Matt & Kim: Grand [FADER]

Why you'll love it

This Fader LP comes in a lyrics inner sleeve. "Lessons Learned" won Breakthrough Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, and "Daylight" became the Brooklyn duo's signature singalong.

This edition

• Lyrics inner sleeve

About the album

Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino named their second album after Grand Street, the Brooklyn street they called home, then went somewhere much quieter to make it. Grand was recorded entirely in the Vermont house where Matt grew up, just the two of them, keyboards, drums and a lot of shouting along.

"Daylight" opens with a bright, bouncing piano riff and a chorus built for a crowd, and it bookends the record with a closing remix. "Lessons Learned" got its famous video in Times Square, "Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare" and "Cutdown" rattle along on Kim's big, simple beats, and "I Wanna" and "Don't Slow Down" keep the energy at full tilt, and "Turn This Boat Around" and "I'll Take Us Home" add a wistful streak. The whole thing is lo-fi and frantic, and you can hear them grinning.

Billboard praised its spunk, high energy and carefree attitude, and the duo's live shows turned it into a party record for a whole generation of house parties. Making an album at your parents' place is a bold move; most of us can't get through a long weekend there without being asked to clear out the garage.

Also at Kops: more Matt & Kim on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Listen

On Fader (cat# FL-1816), a reissue of the 2009 album.