LCD Soundsystem...

venue:   Concorde 2 review date:   Thursday, 26 August 2004 words by:   Marc Gibbons photos by:   Bec Chalkley [ intro | page 1 ]

review

The LCD Soundsystem is the brainchild of half of the so-hip-it-hurts and ever-in-demand duo behind DFA Records. They’ve produced wholly listenable and interesting remixes of fellow hipsters Le Tigre and Radio 4 and are the production team behind The Rapture’s seminal ‘House of Jealous Lovers’.

Whilst Tim Goldworthy occupied himself with UNKLE, James Murphy’s Soundsystem has released three singles, all NME singles of the week, that have forged an innovative template of disco-punk breakbeats. Yes, the dreaded indie-rock-dance crossover has reared its head again. But this time, it actually works.

I was there. In 2004. I was there
at the LCD Soundsystem gig.
In Brighton

Following a stint of knob-twiddling and electro noodling from orange boiler-suited support act Waxed Apple, Murphy makes for an unlikely electro-punk guru. Clad in a non-descript white t-shirt and jeans, he’s pretty unprepossessing. He’s accompanied by an ensemble of four musicians who swap around a variety of guitars, keyboards and percussion to create a bass-heavy, repetitive, but extremely tight fusion of keyboards, squeaks, squeals and white-disco breaks punctuated by a percussive clatter of cowbells and drums.

A highlight of tonight’s set is a rattling, funked up rendition of ‘Give It Up’, but the track that most of the crowd has been waiting for is ‘Losing My Edge’. Over a bass riff that circles round and round Murphy delivers a barbed spoken narrative devoted to record collector geekdom and its bid to retain the upper hand - it’s all “my band is better than yours; and everyone that I like is more relevant than everyone you like". Halfway through, the keyboards really kick in; it changes direction and an increasingly manic litany of ‘influential’ artists from Soft Cell to Gill Scott Heron is screamed at high volume.

a stunning climax of
blistering mayhem, white
noise and screeching.

“I’m losing my edge. To the kids from France and from London", complains Murphy. Although from the reaction that this track gets, as it reaches its squealing, explosive conclusion, this is blatantly untrue: every track that follows is a danceable delight that ‘the kids’ would struggle to match.

And finally, we get to ‘Yeah’ – a bass-heavy, repetitive keyboard freakout that starts off fairly frenetic and gradually increases in volume and velocity to a stunning climax of blistering mayhem, white noise and screeching over a dumb screamed refrain of “Yeah, yeah, yeah" that just couldn’t be topped by anything else. Which is just as well - as the feedback dies, Murphy apologises profusely for not being able to continue due to a lack of further songs and exits stage right. I was there. And you should have been there too.

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about Concorde 2

Okay, so you may have to walk a bit to reach it... but that just makes it that little bit more exclusive doesn't it! Located along Madeira Drive, the Concorde 2 is a sizeable venue with a huge variety of clubnights and bands on each month. Some top names, some great festivals, World Music... you name it. If you can't find something to pique your interest then you might as well pack your bags and head for Eastbourne... Click for more info and complete listings for Concorde 2