Dusted Reviews
Artist: LCD Soundsystem Album: Yeah Label: DFA Review date: Mar. 4, 2004 |
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LCD Soundsystem's "Losing My Edge" was one of the two hot shit dance tracks of 2002. The other, of course, was the Rapture’s “House of Jealous Lovers,” produced by LCD main man James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy under the aegis of the DFA. Over the course of two infectious slabs of vinyl, the duo placed themselves front and center of dance punk, mutant disco, or whatever the fuck you want to call it. “Losing My Edge” doubled as the best hipster in-joke of the year, too – the lyrics courtesy of resigned oldie watching his hard fought status at the top of the heap wither away to kids with trust funds (who were actually kind of nice).
Any residual smart-ass humor is ditched on the label for the new LCD 12” “Yeah,” portioning the tune off into a “Stupid Version” and a “Pretentious Mix.” Regardless of what that might mean, both sides dish up two varying takes on the same loose idea – a throbbing, undulating, long-ass dance groove that starts largely in the same place but ends up on vastly different sides. The “Stupid” half is the fuzzier, harder edged one of the two, with Murphy’s plaintive yelps married to a stomping funk backbeat. The synths ebb in and out, cycling from disco punk to spaced out crunk while the polyrhythms carry it all home. The “Pretentious Mix” is the better of the two, approaching dub with some of the themes from the first half before heading for more lush territory. The keys drone off and drop little melodies before the track’s percussion explodes and gives the proceedings a more urgent gallop towards the climax.
With zero name-checks and a less tinny drum machine, neither of these two tracks are as instantly accessible as the side that brought LCD Soundsystem to note in the first place. That doesn’t prevent either of them from paying off in the long run, though. Rather than perpetuate a joke that probably would have gotten pretty old, pretty fast, Murphy revels in the sounds of each artist he rattled off in “Losing My Edge.” While that was a clever introduction, this feels like the first proper taste of what he’s capable of – a disco mutating punk with his hand firmly on the funk. If you’re not a DJ, though, it remains to be seen just how often you may want to work your way through this 12”, as it really does sound geared entirely for club land. Which is not a bad thing, mind you. Get five drinks in me and push me in the vague direction of the dance floor while this is playing and I’ll probably forget all about the fact that I’m a white kid from suburbia who can’t dance for shit. That counts for a lot in my book.
By Michael Crumsho
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Give It Up 7"
