This Is Happening | LCD Soundsystem | 2010 | DFA | #322
What’s fun about this album is singer, songwriter, and producer James Murphy’s commentary and musings to do with being a 30-something in 2010 and having your coolness being overtaken by new-wave hipsters. Its dance-punk, electronica sound is not something I haven’t heard before but I think LCD Soundsystem do it particularly well. Helping to characterise the sound are influences felt most appreciably from Bowie, Talking Heads, and Daft Punk.
There’s an 8-bit vibe going on which brings up memories of easy days spent playing Sega Mega Drive as a child, juxtaposed then with the wry introspection otherwise begot with the lyrical tone – a kind of humorous self-reflexiveness cultivated only in adulthood. One might make the observation that the tension and release of the music compliments this somehow. I never really felt like the album reached a summit so much as consistently riding a funky pace of groove for its duration.
I liked the attitude and I liked the sound. I’ll be coming back for more.