Last year, when James Murphy was talking about the new LCD Soundsystem record This Is Happening, he said some things about it being the band's last. But I didn't really believe him!
Musicians say stuff like that all the time. James commented that LCD Soundsystem had taken over his life, that he wasn't able to take other opportunities that he might have liked to, such as producing records for Spoon and Arcade Fire. And granted, that would be pretty awesome if he could produce records for those bands, but they're fine making sweet records on their own - I wouldn't trade in LCD Soundsystem for James Murphy as a producer.
But it's not my choice to make, and it appears James was completely serious about ending LCD Soundsystem. Posters are circulating around NYC indicating that LCD Soundsystem will play one final mega show at Madison Square Garden on April 2. I believe the band has never played such a large venue - other than festival appearances, maybe, which is a different animal. It was kinda surprising when Arcade Fire did some recent shows at MSG, but it's becoming obvious that 'indie rock', such as it is, has reached that level.
LCD ending is a major bummer. This Is Happening is a fantastic record, one of 2010's best. There's no sign of 'yeah, he should probably end it now before he tarnishes the band's legacy'. There's no reason to believe James couldn't continue to make awesome LCD Soundsystem records for years to come, if that's what he wanted to do. And shit, what a devastating week! The White Stripes and LCD Soundsystem are both confirmed dead. It kinda feels like my favorite bands are being taken out one-by-one. Wolf Parade, White Stripes, LCD Soundsystem - who's next?
In a way, it's not a tragedy. All of these musicians aren't giving up on working with music entirely. I expect to see new records from Handsome Furs and Sunset Rubdown in place of a new Wolf Parade record. Jack White has a million different bands at this point - I'd like to see another effort from The Raconteurs, for sure. And James Murphy, well he'll be free to do whatever he wants to do, which could be producing other band's records, or it could be something else.
But it won't be the same. It sucks that we won't be seeing future records or performances from these three beloved musical outlets.
Hopefully James will take out LCD Soundsystem with a bang on April 2.
No comments:
Post a Comment