LCD Soundsystem

I find their songs fun adn very catchy. Then again I hate dance music and was prepared to hate the band. I ended lup oving a lot of their singles.

I think your criticisms have a sliver a validity when it comes to Murphy's pre Sound of Silver period. He made up a lot of those early lyrics on the spot. The songs were fun, but shallow. But, particularly when it comes to this style of music, lyrics aren't that important. I dug it.

That said, it's with Sound of Silver where he really started to make an effort. Maybe it's an age thing (I'm approaching 37), but a song like "All my Friends" will never not move me. That's not a song about being a rock star. That's a song about getting older. A fantastic, already classic song about it, in fact. There's a melancholy to that whole album that I find really affecting.

The new one...I've only made it through once. But it comes off as a great pastiche of/tribute to Bowie's Berlin trilogy/Eno's late 70's work/Iggy Pop's Bowie-produced work, with even more melancholoy/regret/acceptance laced through the lyrics than Sound of Silver had. When Murphy wails "Take me hooooome" at the end of "All I Want" I get goosebumps.

So in short, I disagree. They're great.

But then, I also can't stand your beloved Animal Collective ("Fireworks" being the only song of theirs I like). Talk about hipster magnets.

Totally agree with Eyeball, except I like a lot of Murphy's early stuff. They might seem somewhat shallow, but what I find more interesting is that they're about being shallow. They're humorous songs that are meant to be satire. I don't think you're supposed to listen to "Losing My Edge" and come away thinking "wow, he's so hip and cool." I think you're meant to question what all of that means and why so many people place such importance on having an "edge" to begin with. And obviously we do, because otherwise this thread wouldn't be tossing around words like "hipster" and "cool/not cool" or whatever rather than talking about his music directly.

Also, as Eyeball pointed out, Sound of Silver showed particular growth and maturity in terms of songwriting and themes. And at 31, "All My Friends" is incredibly moving, as is "Someone Great" and even "New York I Love You And You're Letting Me Down" ... and I'd toss in "Us v Them" as well (which on the surface, sounds like a party song, but really seems to be about so much more in terms of dealing with growing older and dealing with being a party animal or a party pooper).

Haven't heard the new one more than once yet, but it seems like it's Murphy's "Berlin" album. Rather than focus on that as a "cool" or "hip" thing though, I'd like to let it sink in more rather than judge it as a symbol.

By the way, Ray had a much longer thread devoted to LCD Soundsystem and the new album in general. We should probably move the conversation over there (I already fucked this up recently by starting a Sleigh Bells thread after Ray already did, so whoops on me as well).