LCD Soundsystem is the stage name of American producer James Murphy, co-founder of record label DFA Records. Murphy's style is a mix of dance music and punk, along with elements of disco, experimental rock, and other styles. He has released three critically acclaimed albums, with 2010's This Is Happening also charting in the Billboard Top 10.

LCD Soundsystem gained attention with its first single, "Losing My Edge". Described as "an eight-minute, laugh-out-loud funny dissection of cool over a dirty electronic beat"^[1] the single became an underground dance favourite. This was followed by other well received singles "Give It Up" and "Yeah".

LCD Soundsystem released a double disc set simply titled LCD Soundsystem in February 2005 to critical acclaim. The first disc contains the album and the second contains re-releases of previous singles. The opening track "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House" quickly gained popularity and entered the UK Top 40 in March 2005 and was later featured on several video game soundtracks like SSX on Tour, Forza Motorsport 2, Burnout Revenge, and FIFA 06. The band toured with M.I.A..^[2]

In June 2005, the band covered a Siouxsie and the Banshees song, "Slowdive" for the B-side of "Disco Infiltrator".^[3]

On December 8, 2005 the group received nominations for two Grammy awards in the Electronica category for their self-titled album and in the Dance category for "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House."^[4] This album was also chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005.^[5]

In October 2006, James Murphy released a track entitled "45:33" as part of a promotion with Nike for download from iTunes.^[6] The track is, strangely, 45 minutes and 58 seconds long, and was claimed to "reward and push at good intervals of a run".^[7] However, it was later revealed that this was not the case, but that Murphy merely wanted the opportunity to create a long piece of music, akin to E2-E4 by Manuel Göttsching.^[8]

LCD Soundsystem's second album, Sound of Silver, was released on March 12, 2007, to near universal critical acclaim.^[9] Praise included Mixmag awarding it the title Album of the Month, a 9.2 score from Pitchfork Media^[10] and a 5-star review from The Guardian.^[11] The album release was preceded by the single "North American Scum".

LCD Soundsystem's subsequent single "All My Friends" included a cover of the song by both Franz Ferdinand and former Velvet Underground member John Cale.^[12] The digital download "All My Friends" EP also includes a cover of the early Joy Division song "No Love Lost". In September 2007, the "A Bunch of Stuff" EP was released^[13] and the band went on tour with Arcade Fire.^[14] Late in 2007, the band released "Someone Great" as the third single off of Sound of Silver and re-released 45:33 on CD and vinyl through DFA Records.^[15] In December 2007, there was a release of a 12-inch record containing b-sides from European singles for the North American market entitled "Confuse the Marketplace".^[16]

Also in December 2007, the band received a nomination for the Grammy for Best Electronic/Dance Album.^[17] The album was also named the best album of 2007 by publications such as The Guardian,^[18] Uncut^[19] and Drowned in Sound.^[20]

Time magazine named "All My Friends" one of The 10 Best Songs of 2007, ranking it at #4. Writer Josh Tyrangiel praised the "magic" in the song, saying that the song's "straightforward repetition of the same guitar, keyboard and bass lines, combined with lyrics about life without regret, and life with all kinds of regrets pays off with a punch about what we lose as we get older."^[21][22] The album was also nominated for the 2007 Shortlist Prize, where it lost out to The Reminder by Feist.^[23]