Top Ten O’Ten: Four

I realize that a lot of my picks are the same as “everyone” else’s, but that’s no fault of mine, I think it’s the fault of there being a lot of really good jams that everyone had no choice but to agree on. That said, Kanye West is not on this list (but I still think he did a ‘Good Ass Job’).

LCD Soundsystem was a band I never liked before, and I don’t really remember why. Probably just because I’ve heard headlines like “James Murphy is a Jerk.” (Which I don’t even think is true, I think he’s just really serious.) But really, if someone had just said “bro, listen to ‘Someone Great,’” I would have been like “Oh, Okay.” And then been a fan.

Anyways, “This Is Happening” was great because it was obvious what sounds and albums James Murphy was digging when he wrote most of these songs. “Someone’s Calling Me”— The Idiot, “Home”—Talking Heads. But these songs were unmistakably his, not just indebted tributes, which is a very tricky thing to pull off. So hats off.

Of course, I was drawn to “All I Want,” which all but steals the riff from “”Heroes”.” He nailed everything, sonically, right down to that great Visconti-Sound snare. This song, though, let’s the emotions a little closer to the surface. Bowie ’77 was all about keeping people at a distance whilst emoting as much as humanly possible. “All I Want” seems to have nailed the inverse.