LCD SOUNDSYSTEM AT BRIXTON ACADEMY, LONDON « New music, features, reviews, news and free mp3s

FEATURES

ALBUMS

LIVE

“It’s way too early to tell where this is going. I have so many stems of Becoming Real, so I don’t know how it’s going to evolve.”

ALBUM REVIEWS

Minus The Bear

OMNI

(Dangerbird)

Seattle’s Minus The Bear have always been one of those bands whose fans absolutely adore them, but who’ve never grown into an act that sells many records.

Tony Da Gatorra vs Gruff Rhys

The Terror of Cosmic Loneliness

(Turnstile)

READ

Melpomeni

8 Tragedies, 2 Love Songs & A Breakdown

(Lighthouse)

READ

LIVE REVIEWS

Midlake

The Leadmill , Sheffield

With a band boasting seven live members you by rights expect to experience something above the norm. Sadly, tonight Midlake offers nothing but the norm.

LIVE REVIEW

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM

Brixton Academy

London

23/04/10

Like a husband who’s decided to exit an over-ripe marriage, LCD’s string-puller James Murphy looks like a rejuvenated, (almost) care-free man now that he’s declared that third album ‘This Is Happening’ is to be their last. Perhaps made all the more triumphant considering their two-day drive from Spain (blasted volcano) it is a refreshingly relaxed Murphy and Co. we find here tonight. The huggable frontman chats away between songs – murky sound means we can’t decipher any of it, and it does cause momentum to crash a little – as he teeters over the edge of the stage. After restarting opener ‘Us Vs Them’ twice we get spiky power-throughs of ‘Pow Pow’, ‘Losing My Edge’ and ‘Tribulations’. Meanwhile, ‘All My Friends’ reinforces itself as one of this century’s finest songs. Likewise ‘Daft Punk Is Playing In My House’. They finish on an unexpectedly fragile note – ‘New York I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down’ as a cloud of white balloons fall silently from the ceiling; a reminder that now Murphy’s made his mind up there might not be many more moments like this left. Somehow this feels less like a gig and more like a euphoric wake. It’s only after that the grief sets in.

By Omarrr

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Originally published in issue 17 (vol 3) of Loud And Quiet. May 2010