SOUNDTRACK: LCD SOUNDSYSTEM-Sound of Silver (2007).
When this album came out it was hyped as a great dance record. I ordered it on Amazon, but there was some kind of problem (I ordered the import by mistake) and it wasn’t going to be shipped for months. So, I ordered their first album instead (and reviewed it way back when). I finally got this one, and even though I liked quite a few of the songs, I’m not sure that I’d need another LCD record. But we’ll see.
As for this one. The songs are typically dance in style (lots of repeated beats, perfect for dancing, and quite long…7 or 8 minutes). So, really it’s the lyrics that you want to listen for. And for the most part they are surprisingly good. I’ll mention this first as an example and an exception: the title song’s entire lyrics are “Sound of silver, talk to me, makes you want to feel like a teenager, until you remember the feelings of a real live emotional teenager. Then you think again.” Pretty funny stuff. And yet it’s 7 minutes of the same thing over and over. Phew.
“North American Scum” on the other hand, has great, funny, diverse lyrics. And, “All My Friends” is another single-worthy song. “Watch the Tapes” has a fun shouted chorus of “read all the pamphlets and watch the tapes.” Depending on your mood and/or your current situation, the repetition is either fun to sing along to or tedious. Let’s hope it catches you in the right mood.
I’m saving the last song for its own review, as it is so different. “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down” is a beautiful piano ballad sung with a mournful, cracking voice. It lists valid complaints about the state of New York City these days. The lyrics are here. It’s a weird song to end a dance disk with, but it’s really great and ratchets the whole proceedings up to a new plateau.
[READ: June 31, 2008] “Animal Tales”
I loved Simon Rich’s Ant Farm. He does comedy in short burst that never overstay their welcome. This piece is a really fun, short collection. It is about how animals see the world. He could have easily included 100s of animals, and who knows maybe he will, or maybe he exahusted the topic. In this one he has three animals: Frogs (concerning dissection), Free-Range Chickens (concerning life in general) and Dalmatians which I show here in its entirety:
“Hey look, the truck’s stopping.”
“Did the take us to the park this time?”
“No–it’s a fire. Another horrible fire.”
“What the hell is wrong with these people?”
If you find this hilarious, as did I, then you get the gist of Simon Rich’s humor. I laughed very hard at this piece.
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