Wednesday, 7 April 2010

LCD Soundsystem - Losing My Edge



Yesterday's blog Gil Scott-Heron gets a name check in today's entry, but there again so does most of the music from the last forty years or so. James Murphy's LCD Soundsystem highlight the entire problem of thinking too hard about this sort of stuff, "everyone you know is more relevant than everyone I know". As someone who never seems to have been in the right place at the right time, or was but didn't realise it, I have long given up on notions of being "relevant". I suppose much of this blog will eventually reveal me as being slightly out of phase with any musical/pop-culture/art movement that has happened during my time on the planet.
Debate often takes place about the best song/lyric/record and it is usually valid at some moment in time; some people even choose a record and then base all other value judgements around this choice, if I had to do that then this would possibly be my choice (this week anyway).
Murphy deconstructs in  three and half minutes notions of musical revolution, issues about age, destroys preconceptions about genre, looks, style and jealousy.
Like Scott-Heron's the Revolution will not be Televised, he has produced a piece of music that demands repeat listening. He wants people to investigate the references, they are not some great secret for him to horde. He gives the listener a sense of belonging through acknowledgement that someone likes what you like and has experienced similar dilemmas (shared values anyone?). Most importantly he shows musicians a way forward without having to ape his style, its ok to be out of sync, keep at it, it s the others not in sync with you.


LCD Soundsystem - Losing My Edge
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2 comments:

  1. great writing H. As well as all of that, surely he's also taking the piss also(out of himself and the rest of us aging, obsessive record buyers too)

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  2. Thanks SA. Yes I think he has healthy sense of irony, which is nice from an American artist.

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