landing it with minimal splash.

The other two albums here are simply awesome. I love them and have given them ample burn in the car, ipod and laptop this year. One is a bands promising debut, the other is a bands apparent farewell. One is the fresh sound of of NY, the other is the local boys making good. Both are examples of awesome songwriting and staggering prodcution. 2010 was a brilliant year for music. Can't wait to see what 2011 has to offer.

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (Video)

Spike Jonze has just come out with an amazing video for one of my personal favorites from Arcade Fires latest. While it may be too heavey handed for some, I reckon it works really well, as a counter point to the subtlety of the menace in the song itself. Definite video of the year contender.

Also, its always good when Jonze comes back to do a music video. The man still has the ability to make these striking or anarchic visuals for the songs he does, whether hes working with LCD Soundsystem or Kanye. A toast to (one of) the best who done it.

North American Scum

Haven’t updated this is in a while. Sorry about that. My time at SFU is up and as such for the past 2 weeks or so I’ve been traveling around North America. However seeing as I remembered my laptop charger and I’ve got a couple of hours to kill on an Amtrak back to New York, I figured I might as well write a bit about what I’ve seen musically while I’ve been traveling.



First night in NY on the spur of the moment, decided to go to a Gossip concert. Totally worth it. Though due to extended pre-drinking and an inability to find the Terminal 5 concert venue, we* missed the opening acts of Rye Rye and The Phenomenal Handclap Band. This was a bummer cause I consider both acts to be good fun. Random NY hipsters in sombreros informed me that I didn’t miss much. Don’t know if I should believe them or not.

The Phenomenal Handclap Band - 15-20 (The Glimmers Remix)


Wasn’t too teary though. The Gossip fucking killed it. Beth Ditto has a serious set of pipes on her and dominates the stage. I know a lot is made about her voice, but damn, its strange to hear an indie singer that actually has a fucking awesome voice as opposed to the usual ‘distinct’. Band was fucking tight too, best moment of the night was when the everyone lost their shit to Love Long Distance and it seemed like this so solid band went into overdrive as they ate up the energy from the audience.

The Gossip - Love Long Distance (Riva Star Remix)




After the gig wrapped up, we flailed our way across the isle of Manhattan to the lower east side to get to the multi-level madness that was Webster Hall. Kill the Noise and Craze’s new label Slow Roast Records was having a launch party featuring some big names. Getting in for a single dollar we got to treated to some awesome heavy bass from Trouble & Bass crew member Starry Eyes (why aren’t there more female DJ’s anyways?), a blistering and technically amazing set from DJ Craze (seeing him beat juggle Sweet Shop was amazing) and ‘eavy dubstep from 12th Planet. Big track of the night seemed to be Badman Riddim by Vato Gonzalez, which got a few plays over the course of the night. Also spotted was A-Trak and his brother Dave-1 from Chromeo looking over Craze’s shoulder for most of the night.


Vato Gonzalez - Badman Riddim

Also seen during my travels so far was NY bass merchant Dances With White Girls. Saturday night in Montreal, after watching the Habs lose horribly and seeing the frowny faces of countless francophones, a bunch of us** were taken to an underground club by some male model. While the club itself was insanely awesome (its like a converted dungeon or cellar under a bar somewhere in Old Port), it was essentially populated by the cast of Hot Girls with Douchebags. Didn’t really fit in there due to the fact I wasn’t rich/pretty/possessing a fake tan/ a model. Wasn’t much of a problem though cause DWWG was absolutely killing it and I was drunk due to being fed drinks from someone’s bottle service, amongst other distractions.

Dances With White Girls - Everyones Got To Make A Living

Anyways, back to NY tonight to drink with friends I haven’t seen in a long time. After that its DC for a few days to get my politics nerd on before I finally get to stop dreaming and get to California. Oh and that little event known as Bonnaroo….

*We at this stage refers to my British friend Isabel. Good kid, unfortunately her juvieness in America put a stop to more adventures like this. Except for the time we failed to see Yeasayer and Sleigh Bells, that one was my fault.

** Us this time refers to Me, Alex, Moe, Mel and Liz. I think the models name was Felix.

This Is Happening.

Wow. Just wow. This isn't just happening, this is fucking amazing.

I'm a big LCD Soundsystem fan for a number of reasons. Firstly, I worship DFA for both its dance-punk and disco (and now its classic rock, true story), I even have a t-shirt. I think i loved them from the first time Murphy claimed that Daft Punk were playing at his house, transposing a childhood dream of mine to song. I delved into their stuff, from the epic Yeah (crass version) to Losing My Edge. The monsters of Tribulations and Disco Infiltrator became songs that went onto every playlist back in the day.

What was different about these tracks was that they weren't really dance tracks. They were songs. This is something that I've really been trying to highlight on this blog. So much material that's out these days, the endless barrage of remixes, everything becomes just another track, some halfway cool idea that's never really fleshed out beyond the flashy and oh-so-now production into a SONG. Something that's going to last. And that's what James Murphy really brought to the table. His awesome song writing ability always gives these songs their own life and soul.

And to make it all the more sweeter, he got better! Sound of Silver to me represents the first time i really put effort into listening to an album and got more out of it. When i first copped the album, I used to listen to Time to Get Away and All My Friends and that was it. But friends made me sit down and properly listen and appreciate it. And jesus fucking christ I'm glad I did. Every song on that album is brilliant from the epic disco build of Get Innocuous, to the heartbreaking Someone Great, the joyous choruses of Us vs Them and the loveletter to a city that I'm finally going to see in two weeks, New York, I Love You, which me and my friends still drunkenly howl along to or make up stupid lyrics for. (EASY MAC I LOVE YOU, BUT YOU'RE BRINGING ME DOWWWWWWWWNNN.)

With that, we come to the new album. This is one of those glorious times when all your expectations are met. Every song on this album is killer. To those of you who hate the song Drunk Girls, you are obviously not having enough fun in your life right now, you should work on that. Dance Yrself Clean is an absolute monster with that epic drop around the 3 minute mark that makes you lose your shit. There isn't a bad song on here seriously, this is a fucking fantastic album. Highlight has to go to All I Want however. This song just gets me every time, its sounds like what The Strokes should have been making all this time instead of fucking around with sub par albums and side projects (Little Joy not included, I love that album). An understated spiritual successor to All My Friends, its the sort of song that not only makes everything okay, it also makes me prone to exaggerated hyperbole.

Alot of good music has come out this year. 2010 has been an amazing year and we're only 4 months in. Whats been good about it is the abundance of new bands, new sounds that makes music exciting for the fans. While they may not be fully formed yet as artist, theyre doing great stuff, putting out good albums and songs.

LCD Soundsystem is on another level entirely. While others are putting out awesome debuts, they have honed their skills in both production and songwriting. This might just be their masterwork. Well done gents and ladies, this is amazing.

Stream the album HERE - http://www.lcdsoundsystem.com/thisishappening/

BONUS
LCD Soundsystem - 45:33 (Prince Language Remix)
Franz Ferdinand - All My Friends (LCD Soundsystem Cover)