Sunday 18 March 2007

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - Sound Of Silver (DFA)

At first it was hate. I detested LCD Soundsystem, apparently for no particular reason. I just didn’t stand them. So much that I even went to see James Murphy & CO only to hate them more. But like so many other love stories, irritation and dislike turned into a crushing passion, so overwhelming that for the past weeks “Sound Of Silver”, LCD Soundsystem latest album has been often playing on repeat for hours on end. Looking back it is hard to say what I did abhor the most: if the cowbell, Murphy’s voice and appearance, the many 80’s references or just the all package. But the cowbell, Murphy’s voice and appearance, the many 80’s references along with the lyrics and the powerful musical mish-mash are exactly what turns LCD into a unique band. True, there are a million bands out there with cowbells and drowned in the 80’s and the post-punk, still, in the end, it all comes down to how one lays the foundations, the bricks and the paint. And LCD Soundsystem do it with sharp uniqueness. “Sound Of Silver” begins with “Get Innocuous” growing devilish groove and ends in a down-tempo schizophrenic lament for New York – “New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down”. Between there are seven songs of pure joy, sorrow, departure, love, party and disdain. All in all life full spectre in a singular danceable pop album. Sometimes, if for brief instants, there is more to existence than books, and this is one of those (long and lasting) moments.