NYC’s LCD Soundsystem
Music has a way of capturing the cultural moment in a way that no other art form can. Perhaps it’s because it seems to come with an enormously different reception than other kinds of art, with instantaneous responses that can be overwhelmingly enthusiastic, or overwhelmingly underwhelmed. There is also a very good possibility that music, as such, creates culture as much as it comments on it and answers to it, until it becomes a sort of chicken or the egg question.
Regardless, one of the smartest bands to be working in New York City today is LCD Soundsystem . They are capable of creating a sense of scene that reflects a here and now that is rare in music, not because music doesn’t capture and reflect that all the time, but because it seems so very much aware of what it’s doing. Self-consciousness can destroy a band, and it’s happened a lot to the hyper-intellectual experiments that come from the electronic spheres. However, here, there’s something else at work, where there’s a subtle kind of intoxication that happens with a clarity that is ironically sobering.
It’s got an appeal that can speak to multiple worlds, from the stuttering kids on the street to the out of town guests staying at a New York boutique hotel . There is a kind of spectacular flash of the performative, making their live work something that’s always been exciting to see, but more so now with the new release, “This Is Happening,” coming out from DFA . It does look like the band has reinvented itself.
Interesting to note how they promoted the new album by not promoting it, doing secret shows in NYC and asking the crowds not to leak the news of the album’s release. It’s a good tactic, and maybe it was even genuine, but this is the kind of back-door artistry that makes NYC so great. There’s a hidden intelligence here, or maybe it’s blatant, and the kind of pretense for not caring comes through as a charming affectation. But that also keeps it at a humble level, so that when the artistry comes through and takes over – and it does – we are willing to receive it.
No related posts.