LCD Soundsystem - American Dream - 9/1/17

ok. third time through and maybe there's more TH on here than just one droopy crosseyed and painless chorus, lol

There's a 12 minute tribute to David Bowie on here, which goes completely instrumental for the last five minutes. The idea that this is 'safe' says more about how many things LCD has tried throughout their career than how little they try here.

have not read this thread yet but played this album today. i think this is much better, on first listen, then the last record. i'm glad they came back and made more music.

This is a really good album, much to my surprise and delight! I hadn't loved any tracks that were shared individually but everything makes sense, sonically, when you hear it as a whole.

Posts about the boringness of the ideas, or how boring ideas are manifested in this record on this thread seem like intellectual posturing, imo. I've seen an English person post about such and such being "milquetoast" - to use that phrase, I mean, come on, get over yourself/selves.

But I do think that there's something unsavoury about swooping in to a thread on an album that's a day old to tell everyone how boring it is - and the reason I know that is because I've do t it myself many years ago.

(Apologies, phone post)

i like Other Voices and Change Yr Mind but they really do just sound like Remain In Light tracks with at least one layer of guitars missing, which is disappointing because usually he's better at coming up with some sort of interesting synthesis of references etc

the only duds on this album are Emotional Haircut and Black Screen

first part otm. Second part is madness. maybe.

Posts about the boringness of the ideas, or how boring ideas are manifested in this record on this thread seem like intellectual posturing
otm

you can normalize
don't it make you feel alive?

lcd soundystem is best when the songs don’t have ideas

i enjoy this record a lot and i enjoy imago but he hasn't said why the ideas are boring or that person has boring ideas and why those ideas are boring. at least be explicit if you are going to come in and dis something, come on man.

mh, all my friends has an interesting concept and is one of their best. you can't say losing my edge is a boring idea for a song.

further to my post up there that said

How Do You Sleep = Someone Not Great

i wonder to what extent the specifics of the goldsworthy-murphy relationship have soured to the degree that he was someone great who has gone to being someone who seems completely toxic.

asking for a friend...

i don't think someone great was about goldsworthy if that's what you're saying?

losing my edge is _half_ an idea and that’s why it’s good

maybe it’s stories I think are done less well, but “losing my edge” is “I’ve got a bag of names to drop but can’t keep up with the kids”
“All my friends” is basically the same theme only “we go out and listen to/play music but we’re getting old”
“Daft Punk is Playing at My House” is insanely literal and not my favorite but he still does the “kid” thing in it!

like the main lcd themes I like are “here is a song where we repeat some nonsense and do some build-up with the instruments” or “I’m old and kids are gonna eat my dinner”

there are some other good songs but Murphy really pulled a lot of things out with just those bits

Great record on first listen. I'm going to need to spend some more time with it, but I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would.

xxp "Someone Great" is about Murphy's therapist. according to Lizzy Goldman's book, it was written on the day he died.

here are some other good songs but Murphy really pulled a lot of things out with just those bits

I'm with james. This record is too self-important to be enjoyable maybe that's their intention a sort of meta band gping full circle and it'll all end up being brilliant in context but I dont care I just wanted to dance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkQFzVrpCAQ

this record blows

Oh Baby is pretty amazing. then the Byrne tributes start.

Oh I'd always thought someone great was about Goldsworthy. Ignore my pish!

Listened to this at the beach yesterday. So much better than I was expecting. Happy surprise! How Do You Sleep? is fire

Definitely a bass guitar album.

His records sound so great.

Listening to this for the 1st time. "How do you sleep?" is dope

Depends how much you wanna hear a middle aged man doing his variant on "It's not the side effects of the cocaine" over a variant on "Dance Yrself Clean."

Besides being unsure exactly what this means, is it wrong that as someone gradually edging their way into middle age I've got no issue in principle?

dear 'oh baby' fans,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od-GIE9kNG8

Nice. That's a fairly good track as well. Thanks for that.

wow it's not a 'song' album is it? sounds great but lots of go-to-the-bar/for a fag/ for a wee moments when you see the new tour.

can't hear the Remain In Light references. so far.

Change yr mind is the most direct Talking Heads pastiche in hear but not hearing it that much. I think it sounds more like LCD Soundsystem trying to sound like LCD Soundsystem this time. So a copy of a copy.

distinct Plainsong vibe from Oh Baby.

His records sound so great.

This one sounds way better than the last one to me, which was kinda thin-sounding? All the synths sound amazing.

Definitely a bass guitar album.

And looking at the credits it's mostly JM...he's a really good bass player, huh?

whoah, piscesx otm. definitely a Plainsong vibe from that song- distinct from the direct melodic lifts from Remain in Light.

And the chorus of PiL's Rise and the synth line from Yazoo!'s Don't Go.

It's from Only You isn't it?

Yes, that's correct!

Got half way through the first song then got bored...started listening to the 2nd track and remembered how great music from 'The Catherine Wheel' is and put that on instead...this band is rotten...

Wow I have not thought about Catherine Wheel in a good decade.

Change yr mind is the most direct Talking Heads pastiche in hear but not hearing it that much. I think it sounds more like LCD Soundsystem trying to sound like LCD Soundsystem this time. So a copy of a copy.

― dance cum rituals (Moka), Monday, September 4, 2017

^^
This.

Emotional Haircut is the one that really sounds like Talking Heads to me, or like '80s King Crimson trying to be Talking Heads

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUqGK-Z9a9I

Just got around to listening to this - unsurprisingly, I like it.

and I'm not much of a fan of Talking Heads.

Emotional Haircut reminded me more of Wire than anything else

One of them really sounds like Berlin Bowie. Specifically Heroes, with the crazy Fripp guitar.

do you think the references make the record better/worse/doesn't matter?

All their records have absolutely been laden with references, musical and lyrical, to other music. Hell, their debut single was literally a list of people who inspired them. It's part of the DNA, the schtick, the USP of LCD Soundsystem. Less a band than a system that mashes up other music and plays it back to you. They're the 00s American Primal Scream.

They're the 00s American Primal Scream.

Also, Primal Scream were largely the product of great producers, not a great band. I know someone who was around for the creation of 'Screamadelica' and he will tell you that record was the output of holing up in the studio with some average rock tracks, Andrew Weatherhall being an enthuisastic total amateur at the time and not knowing what was wrong to do, and a Herculean amount of pot.

In contract, LCD is unquestionably the James Murphy show. He even had that interview recently where he said he gave up on producing other people because he can't work that way (i.e. collaborate!)

So what's your take on Vanishing Point and XTRMNTR, then?