James Murphy
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Christmas Surprise Tracks from LCD Soundsystem and Radiohead
Here’s hoping this becomes a new tradition — surprise releases from great bands that are actually pretty good! The first, what will become a seasonal classic for melancholics everywhere, is from a band that technically doesn’t even exist anymore: LCD Soundsystem. And the second is an unused theme for the James Bond film Spectre by Radiohead. First, here’s what LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy wrote to accompany “Christmas Will Break Your Heart”: so, there’s been this depressing christmas song i’d been singing to myself for the past 8 years, and every year i wouldn’t remember that i wanted to make it […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 25, 2015 -
What Difference Does It Make: A Film about Making Music
And now for our feature presentation… the folks at Red Bull have posted online What Difference Does it Make: A Film about Making Music. It’s an energetic mash-up of the events occurring during Red Bull Music Academy’s festival last year in New York, and it contains moments from Brian Eno, James Murphy, Van Dyke Parks, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Philip Glass, Steven O’Malley and many more.
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 19, 2014 -
PAUL SIMON, JAMES MURPHY AND THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE MODERN ARTIST
Does the culture make the artist, or does the artist make the culture? Two Sundance documentaries — Shut Up And Play the Hits, which follows James Murphy through the last concert of his band LCD Soundsystem in 2010, and Under African Skies, Joe Berlinger’s history of Paul Simon’s seminal Graceland – might seem to be unlikely bedfellows. Both films are brilliantly executed portraits of musicians walking the tightrope of cultural relevance and personal expression. The differences between the two stories illustrate fundamental changes in our popular culture over the last 30 years. Both films seek to explore “a moment in […]
by Alicia Van Couvering on Jan 27, 2012 -
Five Questions with The Comedy Director Rick Alverson
Director Rick Alverson is nothing if not prolific. After putting out six albums over eight years with his band Spokane, Alverson turned his attention to film, directing The Builder in 2010 and New Jerusalem last year. Continuing this productive streak is The Comedy, a dark exploration into the insular, self-destructive lifestyle of the affluent white male. Set against the backdrop of Brooklyn’s ultra-hip Williamsburg, The Comedy stands in contrast to Alverson’s previous two films, films that focused mainly on the stories of working class immigrants. Starring comedian Tim Heidecker (in his first dramatic role) and a supporting cast that includes […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Jan 21, 2012 -
WHAT’S IN MY INSTAPAPER: SUNDAY MORNING LINKS, 4/10/11
Here are a few articles of interest I’ve stored in my Instapaper. There’s a new website for Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, and it takes something of a transmedia approach. Chuck Tryon explains: As you enter the website, it invites you to follow one of two forking paths, the father’s way or the mother’s way, while a haunting, almost mournful score plays in the background. Once you choose, you encounter a split screen with half the screen filled by a semi-circle of video clips and the other a white space with some cryptic text that evokes a moral parable. […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 10, 2011 -
NEW LCD SOUNDSYSTEM: “DRUNK GIRLS”
The new album hasn’t dropped yet, but this single has — at least on YouTube. To my ears it’s got kind of a Here Come the Warm Jets vibe. Meanwhile, Greenberg, which LCD’s James Murphy scored, is in theaters and its soundtrack is in the stores. It streams below.
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 25, 2010
