LCD Soundsystem

When your aesthetic involves deconstructing hipster culture via self-conscious semi-ironic references, you're dancing on a delicate Mobius strip. But LCD's James Murphy has an appetite for such deconstruction, as heard on his 2005 debut. Krautrock, '80s proto dance punk, minimal techno -- the song remains mostly the same here, as does Murphy's sing-speak, as it sends up "North American Scum," etc. But Murphy is far more confident, and it's the new tricks that work the best: the Steve Reich imitation on the epic "All My Friends," and hearing this most arch of NYC hipsters sing, "New York, I love you but you're bringing me down."

For a future-disco hero, LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy is unusually self-conscious.
Before you hear a single kick-drum sample on his excellent second album, Murphy seems
to be intentionally setting the bar low, giving the massive, clattering dance-floor killer that
opens the disc the awesomely pathetic title of "Get Innocuous." The first LCD track, 2002's
"Losing My Edge," was an anthem for aging hipsters everywhere; Silver's first sing... More >