LCD Soundsystem stopped by the kcrw studio recently in the middle of their “last big tour forever” according to founder James Murphy. Everything sounds so fresh and accessible live, without the attention to minutia that exists in the studio of a music producer. Keyboards sound like they’re being played, not programmed, and lyrics are strung out or cut off with each breath. The band starts with the plaintive chords of “All I Want” and plowed through “I Can Change,” “Drunk Girls” and “Pow Pow” from the latest release, This Is Happening before an interview with Jason Bentley.
The easy conversation covers everything from growing up to Murphy’s early days in New York City, when indie rock felt like being plunked back in high school. There is discussion about scoring the movie Greenberg and how creating a film score is so different than crafting tunes. He describes why the songs from This Is Happening are “weirder” to play live and how a record is like a “communication device.” It’s a good reason to believe this certainly isn’t the last we’ve heard from the man, just songs under this moniker. The session ends with the party invitation of “All My Friends” off 2007’s Sound of Silver.
Session with LCD Soundsystem link in KCRW's archives: