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10.0
14392
10.0 |
No Ripcord
This Is Happening is looking back on a life well lived and well learned, the final cap on a perfect career
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10.0
12611
10.0 |
Rave Magazine
This Is Happening sees Murphy delving into his life-long love of David Bowie, Bryan Eno and Talking Heads
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9.2
12320
9.2 |
Pitchfork
It's actually pretty perfect
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9.0
12321
9.0 |
PopMatters
Revels in its billowing expectations and thumbs its nose at them with the same tossed off, hook-laden attitude that informs his most remarkable moments
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9.0
12305
9.0 |
The Observer
"Just do it right/ Make it perfect and real," runs the opening lyric of LCD's closing song, as apposite an epitaph as Murphy could write for his singular band
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9.0
12551
9.0 |
Under The Radar
Each dip and twirl and change of pace clears the way for something even more exciting. It's roller coaster music
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9.0
11895
9.0 |
musicOMH
As with his last two LCD Soundsystem albums, James Murphy's latest deserves to be played loud, debated, danced to uncontrollably, and committed to muscle memory
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9.0
11896
9.0 |
The Quietus
For now James Murphy knows what he's doing. There's still life in the dance-punk cartoon beast he's created, and though it may tire eventually, at the end of the day he knows far too much to be a know-it-all
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9.0
12191
9.0 |
Clash
Sound of gold!
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8.6
12323
8.6 |
Beats Per Minute
It’s too bad that we won’t have a new LCD record to look forward to every three years, but it’s pretty hard to fault Murphy for quitting while he’s unquestionably ahead
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8.5
12322
8.5 |
The Line Of Best Fit
It captures the insistent bass lines and undeniable attitude, the eclecticism, the funk, and even the sentimental melancholy that took us all by surprise halfway through Sound of Silver
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8.5
12274
8.5 |
FasterLouder
Contains all of the elements that made Murphy’s name; the acerbic wit and melodic minimalism, the flawless production and propulsive rhythm
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8.0
11982
8.0 |
The Irish Times
Throughout, Murphy keeps his eye on the distant horizon, the majestic, uncompromising depth on show an indication that he’s already thinking about what comes next
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8.0
12216
8.0 |
Eye Weekly
With the blissful, tropical funk of “Home” — a sublime sequel to LCD’s 2007 mid-life-crisis anthem “All My Friends” — he’s at least gracious enough to save us one hell of a last dance
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8.0
12236
8.0 |
Daily Telegraph
Manages to maintain the essential simplicity demanded by the dance floor while packing itself to bursting with complex ideas
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8.0
11899
8.0 |
Q
This is a fantastic record, one of the year's best, but perhaps one that suggestst that Murphy has said what he needed to say. Print edition only
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8.0
11966
8.0 |
Spin
Recording at Rick Rubin's Los Angeles mansion rather than in hometown New York makes for slightly more languid and spacious grooves than on 2007's Sound of Silver
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8.0
11979
8.0 |
The Digital Fix
This might be a slow burner but by the end of the year could be topping many of the favourite album lists
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8.0
12364
8.0 |
Scotland on Sunday
Repetition of the techniques on 2007's Sound Of Silver produce a sound disquietingly familiar yet strangely alien
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8.0
12185
8.0 |
NME
By any other current band's measure this is an all-out classic. Print edition only
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8.0
12294
8.0 |
The Times
You can’t always dance your cares away, but that doesn’t make the act of trying any less pleasurable
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8.0
12375
8.0 |
Rolling Stone
He's still a dance guy at heart, and he knows it's his job to ignite parties and clubs
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8.0
12392
8.0 |
Tiny Mix Tapes
Murphy gets by once again with a wink and a nod — and this time, a whole lotta heart
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8.0
19597
8.0 |
Consequence Of Sound
Who better to sing for the children but the ones who at least still remember, who don’t ask to do as they say, but rather ask to just do something, think, and know that life is happening now
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7.0
19598
7.0 |
Slant Magazine
As good as this record is (and it is often very good), LCD Soundsystem can do, and has done, much better
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7.0
12316
7.0 |
Bowlegs
Overall it’s a record which feels slightly rushed and a little rough around the edges when compared to SOS, yet this is still a good enough epitaph for Murphy and his LCD comrades
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7.0
12148
7.0 |
Drowned In Sound
The sound of a man with great taste who really understands music, making dumb body music with hidden depths if anyone cares to investigate
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7.0
13560
7.0 |
Blurt
The hour long album includes nine tracks that range from ‘80s new wave to dance-punk to hypnotic trance
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6.0
12168
6.0 |
State
Never shakes the feeling that it’s going through the motions – flogging the well-worn disco-motorik grooves of yore
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6.0
12282
6.0 |
Evening Standard
The glum reality is that This Is Happening isn't happening enough
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6.0
12257
6.0 |
The Independent
He's still clearly in thrall to his glam/punk/Krautrock/minimalist influences
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6.0
11981
6.0 |
The List
On balance, perhaps Murphy is wise to move on
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6.0
11900
6.0 |
Mojo
An eloquent way to end their trilogy. Familiar elements ... are present and correct but everything is bolder and deeper. Print edition only
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6.0
11897
6.0 |
The Skinny
This Is Happening's reliance on familiar sources of inspiration is not what you expect from an established artist. But, though Murphy crossed that bridge long ago, he remains a talented man with great taste, and that results in a clutch of thrilling tracks
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6.0
11898
6.0 |
Uncut
If this is indeed, as rumoured, LCD's final bout, it finds them a little heavy and tired, but occasionally deceptively light on their feet. Print edition only
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6.0
19599
6.0 |
BBC
Despite occasional flashes of brilliance it’s a patchy, derivative work
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6.0
12366
6.0 |
The Scotsman
Bubblegum rabblerouser Drunk Girls is the immediate hit, but the 80s bleepology of Change and the Talking Heads-influenced jitter of Pow Pow are equally appealing
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4.0
12313
4.0 |
The Sunday Times
A good moment, clearly, to call time
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