album of the week: 1.2

LCD Soundsystem

London Sessions

Virgin

why you'll love it: Brilliant live performances of great songs

why you'll hate it: something something hipster something

Continuing the leftovers of 2010 this January… none of the songs on this "live in studio" LCD Soundsytem session are new, but it all feels quite new. They're one of those live bands that really enhance and add to their songs in performance. In some cases, it's simply a change of synthesizers sound ("Daft Punk is Playing At My House"). In other cases it's unrefined gang vocals ("Get Innocuous"). The real highlight is "Pow Pow", where Murphy keeps the awkward ranting of the original recording fresh by cooking up all new lyrics on the spot.

This release is created in the spirit of the much loved John Peel radio sessions that ran in London. These recordings live up to the comparison. They're proof that LCD Soundsystem is much more than just sequenced beat club music with no live attributes. They also sound incredible. Good enough to even be considerd ike alternate versions of your favorite LCD Soundsystem songs.