13. LCD SoundsystemLCD Soundsystem
LCD are one of my favourite bands. I became good friends with James Murphy, he has a similar story to mine where he comes from the rock world and starts experimenting with electronic music. I remember many, many years ago we went to see them at Sonar in Sao Paulo, I didn’t know much about them but they blew my mind. They were punk rock, but there were electronics. Not electronic in a DJ way, they were breaking that barrier – surrounded by techno guys being super purist, they were like ‘fuck you’. A band playing techno beats, man, they were amazing and that first album’s got everything. When I was writing this list I put this on again and just thought this fucking album rules. Anyone who catches them playing live like I did will definitely get their ass kicked by one of the best live bands around.
The whole combination of that band is so powerful. Of course, they are massive nowadays, but when I got to see them it was almost like this little cult thing. I think it is, again, just that that combination of creative people pushing against certain restrictive elements of music. And then by doing that, I think you create a lot of tension and that can be positive and negative. I bet there was some people that hated them and I think that’s kinda cool. I like that better than watching a band where you’re just like, ‘yeah, whatever’. I remember watching New Order in Brazil and not really enjoying it. Certain bands, just having the name, it’s not enough. I do enjoy the fact that they’re kicking ass on stage as a whole band, I can see that energy coming out of the drummer, it appeals to the musician side of it. But then again, there are times where I’ve seen just a DJ on stage and they would blow my mind, even more than a complete band. I’m not a purist, I would never say don’t have a band if you’re a techno producer, or you have to have live guitars if you’re performing live, by doing that, you’re really losing out on finding a lot of cool stuff.
