James Murphy, aka LCD Soundsystem, returns with his highly anticipated new album Sound of Silver on DFA Records. Murphy recorded Sound of Silver, the follow-up to the massively acclaimed eponymous debut, over the summer of 2006 at an upstate New York farm with the help of the odd periodic visitor from the city (live band members Nancy Whang, Pat Mahoney, and Tyler Pope). Between the silver foil-covered walls, nine tracks were crafted into what will surely be regarded as one of the pinnacle albums of 2007.

LCD Soundsystem: Nancy Whang (vocals); Justin Chearno (guitar); Amy Kimball, Lorenza Ponce (violin); David Gold (viola); Jane Scarpantoni (cello); Morgan Wiley (piano); Tyler Pope (bass instrument); James Murphy (bass guitar); Pat Mahoney (drums); Marcus Lambkin, Eric Broucek (hand claps). James Murphy is well-known as half of the New York-based production duo DFA (who have lent their distinctive touch to songs from artists as diverse as Gorillaz, the Rapture, and N.E.R.D.). Aside from creating the modern template for indie dance music since the early 2000's, Murphy has been busy writing music under his solo moniker, LCD Soundsystem. His sophomore effort, SOUND OF SILVER, picks up where the debut left of, expanding an already diverse set of influences and honing the songwriting craft into a thematically cohesive whole. As wryly noted on LCD Soundsystem's debut 2002 single, "Losing My Edge," in the underground music arms race, aging hipsters are losing ground against young upstarts who are (perhaps) unaware of their own influences. And if influences are the stuff with which post-millennial musicians are made, Murphy has trumped us all. Touching on reference points ranging from disco, krautrock, Bowie, house, and post-punk, to singer-songwriter types, SOUND OF SILVER is a veritable catalog of left-field cool. Leading off with the slow-boil, hypnotic opener, "Get Innocuous"--which sounds a bit like a reprise of "Losing My Edge" crossed with Kraftwerk's "The Robots"--the album moves from dance-floor stormers to plaintive piano numbers without batting an eye. On "North American Scum," Murphy lampoons the often mistaken idea that LCD Soundsystem is a U.K. act; his nasal vocal echoing Jonathan Richman as he declares "for those of you who think we're from England--we're not." As humorously self-effacing as he is, SOUND OF SILVER also shows Murphy's growth as a songwriter. On the album's closer "New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down," he laments the passing of the old New York, "To the cops who are bored once they've run out of crime/New York you're perfect don't change a thing." It's a fitting tribute that holds up against the countless other great songs written about the Big Apple.

Tracklist

A1        Get Innocuous!
A2        Time To Get Away
B1        North American Scum
B2        Someone Great
C1        All My Friends
C2        Us V Them
D1        Watch The Tapes
D2        Sound Of Silver
D3        New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down

*Audio and/or tracklist may vary slightly from the vinyl version.

Label: Dfa Records
Catalog: 2164
Rel. Date: 10/02/2007
UPC: 829732216417

• Format Detail: LP
• Genre: Electronic
• RSD Date: n/a
• Format: Vinyl
• Released: 10/02/2007