James Murphy is a busy man. When he's not co-running the uber-successful DFA Records or producing groundbreaking dance records (such as The Rapture's House of Jealous Lovers, for example), he's off creating his own chart-rupturing material. The New York-born musician began his DJing career in 1993 under the name Death From Above, but, like Garret 'Jacknife' Lee, kicked off his initial career in music with stints in several punk/alternative bands. Although none of these were emphatically successful, he has obviously learned something from his multifarious musical history; one of the most versatile crossover projects around, the man now known as LCD Soundsystem's second album picks up where his self-titled debut left off. It also has the edge on its predecessor, as instead of being split over two discs and losing its cohesion to some extent, Sound of Silver flows like… well, mercury. There may be no instantly-ebullient lead track like 'Daft Punk..' here upon first listen (although single North American Scum comes close), but Murphy's Fall-meets-Fatboy Slim dance-punk compounds still provide an enjoyable listen. Get Innocuous is a well-crafted, whip-cracking club tune that builds and builds dreamily; Time to Get Away sees Murphy perfect his David Byrne geek-shriek around a cowbell-laden dance-funk soundtrack that would turn The Rapture green; Someone Great's industrial electronica throb is tempered by the poppy twinkle of a glockenspiel, and on the title track, his nihilistic, almost Ian Curtis-like vocal thread grazes a Cafe del Mar-esque instrumental. Though LCD Soundsystem may be one of the coolest, hippest names to drop amongst those 'in the know' these days, Murphy justifies the hype by possessing the apparently inherent ability to turn the ordinary into something altogether extraordinary.
