FriendBurst Blog

LCD Soundsystem finally disbanded last year – after releasing The London Sessions.  In typically unconventional style, all of the tracks were recorded in jam sessions.  Even the albums have a loose and free-flowing feel to them.  Between 2005 and 2010, LCD Soundsystem released three proper albums.  The debut album kicks off with the unusual single, Daft Punk Is Playing In My House.  Compared with most of LCD Soundsystem’s output, it is a completely normal song.  The lyrics are often quite funny (even ridiculous).  The music is very similar to Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club.

James Murphy was already talking about ‘retiring’, when Sound Of Silver was released in 2007.  However, he decided to make one more album (This Is Happening).  If the bonus disc accompanying the first album and the remixed version of 45:33 are counted, there are a total of seven LCD Soundsystem discs.  That’s an average of one CD per year – and that’s what I call prolific.  In addition, Murphy found the time to make loads of remixes (under the DFA pseudonym).  He co-founded DFA Records (with Tim Goldsworthy).  It is the home of The Rapture, Shit Robot and Holy Ghost!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOHLeXxfNu0

LFO (Low Frequency Oscillation, not Lyte Funky Ones) was one of the first acts to sign to Warp Records.  The eponymous single is an underground house classic.  Another single preceded the debut album a year later (over two decades ago).  LFO then released the What Is House EP.  The follow-up album (Advance) took four more years to complete.  It is sparse and ambient (with the exception of Tied Up, which was released as an EP a year before the album).  Gez Varley departed and Mark Bell released one more album as LFO (the unremarkable Sheath).  He has also worked with Bjork and Depeche Mode, among others.

604 sounds like a classic eighties synth-pop album.  Ladytron was one of the first electroclash bands; recapturing the sound and spirit of the eighties, whilst adding a modern sheen (see also Fischerspooner and Felix Da Housecat).  He Took Her To A Movie is reminiscent of The Model (Kraftwerk).  The next album continued in a similar vein.  The lead single (Seventeen) attracted more followers.  Light & Magic is a more varied album, compared with its predecessor.  There are elements of house and techno.  It is also more polished.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya0H86ogOzU

Ladytron explored a new style on The Witching Hour, combining guitars with the synthesizers.  A remix album was released, between The Witching Hour and the patchy Velocifero.  The singles collection (Best Of 00-10) contains two exclusive tracks, neither of which are particularly memorable.  A new album was released in September 2011.  I heard a few of the tracks, but they didn’t really appeal to me.

Lamb fused trip-hop with drum ‘n’ bass on the debut album.  The singles Cotton Wool and Gorecki were particularly popular.  Fear Of Fours was a natural progression.  The album is characterised by complex rhythms and lots of double-bass.  It has a playful ‘jazzy’ feel to it.  It remains Lamb’s most successful album.  What Sound (2001) has its moments (eg. Heaven, Gabriel and Sweetheart).  However, it is Lamb’s weakest album (as a whole).

Stronger is one of the highlights on the fourth Lamb album (Between Darkness And Wonder).  The production is excellent, but it lacks the vibrancy of the other albums.  The sound of Lamb maturing was clearly something which didn’t appeal to many people.  Lou Rhodes (lyrics) and Andy Barlow (music) were pulling in different directions.  They split amicably and Best Kept Secrets was released.  The remix collection (Remixed) is worthwhile; with contributions from Kruder & Dorfmeister, Photek, Bola, A Guy Called Gerald and many others – on two discs.  Lou and Andy reunited in 2009 and released album number five last year.  It is not a bad comeback.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT7ErXdpdq0

Further listening

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFI4GK6a5fY&feature=relmfu

Next: Kraftwerk