i might be going down an electronic music rabbit hole. after listening to closer by joy division, i’ve only been listening to more electronic music: stereolab, depeche mode, and now this. is it at the point where it doesn’t belong in song of the week-N anymore? as of now, i don’t think so. only when i listen to more than 5 EM albums, i’ll pivot to some totally different genres for this section. seriously, though, if you’re reading this, hand me some song suggestions! i need them.
anyways, i happened upon this song quite randomly. i’ve liked “Daft Punk Is Playing at My House” and “Drunk Girls” by this band for a while now because they’re both plain funny, but it’s only now, when i have the patience for songs beyond six minutes, that i listen to the song considered lcd soundsystem’s best or second-best.
sure, it’s ‘dance music’, ‘dance’ is literally in the title. but what if i told you this is actually a piece made of two parts that explodes into a crescendo over 9 minutes? more than just ‘dance’ music, this song feels very indie-alternating between james murphy’s lo-fi subdued verses about bad company and aging and his loud absurd falsettos about blowing marxism to pieces. (hence the title, even though capitalism is probably not the opposite of marxism. i don’t know political philosophy!) the instrumentation is simple, at times even awkward and experimental, but so effective that every time i listen to this song i just want to replay it. the way the song crescendoes hits the spot-and it’s almost like james murphy is creating an anthem for all the disillusioned, middle-aged 9-5 workers and reminding them to just have fun once in a while.
give it a listen if you haven’t already!
q-street 