ELECTRO-ROCK

Not many people have created as distinct a sound as James Murphy. As half of production duo DFA, Murphy launched The Rapture, The Juan Maclean and Black Dice, then remixed the hell out of the likes of Gorillaz, Justin Timberlake and Nine Inch Nails. Then with his own productions and touring mutant dance band, LCD Soundsystem, he solidified his grasp on punk attitudes and addictive electronica.

‘They’re both pretty complicated and intertwined,’ explains Murphy of the relationship between DFA and LCD, ‘I like them both, and they both drive me insane.’

Recent single ‘North American Scum’ covers the same ground as the searing ‘Losing my Edge’, another world weary monologue over crashing beats, acid squelches and an ever more frenzied bassline. But this time around Murphy has widened his scope, a far cry from the often faceless world of dance music.

‘I really like dancing, and I like that there’s music for it, but dance music itself tends to be a little mediocre,’ agrees Murphy. ‘That’s not to say that there aren’t good things happening.’ And mediocre is one criticism you could never level at LCD.

‘In the studio I don’t worry about what we’ll do live, and live I don’t care about what the record sounds like.’ And live it’s a full band that bring Murphy’s mutant creations to life, creating a wholly organic take on the twisted electronics he masterminds on record. Intelligent, funked up live dance music at its best, LCD Soundsystem are the masters of the scene they created.