LCD Soundsystem

LCD’s James Murphy Opens Williamsburg Wine Bar

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James Murphy Four Horsemen Brooklyn

As 45-year-old DFA Records co-founder and former LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy knows better than anybody, even the archest of hipsters has to grow up sometime. Hell, he was hinting at the idea on his band’s very first single. Accordingly, now that he’s no longer storming the stage with LCD, Murphy has gotten into an extramusical project. If anyone is gonna open a wine bar in Williamsburg, it might as well be Murphy, and that’s exactly what he’s gone and done. Four Horsemen is open now at 295 Grand St. in Brooklyn, serving fine wines and food as well.

Murphy is a founding partner in the new business, working with Nick Curtola of Franny’s, who created the food menu and others. Murphy did the sound engineering for the space, and the partners all contributed to picking the selection of all-natural wines.

Question: if you shell out 40 bucks for pork shank with beans, salsa verde, zucchini, porcini mushrooms, and salad, and follow it with an upscale wine, does that mean that you’re losing your edge? As far as Murphy’s concerned, it simply means that he’s finding a new groove for himself. And it goes without saying that the bar’s music will be impeccable.

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Former Brooklyn Club Studio B Is Now $11 Million Condo

Darren Ressler Leave a Comment

studio B brooklyn ny

Long before Brooklyn’s gentrification residential renaissance began Studio B on Banker Street in the predominately Polish section of Greenpoint was the go-to spot for those seeking an alternative to Manhattan’s then played-out club scene. But the venue, which opened in 2006, did a lot of really stupid things that eventually helped bring about its eventual demise, like not playing nicely with the local community board and opening a controversial rooftop apparently without taking care of all of the legal paperwork.

After being shuttered by the Department of Buildings and getting a new owner, the club, which featured top talent including LCD Soundsystem, Crystal Castles (see video below), Klaxons and countless others, shuttered for good in July 2009. Artist Matthew Day Jackson quietly took over the two-story building, paying $2 million, gutting it and converting the 15,000 square foot residential space.

MDJ did an amazing job transforming the space (see photos below) and has now put the space on the market for a cool $11 million.

greenpoint studio b

studio b greenpoint

The space’s transformation is amazing — it now includes a yoga studio, an elevator, indoor parking and a retractable roof, along with a separate guest suite and a view of Manhattan. Plus, the ground floor studio encompasses four work spaces including a great central room with 24 foot ceilings and rear wall of glass leading to a 3,000 square foot courtyard.

The language of the listing speaks to the exclusivity now ensconced in the real estate market of New York City’s best borough: “This is a very special property. Showings by private appointment.”

Warner Bros. to Release ‘The Long Goodbye: LCD Soundsystem Live At Madison Square Garden’ in May

Darren Ressler Leave a Comment

The Long Goodbye LCD Soundsystem Live At Madison Square Garden

Almost three years after LCD Soundsystem played their final show on April 2, 2011 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Warner Bros. will release the entire concert on May 20. Produced and mixed by James Murphy, The Long Goodbye: LCD Soundsystem Live At Madison Square Garden will contain the entire set — which some people have had for years via bootleg (ahem!) — in its entirety. The release comes after 2012’s acclaimed documentary, Shut Up and Play The Hits, which chronicled the band’s final days. Good news for vinyl buffs: a five-LP set of The Long Goodbye will be be made available on the release day. Something tells us those copies are going to disappear real quick.

The Long Goodbye Tracklist

Dance Yrself Clean
Drunk Girls
I Can Change
Time To Get Away
Get Innocuous!
Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
Too Much Love
All My Friends
Tired / Heart Of The Sunrise
45:33 Intro
You Can’t Hide (Shame On You)
Sound Of Silver
Out In Space
Ships Talking
Freak Out / Starry Eyes
Us v Them
North American Scum
Bye Bye Bayou
You Wanted A Hit
Tribulations
Movement
Yeah
Someone Great
Losing My Edge
Home
All I Want
Jump Into The Fire
New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down

James Murphy Producing ‘Metal Version of White Stripes’ Album by Ex-Sepultura Members Iggor and Max Cavalera

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Cavalera Conspiracy

The worlds of electronic music and heavy metal intersect every so often. Korn’s 2011 album The Path of Totality featured production by Skrillex, Noisia and Excision, and even Slipknot’s DJ Sid Wilson has done work in the genre. Now comes news that former LCD Soundsystem honcho/current DFA Records boss James Murphy has been convinced ex-Sepultura drummer Iggor Cavalera to form “a metal version of the White Stripes” with his brother Max.

Cavalera has been helming the emerging Brazilian electro-rock act MixHell with his wife Laima Leyton, and Cavalera Conspiracy with his brother Max, the guitar player and lead singer who helped him found Sepultura in the early 1980s. (Max also fronts Soulfly who just released a new album, Savages.)

Speaking with The Guardian, Iggor explained, “James Murphy approached me with the record idea, but eventually suggested some others. To start with, he wants only the two of us in the studio, like a metal version of the White Stripes. He also wants nothing but the two of us on stage. He basically asked me to get rid of the rest of the band. Cavalera Conspiracy has four members and two records. Murphy asked us to start from scratch as a duo. According to him, ‘this will come to be the heaviest record of our careers.’ He promised me that.”

Duos in metal are rare (especially ones produced by a DJ/producer like Murphy), but if anyone has the bravura to pull it off it’s unquestionably the Cavalera brothers.