The Beat Tip

(Oooooooohhh... on) The Beat Tip

Taking a page from Fametracker, this feature will assess a band's current perceived status to summarize why (not) a band is justifying their existence.

Episode One: James Murphy/Tim Goldsworthy/The DFA/LCD Soundsystem/Other Applicable Aliases

Awesome?
-A rather large supply of ass-shaking tunes, both on their own and as producers. (See: (The Rapture's) "House of Jealous Lovers", "Losing My Edge", "Beat Connection")

-Remixes that significantly improve the originals, including (N.E.R.D.'s) "She Wants to Move" and (le Tigre's) "Deceptacon."

-Yet to sign to a major label.

-"Losing My Edge" might just be the seminal hipster tune of the last few years.

-Either opportunistic or innovative - they contributed to what some think of as the death of the "indie" rock scene by encouraging hipsters to go from collectors to creators. (Not to mention a movement from shoe-gazing to ass-shaking.)

Stupid?
-Headlined a tour for Sony's Playstation, inspiring this acid-tongued response from Pitchfork (who also flashed some rarely-seen cajones with this paragraph):

"In our relentless effort to bring you the best vibes, LCD Soundsystem will kick off the second leg of one of the most exciting PlayStation DualPlay tours ever!" screams the DualPlay website. "From Portland to Atlantic City, led by James Murphy, LCD Soundsystem will move you in directions you might not be able to control!" Like to the bathroom to vomit up a toxic puke of Sparks, vodka, and Murphy's remaining cred points.

-Repeatedly use the same ripped-straight-from-the-BeeGees-disco-inferno bassline. (See: "Yeah" (Crass Version) and their remix of Goldfrapp’s “Slide In”)

-Ironic to nauseating levels.

-Tend to turn remixes into forums for them to musically masturbate all over you by taking four minute tunes and adding eight minutes of their own meanderings. (See: (Goldfrapp's) "Slide In", (Nine Inch Nail's) "Hand That Feeds")

-Had a grossly stupid dispute with Death From Above 1979 over name rights.

Summary

Current approximate level of fame: Brian Eno
Deserved level of fame: The Neptunes

As opposed to the musical innovators that some people (read: James Murphy) see them as, these guys really are just great at laying down a hot beat.