LCD Soundsystem: One Thread Is Never Enough

[lazarus]

I'd like to continue shouting out How Do You Sleep.

This is a fucking tremendous song. Al Doyle described it as a dystopian version of Dance Yrself Clean for a miserable, fucked up world, and that's a pretty apt way of putting it. The similarities are obvious: very quiet first third dominated by persistent percussion, Murphy’s vocals just wading into the mix. But impressively How Do You Sleep takes it a few steps further. The environment evoked by the song really paints a picture in my head, I really can see someone on the edge of cliff looking out, a cold, biting wind blustering around him/her/they. And then there are just so many extra hits/changes of pace. The first comes around three-and-a-half minutes in with the thumping synth blasts, Murphy’s vocals getting more and more visceral. Then more synths then a very simple two-hit drum bit at 5:12 that leads into a full-band menace…. but then that’s not even the peak! More synths, cowbell, come rolling in, and then there’s a rise to the massive peak over about a minute, Murphy reaching a falsetto (not unreminiscent of Bono in Gone, actually) until finally at the eight-minute mark it reaches a glorious high… “erasing our chances… just by asking… HOW DO YOU SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPP” it’s an absolute fucking monster of a song.

You forgot to mention Nancy Whang's contributions to the song.


Oh wait, there weren't any, just like every single song on the album except one.

 

[cobl04]

 

[kabigon]

In an alternate universe there's an LCD interference and their shuttlecock thread is called nancywhang

 

[Mack_Again]

 

[PhilsFan]

You forgot to mention Nancy Whang's contributions to the song.


Oh wait, there weren't any, just like every single song on the album except one.

whooooooooooooooooooooo caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaares

 

[PhilsFan]

Reading the awesome NY music scene book "Meet Me In The Bathroom" and James Murphy comes out the worst of any of the prominently featured players. Sounds like he was a domineering jerk who burned bridges and pushed people away and had a cocaine problem. This was mostly in the early DFA era before LCD even really hit it big so I'm sure he's calmed down a lot and grown since then. But, man, it sounds like he was a serious asshole back in the day.

It's funny how loyal all his friends are despite the fact that they have a tough time saying nice things about him beyond his musical talent.

 

[gump]

Except for Tim Goldsworthy, that is.

I liked the book a lot, having moved to the city towards the tail end of the 2000s cultural boom and living close to a bunch of the places she talks about. But the whole think way overplays the role of the Strokes, I think. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs sections were kind of meh, but the DFA/LCD stuff was the most interesting to me. I wish she had spent more time talking about the second wave of Brooklyn bands like National/Grizzly Bear/TV on the Radio rather than telling us yet another story of Albert Hammond Jr getting high.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

But the whole think way overplays the role of the Strokes, I think.

Nah. Their influence was massive. I get it if you don't like them that much (can't remember your opinion on them) but it's surprising to me that you would actually read the book and still feel like the Strokes' influence was overstated. They completely opened the door, not just in New York but all over the country and maybe even more so in the UK. And they were so fucking awesome.

 

[gump]

I like them a lot. I will defend Is This It as a masterpiece to anyone who argues.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that she underplays the pre-Strokes music scene, which I don’t think was the wasteland she makes it seem. And she sort of attributes to them some things that are more related to the transformations in the music industry. I think they had an important role, but most of the changes that took place would probably have happened anyway.

 

[cobl04]

Is it a book worth reading for someone who lives half the world away? And who was never into The Strokes?

 

[gump]

If you are into the early 2000s indie movement definitely yes. There’s a lot on James Murphy and LCD that you will enjoy too.

 

[PhilsFan]

Is it a book worth reading for someone who lives half the world away? And who was never into The Strokes?

The three biggest things in the book are The Strokes, James Murphy/DFA/LCDS, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Do with that what you will.

 

[PhilsFan]

Tonight, tonight, tonight.

 

[PhilsFan]

I got food poisoning and missed the show. I have a ticket for tonight's show but will have to improve over the course of the next day to make it.

 

[cobl04]

I saw you post on instagram so clearly you went. How was it.

 

[PhilsFan]

It was very good! I definitely could not enjoy it as much because I was on no sleep and in significant pain but it was fun. Dance Yrself Clean > All My Friends as a closing pairing is probably the greatest of all-time one-two punch for a finish.

They play Tonite even faster live, which was a nice touch in my view.

 

[Joey788]

Seeing them tonight! Ready to lose my mind for two hours.

 

[gump]

They were so good on Friday. The stretch of Tonite-Home-New York I Love You... to close the main set is unbelievably good. Tonite may be my favorite LCD live song this side of All My Friends. It packs so much punch, and the crescendo at the end through the "But it's all lies" is too good.

 

[cobl04]

Tonite is a monster for sure. Lyrically top-notch as well, Murphy really killing it on this record.

 

[gump]

I agree. The first part of the last verse is wonderful - meaningful, full of imagery, but also with great cadence. All you'd want in lyrics, really.

But out of the little rooms and onto the streets
You've lost your internet and we've lost our memory
We had a paper trail that led to our secrets
But embarrassing pictures have now all been deleted
By versions of selves that we thought were the best ones
'Till versions of versions of others repeating
Come laughing at everything we thought was important
While still making mistakes that you thought you had learned from

 

[iron yuppie]

Yes, great lyrics on that one. I've come around to it as the best song on the album.

 

[LemonMelon]

The beat is a bit boilerplate compared to the likes of How Do You Sleep, but the lyrics are among the very best of Murphy's career. It captures the cynical world-weariness that's evident all over the album, a quality that places the album at the top of their discography IMO.

 

[cobl04]

 

[iron yuppie]

It captures the cynical world-weariness that's evident all over the album, a quality that places the album at the top of their discography IMO.

I think that describes their entire discography, basically.

 

[PhilsFan]

You hate the idea that you're wasting your youth
That you stood in the background until you got older

Goddamn man.

 

[cobl04]

Yeah that part, coming after like seven minutes and with the music throbbing and him almost sounding like he’s having a panic attack, is so wild.

It’s like the protagonist from All My Friends discovered that you can’t live entirely on nostalgia and MDMA.

Terrific line in Emotional Haircut along similar lines:

You got lovingly dear moments from your past that you cannot repeat

And you got numbers in your phone of the dead that you cannot delete

 

[lazarus]

We get it, Murphy, you knew David Bowie.

 

[LemonMelon]

Have to tickets to see them on Friday.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs are opening.

Let's fucking go.

 

[LemonMelon]

WE GOT HOW DO YOU SLEEP

Ahhhhhhhh

 

[bono_212]

.