We all remember when only a short three years we were gabbing left and right, telling our friends about this song they have got to absolutely hear. “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House” may not have been LCD Soundsystem’s first single—because “Losing My Edge” was—but it was what put them up there as hot-blooded new comers ready to show the scene what they’ve got. Nearly three years later, we see that’s exactly what they did.
With two studio releases, the two disc self-titled debut album LCD Soundsystem and their follow up two years later with Sound of Silver, they’ve landed major radio play and spots on nearly every summer music festival roster of the past two years or so. Thankfully, frontman James Murphy has co-founded dance-punk label Death From Above (DFA) and has at his disposal a venue for the albums he releases with LCD Soundsystem. It’s why a project like their new album, 45:33, has been made possible for studio release.
Originally a digital release available only on iTunes through the Nike Music Store, 45:33 is actually as concept as an album can get. Commissioned by Nike to make a seemingly fluent and singular track that simulated the various inflections of running and jogging, James Murphy stepped up to the challenge and made 45:33. Meant to push you at the right times, motivate you where needed and help you relax and cool down appropriately, the digital release is about the length specified with its name, six tracks titled simply by their parts and numbers.
Mid-October found itself in the company of 45:33 as a digital release. Yet just a month later we find ourselves faced with the DFA studio release of 45:33 complete with three other tracks. “Freak Out/Starry Night” you can also find on the “All My Friends” single, “North American Scum” is remixed and “Hippie Priest Burn-Out” which, along with the “North American Scum” remix, can be found on the Sound of Silver import as extra tracks.
So needless to say, Murphy may have made this album to motivate himself and his band while they’re on tour, keeping themselves from turning into unforgiving vending machine patrons wallowing in the grease and fast food of touring. However, it seems that from a press release statement, Murphy has actually stepped up to the plate to create his own version of a packaged deal. Loathsome of most radio-play, artists with their neatly digestible packages of releasable material, this is his way of putting out something that isn’t formulaic because it’ll sell better that way, but because it’s meant for a particular purpose.
Slap it on, now that its studio release has hit stores. Try it out and see if it doesn’t work better than the telenovela with no subtitles—Spanish or English—on the far right screen hanging over your treadmill. Or see if you can keep yourself from inadvertently keeping time to the beats and the rhythms as you embark on your early morning trek around the neighborhood.
The tracks don’t break up to let you know you’re on “45:33 Part 2” now, they run continuously and as the tracks slip by, so does the time and so does your workout. Maybe we’ve finally found a way to make trying to look good fun again. Whatever they’ve done, we can thank LCD Soundsystem and Nike for those thong bikinis and banana-hammocks we fit into next year.
45:33 is out November 13th on DFA/Astralwerks
For more information, visit www.lcdsoundsystem.com or myspace.com/lcdsoundsystem
