Bands Every NYer Should Know: LCD Soundsystem

We wanted to give some recognition to James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem. He’s been influential in the local music scene, and now that he’s getting picked up on the mainstream radar, locals should know about him, too. If you haven’t heard of him or his group, you probably haven’t been to a local club in the last 3 or 4 years. No problem - let us help you catch up.

Murphy is the main man behind DFA Records, the label responsible for spreading the “dance-punk” trend. When New York performers first starting mixing disco grooves with jangly, distorted guitars and hip-hop style DJ’ing, he started a label to give the music some reach beyond the local clubs. Besides the instant dance party of the DFA compilations, DFA introduced the world outside New York to dance-rock goodness like The Rapture, Radio 4, Black Dice, Hot Chip and the afore-mentioned LCD Soundsystem. They’ve also released work by The Juan MacLean, one of the most original performers in the club scene. They’ve also put out some remix albums that really get a party moving; Wikipedia has a full list of them HERE.

Outside of work in LCD Soundsystem, Murphy’s done a lot remix work himself. His work there got him noticed by Nike and Justin Timberlake. Timberlake hired him to add his stamp to “My Love;” Nike commissioned Murphy to write a piece of music its customers could listen to when they needed to get pumped for a workout; the result was a 45-minute, 33-second-long track titled (naturally) “45:33.” You can get it online at the iTunes Store for $9.99.

There. You are now a little hipper than you were 5 minutes ago.

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