45:33 by LCD Soundsystem

LCD Soundsystem, DFA founder James Murphy’s main musical project, are one of the key acts of the second half of the decade. Between debut LCD Soundsystem and 2007′s Sound of Silver came 45:33. If electronic music is best suited to long mixes, from Autobahn to Orbital, then 45:33 is not only LCD Soundsystem’s best album, but also the best electronic album of the decade. A single piece of music, that plays like a DJ set, and was commissioned by Nike, as a piece that can be listened to whilst jogging, what was most impressive about the piece was its variety.

Earlier LCD releases had a dark punky edginess to them, yet 45:33 owes as much to Philadelphia International Records and Tom Moulton’s disco mixes as to any other sources. In a decade where disco made a bit of a shy comeback, via a range of electro-pop records, LCD Soundsystem’s lack of fear in taking on the dancefloor was one of their finest traits.

If 45:33 is undoubtedly one of the best albums of the decade, it is because it is one of the very few albums to take the CD format seriously – yet it was issued as the CD hit a decline, and the download became the thing, with the original track only available as a download. Download this to the iPod and there’s no breaks, no stopping, just a glorious three quarters of an hour long electronic symphony – made as much for listening as moving.

The CD reissue spoils the concept a little, with 3 additional tracks, and track markers throughout 45:33. The piece can get a little noodly at times, and it is other “electronic pioneers” like Jarre and Tangerine Dream that come to mind when it moves into its more comedown phase. Those of us who love electronic music do so for its ability to evoke a range of moods, and Murphy’s washes of bells, strings, and keyboard swells are for ambient late nights as much as the morning run.

Perhaps its very specialist nature is its one limitation. How can you choose your best bit? (Though the remixes album probably helped with that). Early disco albums frequently had a whole side synchronised together, and I’m always on the lookout for old vinyl disco records in that format, yet disco remains sneered at by the cognoscenti – particularly when it comes to a “disco album” – yet that is what 45:33 is, and probably the best for twenty years or more.

None of the additional tracks add much, other than value for money, and I guess there’s a playing around with what an album actual is (their debut for instance, was a mix of new tracks and – a superior second disc – of existing singles), particularly for a “dance act”. Considering how short those Kraftwerk masterpieces are, length isn’t that important. 45:33 remains a homage in its many parts, but the decade has had a recycling element to it, whether its this, or the White Stripes new version of the blues and Led Zep, or La Roux’s new eighties pop.

If the main thing that sticks in your mind is the lovely part three – which would reappear on their next proper album – or the disco drive of part four, its the ambition of the whole piece that remains powerful.