Lively Cool Dancefloor Soundsystem

A new song went up on LCD soundsystem's myspace page yesterday. Apparently it's been written for the movie "21" which is coming out sometime soon, about Kevin Spacey teaching a bunch of kids to cheat at cards or something along those lines. It doesn't really matter, that's not what's important here. What's important is how nutty this track is. Two minutes plus chug by before the vocals kick in, with the usual dominant, fuzzed out bass. Then it gets layered with a spaced out synth, before this grimy guitar lead kicks in, then BAM vocals. The song is well over five minutes, atypical from usual Hollywood soundtrack fare, but it doesn't drag for a second. The guitar really shines throughout, although I think the destructive solo at the end might be my favorite moment for it. Check it out yourself.

No Rest for the Wicked (Awesome)

"Big Ideas" by LCD Soundsystem

I also listened to "Freak Out/Starry Eyes" for the first time, today. Although "Big Ideas" is an amazing track, I could probably have identified it as an LCD song without knowing that it was one. I can't say the same is true about "Freak Out/Starry Eyes", and I mean that in the best way possible. There's a lot of cool hand drumming, and triangles, and different synth sounds. I stumbled across it over at 20jazzfunkgreats, so do yourself a favor and do the same. I'm definitely going to be picking up the "Confuse the Marketplace" EP when I get a job.

New York, I love you but you're bringing me down

I mean it, New York. You're bringing me down. Of course I love reading your magazine, even if the trust fund smarm that saturates the real estate sections trickles out into the other articles on occasion. I really enjoyed everything you said about James Murphy and thanks to a little blurb in your magazine, I now listen to the Young Knives. Graphically, the magazine is fantastic and I always get a big kick out of the weekly approval matrix.

(click to view entire chart)

Except this week, that is. Honestly, New York, I am totally okay with you throwing the King of Queens on the lowbrow side of the charts. I mean, let's be real, Doug Heffernan is no Shakespeare. What burns me up is their location outside of the "brilliant" area, while the Gilmore Girls are placed smack dab in brilliance. Are you serious? Not cool, New York, not cool at all. Those girls could out chitchat a methfreak. Way to pick that over the hometown hero Doug Heffernan and his hilariously senile father in law.


I also noticed the other day that Jeff Tweedy strumming "I'm the man who loves you" by himself sounds a lot like Ani DiFranco's strumming "Fire Door". I'm not inferring he's jacking her song, it's just interesting how different the tune sounds without the rest of the band.

"I'm the Man who Loves You" by Jeff Tweedy

"Fire Door" by Ani DiFranco

The new Lauryn Hill track is not at all what I was expecting it to sound like. I really like it though, kind of in the same way I like the Counting Crows song from Shrek 2. Maybe I'm just saying that because they're both soundtrack songs for CGI kids' movies. Maybe I just love CGI kids' movies.

"Lose Myself" by Lauryn Hill

"Accidentally In Love" by Counting Crows

yeah yeah yeah

I love it when new record releases sneak up on me. I just saw today that the new !!! comes out next week and I honestly didn't even know they had a new project in the works. I'm listening through the album as I write this, and from where I sit now, I'm enjoying it a lot. That really says something, considering how long it's been since I stopped doing ecstacy. The titular track, "Myth Takes", goes on this cowboy tip, like if "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" were shot in Williamsburg, or maybe somewhere funky. Few other bands could use the lyrics "sha sha shadooby" and have me enjoy it this much. "A New Name" gets all space funky on your face and drops chorus vocals that sound like they're from the WAR catalogue. Nic Offer's vocals keep up that spoken vocal thing that always tiptoes the line towards creepy, but there's really a lot of expansion going on towards different styles of wailing. I'm on track four by now, "Heart of Hearts", and I just realized that I'm dancing my ass off in this chair and I'm not even sure when it started. I'm definitely pysched to go cop this next week. This is the kind of thing that I need to have in the car, since it'll be great for driving, plus if a party springs up somewhere, I can just run out to the car for it and soon everyone will have the funk blown out of their drawers.

Stream almost all of the album on Myspace
Or Check out some live tracks at Universal Buzz

or enjoy these leaked tracks...

"A New Name" by !!!
"All My Heroes Are Weirdos" by !!!
"Must be the Moon" by !!!

I also found out tonight that new LCD Soundsystem album is coming out on my birthday, but they'll be touring in Germany or some other far off land at the time. Too bad. All you Germans out there make sure you catch em live, they're up there with the best live shows I've ever been to.

"Watch the Tapes" by LCD Soundsystem

RJD2 is losing his edge

to the art school Brooklynites in little jackets and nostalgia for the unremembered 80s.

I hear that he is throwing his computer out the window because he wants to make something real. He wants to make a Yaz record.

I hear that he has sold his turntables and bought guitars.

"Losing My Edge" by LCD Soundsystem

12 Rock and Roll Songs to make you shake that ass.

This started out as a top ten list, but I ended up with twelve songs, and I can't really say that it's an all inclusive list, since even I'm not pretentious enough to think I've heard enough music to cover every base possible. Plus I'll probably think of ten better songs the next time I read over this. I will say, however, that if you put on any one of the following twelve songs, you'd have even the stiffest of the living dead moving their hips like a snake.

1. Almost Crimes by Broken Social Scene -




even the video is all about ass shaking. I don't mind admitting that during my sophomore year of college, I would lock my door, put on this song, and dance like a madman. My life won't be complete until I hear this song while I'm actually out on the town, on the floor.


2. Crocodile Rock by Elton John -
Now say what you will about Sir Elton John, say what you will about this song, I don't wanna hear it. This song posesses one of the best kinds of danceability. The kind where you move to the groove whilst singing along in an absurd falsetto.


3. Damaged Goods by Gang of Four -
The dueling guitar and bass come at you so strong right from the get go. It's like a sonic invitation to get down. These guys may have played punk rock, but there is something undeniably funk about Andy Gill's guitar.


4. Me and Guiliani down by the Schoolyard (A True Story) by !!! -
Most level headed folk will agree that the only thing better than a protest song is a protest song that you can shake your ass to. Well how about a protest song, that you can shake your ass to, that's about being denied the right to shake one's ass??? Brilliant! Even outside the world of body movin', this song is a classic. The song actually builds in different movements, taking you to each and every corner of the dancefloor. That's right. it's so good it gets a travel metaphor.


5. Should I Stay or Should I Go? by The Clash -
The moment after Strummer utters that titular phrase, "Should I stay or should I go, now?" the ensuing dance explosion is among the most fun and frenetic dance breaks you're going to hear on Classic Rock Radio, Adult Contemporary Radio, Alternative Rock Radio, AND College Rock Radio.


6. Give It Up by LCD Soundsystem -
If I wanted to, I could've just put "LCD Soundsystem - Every song they ever thought of recording" and had that be the whole list, but I figured that might be a little too quick of a read, so I picked this song. It's easily one of the more rocking LCD songs, and the frantic drums tell you exactly how to move that butt. Soon you'll get to swingin those tight little fists along with that fuzzed out bassline, and screaming along, even though you don't know the words, and everything will be just fine.


7. Last Caress by the Misfits -
The combination of chugging guitars and Danzig's sultry croon basically begs teenagers, "Gel your hair down in a silly manner. Now do the twist," and it's really near impossible to tell them no. On "Last Caress", Danzig's voice hits a point where he goes from sounding like a silly Elvis knockoff to a silly Elvis knockoff with some serious vocal chops. Combine that with metronome instrumentals and you're ready to dance. Throw this on at a party, I guarantee all your punk friends will dance and sing like it was 1962 on speed.


8. Hooray for Humans by Q and Not U -
Here's another one that it's real hard to look good dancing to. The piercing, dueling guitars tend to inspire limb movements that would definitely be considered outside the realm of cool dance moves, but the rhythm section is just to strong to be ignored. With drums and bass that register just outside of 9.1 on the Richter, this song will make you move.


9. This Charming Man by The Smiths -
This is a cool one because with most of the songs on this list, it's really the rhythm section that puts that movement in your pants. This tune really is all about that pretty, jangly, guitar. The way the melody moves so quickly and so all over the place, the fingers just start snapping on their own and then it's on. Time to dance like Jon Cryer in Pretty in Pink.


10. Timorous Me by Ted Leo & The Pharmacists -
I saw Ted Leo in 2003 at a lookout! records showcase at CBGBs. For hours, my associate and I stood in the motionless hipster crowd, waiting through shitty band after shitty band. Finally at some point after midnight, Mr. Ted Leo and his wiley band of Pharmacists took the stage and started to rock for us. The crowd had been standing in place for quite a while though, so it really looked like Ted's set was going to stay danceless for a while. Until the bass and drums kicked in on this song. Then came the dancing and Oh! did we dance.


11. Not Witherspoon, but Silverstone by Thunderbirds are now! -
It starts off with great staccato keyboards to get you moving right from the start. Then the drums kick in and take over, plus they throw in some wildly incomprehensible lyrics to make it the perfect package for a dance party sing along.


12. Time of The Season by The Zombies
The hook of this song is just so damn infectious. With those couple bass notes, then the "ch", "ahhh", it's just impossible to put this on and sit still. This is another one where the likelihood of you looking cool while you dance to it is slim to none. It's just too damn easy to sing along and move to.