LCD Soundsystem

LCD Soundsystem, “All My Friends”

This is my favorite LCD Soundsystem song, by a fair ways, as the melancholy mood and nostalgic lens here is just kind of irresistable. And that piano, this is just such a damn jam. Please enjoy.

Trans Am, “Diabolical Cracker”

Is this, like, a sulferic Wheat Thin? Or just, you know, a cop?

The Streets, “Never Give In”

The Streets should be, maybe even are, the corniest act ever. But they’re saved by a core of sincerity at the heart of things which let them bypass all the corniness. It’s a high-wire act in the extreme, to be sure, and the vast majority of people who tried this sort of thing would sound awful. But he sticks the landing.

Einstürzende Neubauten, “Stella Maris”

Ende Neu felt like a bit of a reset for the band, which makes some sense after one of the founding members departed. There’s a lot more things on here that you’d characterize as songs, even nice ones. That’s not to say that it’s conventional, just that the surface of it is pretty conventional. But as always, Neubauten is in the details, and it’s a good album after you dig in, although they’d get more comfortable in this new format on subsequent records.

Mary Timony, “Poison Moon”

This is Mary Timony’s first solo record, and you can kind of hear some pointers towards where here work would head, both with Wild Flag and Ex Hex. There’s more of a new wave feeling to some of this, and less of the indie feel of things. It’s a transitional record, but still very good.

LCD Soundsystem, “call the police”

LCD Soundsystem noisily retired in 2011, making a big deal out of their last show at Madison Square Garden and then riding off into the sunset. Until, of course, they returned in 2017 with a new album. New York, I Love You, But You’re Getting Ripped Off.

De La Soul feat. Usher, “Greyhounds”

De La Soul launched a Kickstarter in 2015 to record their new album using a new method. Tired of chasing and clearing samples, they decided to bring musicians in to the studio to record them playing a bunch of different things, and then used those sessions as their library of music to sample and construct the tracks. The resulting album, …And The Anonymous Nobody, isn’t one of De La’s best albums, but how could it possibly be? It is very good, though, and clearly a different record from the ones that come before it. If you haven’t listened to anything from De La Soul from after the Prince Paul years, you should listen to…well, Stakes Is High. And then The Grind Date. And then probably this one!

De La Soul, “Church”

After the lackluster Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump and the uneven AOI: Bionix, I was wondering if De La Soul were done. The answer was answered definitively by the next album, The Grind Date: no, they were not done. At least part of that was the production they got on the record, with good work from folks like J Dilla, Mad Lib, and 9th Wonder (who is on this track). It’s not groundbreaking in the way their early work was, but it’s a just a solid record all the way through.

A short little year-end roundup today, from Jamie Zawinski, who I’ve maybe been reading stuff from longer than any other person online, as I recall first encountering reading something from him back in 1995. I’m going to see about putting up some kind of year-end wrapup here myself towards the end of the month, I’d like some time to spend time with all the new stuff I’ve picked up.

Here’s today’s tunes. It’s a good set today!