(Photo courtesy of publicsf.com)
One of the United States’ forward-thinking prototypes in indie-electronica was a New York City band called LCD Soundsystem. Their front-man James Murphy was responsible for every component of their three albums including drums, bass, guitar, keyboard, and vocals. However, the band had its final show ever on February 8, 2011 in Madison Square Garden leaving the biggest impression on American electronic music.
Fast forward to 2014 and James Murphy sat down for an interview at a Red Bull Music Academy session in Norway. He disclosed his opinion on the current state of dance music saying that he finds it “repellent” and that “it makes me want to vomit.”
James goes further into defending his opinion saying, “I just don’t like it. It’s not for me, but it’s also not designed for me.” He continues his claim saying, “I’m old and it’s very maximalist and I’m not a maximalist guy. I’m sure there’s great stuff happening, but it’s just not reaching me and it probably shouldn’t. I’m not excited about new stuff that much.”
Although the direction of Murphy’s comments were negative overall, he does offer a bit of hope to the conversation. He said, “This past month I’ve been really hoping that there’s two people DJing to a room full of 150 people that think what I did was stupid and are making something awesome and having a great time.”
Now avid fans of electronic dance music should not overreact to these strong remarks. Take James Murphy’s comments as criticism for the genre to grow and develop in new ways to keep us from sounding the same and repetitive. Definitely take some time to let us know what you think about Mr. Murphy’s opinions in the comments or on Twitter @YourEDM.