SDU's Top 11 Albums of 2010! (#s 6 & 5)

Chugging right along. Second Drawer Up's Top Eleven Albums of 2010 continues, resembling a steaming locomotive loaded with nothing but the dandiest electronic goodies this side of Pluto (which is still a planet in my book)! Here are numbers 6 and 5 -- and remember, kiddies, that none of these albums are in any preferential order! Shall we?

6.

MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS

THE CRYSTAL AXIS

Melbourne, Australia's own Midnight Juggernauts dropped their sophomore album The Crystal Axis May of last year, and frankly I feel as if they dodged what many consider to be the "dreaded sophomore curse". Any doubts about Vincent Vendetta, Andrew Szekeres, and Daniel Stricker being able to maintain their glistening prog-rock-meets-Vangelis sound were quickly dispelled by the opening number, "Induco", an instrumental introduction that would surely feel at home in an early-'80s science fiction film about a dystopian future. Here's what I wrote last year after having seen Midnight Juggernauts at the Lovebox Festival in London: "[It's] a hypnotic and soulful hybrid of 70s glam, soaring Ennio Morriconesque soundscapes, and spacey synths that would fit quite comfortably in anybody's music collection." Songs such as "This New Technology," "Cannibal Freeway," and (my favourite) "Winds of Fortune" really take their debut record Dystopia's musical direction further along this road lined with so much psychedelic lustre. It's fun, it's danceable, and above all it takes the listener to a dynamic, mythological place with (to quote Bryan Ferry) a rhythm of rhyming guitars. Excellent stuff, indeed. Now, here's "This New Technology" for your listening pleasure, gentle readers.

5.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM

THIS IS HAPPENING

There's a moment, three minutes and six seconds into the opening track "Dance Yrself Clean", that's a lot like the curtain effect at certain rock shows -- you know what I'm talking about; when a song builds and builds and builds, ratcheting up the anciness and expectations and potential bust-a-movers ... and then when that final note hits, then POW! it all begins in earnest and the beats kick in and the volume goes up ten-fold and the crowd goes fucking apeshit and the curtain that had previously concealed the band falls down to the stage with a crash and the lights go wild. So ... yeah, 3:06 into "Dance Yrself Clean" that happens. And once those cards are thrown down by James Murphy of DFA fame, then all bets are off the table. For here's his third (and, unfortunately, probably his last) album under the LCD Soundsystem moniker -- and he's going out with a bang, motherfuckers.

There is so much good on this album. There's the delightfully cynic track "I Can Change" ("... And love is a curse shoved in a hearse/Love is an open book to a verse of your bad poetry/And this is coming from me."), flowing along effortlessly and -- while it's at it -- bringing to mind the Eurythmics' classic "Love Is A Stranger"; the punk-rock late-'70s boisterousness of "Drunk Girls"; "Pow Pow", which takes its usage and fetishism of cow-bells to dizzying heights; and "Home" which sounds like the soundtrack from an alien production of a western -- yet the film-making ETs were all on angel dust.

So. This Is Happening. Will it truly be James Murphy's last album as LCD Soundsystem? I certainly hope not, but if it is indeed true, it's not like he's going away, or anything. I picture him heading back to his producing chair in NYC's DFA HQ -- making fucking kickass music no matter what name he's doing it under. Thanks, James -- for going out with some class!

Here's "I Can Change", track five off of the aforementioned album. Enjoy!

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010: Numbers 10 & 11.
SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010: Number 9.
SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010: Numbers 8 & 7.

Gig Review: LCD Soundsystem.

LCD Soundsystem

03 June 2010

The Fillmore Auditorium

San Francisco, California

Let's just say he has a better record collection than you do. God bless Mr James Murphy - the rambunctious, energetic, clever, and just plain inventive frontman for LCD Soundsystem. Only he, during their manic performance at the legendary Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, could deliver a line like this (from "Pow Pow," my favorite song off the new album, This Is Happening) - and in one breath, at that:

On this occasion, there are a couple of things that we know

that we learned from Fact Magazine:

One, the king wears a king hat and lives in a king house

Two, your time will come, but tonight is our night, so you should give us all your drugs

Three, we have a black president and you do not, so shut up,

because you don't know shit about where I'm from that you didn't get from your TV.

Take these lyrics, practically spoken-word/poetry-slammed into what looked like a vintage '50s 555 VMOT microphone over a staccato rhythm of intense percussion, jangling guitar, heavy dub-style bass, intricate and spidery synths, and a catchy-as-all-fucking-hell chorus ("Pow, pow pow pow pow, pow pow pow pow!"): Whatcha got?

Well, according to my math, you've got yourselves a pretty goddamn good time. The sold-out crowd at 1805 Geary, sweating their asses off whilst dancing, swaying, and generally having the time of their life was good evidence of this scientific theory.

Earlier in the day, Ess Eff was getting rather balmy (about 75ºF/21ºC), and in the midst of all the pressing bodies in the venue - well, I gotta say, it was getting fairly hot (and this was before the show started!). Murphy and company took the stage at a little past ten - he wiped his forehead with his arm and bemoaned the fact that there wasn't a towel available to wipe away his sweat. "Damn, it's hot up here and I think they forgot about me?" he half-asked into the mike - a roady immediately fluttered out from stage left and delivered a fluffy blue towel. After a quick wipe-down and a thank-you to the bearer of cloth, Murphy and company wasted absolutely no time in crunching into their set with the opener, "Us V Them," from the second album, Sound of Silver.

LCD Soundsystem did not disappoint; not in the slightest. James Murphy and his usual gang of suspects - including the lovely Nancy Whang from DFA (Murphy's record company - interestingly enough, they used to be called Death From Above, but after the 9/11 attacks it was generally felt that that name was somehow inappropriate for a NYC-based label) band The Juan MacLean - tore into the venue's revered atmosphere like Lindsey Lohan into a baggy of white powder. Madness ensued forthwith, as the stage saw Murphy and his six cohorts ripping and roaring through a two hour set spattered with songs from all three albums. (On a sad note, James Murphy has said in no uncertain terms that This Is Happening will be the last LCD Soundsystem album. I hear he's champing at the bit to return to his producing and compiling duties with DFA. I hope he changes his mind!)

From the mad rush of percussion and Herbie Hancock-inspired keyboards of "Us V Them," to the sinister madness and howling laughter of "Yr City's A Sucker," and to the sheer brazen spectacle of the epic "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House," the trademark humor and winking irony of Murphy's lyrics went hand in hand with a hodgepodge of music stylings - veering wildly at times, but almost always working like a charm. And if you can find in your collection another band that's as enthusiastic with the cowbell, please let me know! (Christopher Walken would be proud.)

"I Can Change," a wonderfully cynical love song ("... And love is a curse shoved in a hearse/Love is an open book to a verse of your bad poetry/And this is coming from me.") brings to mind the lyrics of Morrissey, delivered with panache over the synth-pop flavorings of early 80's figureheads The Eurythmics (I was thinking "Love Is A Stranger"). "Drunk Girls," the first single off of the new album rings with echoes of the late 70's Iggy Pop-fueled Detroit Rock cacophony (that, in this reviewer's opinion, did not mesh well with the rest of the show. Not the best song in LCD Soundsystem's canon). Downbeat and pretty damn sad tracks "Someone Great" and "New York I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down" closed out the set once again, proving that James Murphy is purely capable of capping off a party with a downer like he did last time I saw them at Mezzanine in 2007! But - whatever.

As I hinted at above, I would like to make a plea to Mr Murphy regarding his rumored plans to cease and desist his purported disintegration of LCD Soundsystem. Mr Murphy, if you're reading this, I implore you: The world of electronic music and synth-pop need you! We need our resident trickster, our jack-of-all-trades. True, sir, it may be that you feel you're truly shining as a producer/mixer/collaborator extraordinaire - and I'm imaging that that's probably true; I'm not trying to be selfish - but we do need you, I reckon. Because in a musical genre that tends to take itself just a wee bit seriously, it's always nice to have a sense of humor, don't you think? Thanks for listening!

setlist.

us v them

drunk girls

get innocuous

yr city's a sucker

daft punk is playing at my house

all i want

all my friends

i can change

tribulations

movement

yeah

--------

someone great

losing my edge

new york i love you but you're bringing me down

For my loyal readers, here is LCD Soundsystem performing "Us V Them" in Manchester, UK!