LCD Soundsystem: 45:33 (2LP) [DFA]

Why you'll love it

This 2LP gatefold set spreads the piece over four sides for a proper, uninterrupted listen. 45:33 is James Murphy at his most expansive, and its third movement grew into "Someone Great" on Sound of Silver.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Gatefold jacket

About the album

Not many great dance records began life as a brief from a sportswear company. In 2006 Nike asked James Murphy to make something for its Nike+ Original Run series, music built to soundtrack a workout. He went into DFA Studios in New York that summer and came out with a single 45-minute piece in six parts, named after the two speeds of a turntable.

It moves like a long night out. A spare intro gives way to the cowbell-driven "You Can't Hide (Shame on You)" section, then a lovely instrumental passage that Murphy later reworked for Sound of Silver, then the hypnotic, spaced-out middle and a slow, glowing outro. Murphy plays almost everything himself, from drums and bass to synths, with Eric Broucek on programming, Alex Frankel on Wurlitzer, a pair of trumpets and Terra Deva on vocals. Each part flows straight into the next, so it plays like one long DJ set from a band that happens to be one man.

DFA put it out on CD and vinyl in 2007, giving it a life well beyond the running track. We've played it in the shop countless times, and nobody has yet broken into a jog.

Also at Kops: more LCD Soundsystem on vinyl · browse Electronic

Tracklist

Listen

On DFA (cat# DFA2163LP), a reissue of the 2006 album.