Continuing my look at the albums of 2005…
Pretty much every one of these Decades series serves up an album that is definitively not for me. For 2005, it’s LCD Soundsystem’s self-titled debut.
This indie electronica record received rave reviews and landed two Grammy nominations. Critics praised it for throwing a bunch of genres into a blender and mixing them all up to a sick dance beat.
Do music critics have to learn to like, or at least appreciate, every kind of music? At some point, doesn’t your taste extend to a finite set of sounds? I wonder if critics sometimes pass an assignment to a colleague and admit they won’t be able to give an album a fair assessment because it’s simply not their cup of tea.
I’m a fan, not a critic, so I can listen to the bulk of this album and know it’s nothing I’ll ever listen to again. And certainly nothing I can write about with any intelligence or nuance. The best I can do is say it’s too monotonous and noisy.
I will say today’s SOTD, the opening track and most successful single, is decent. But it doesn’t get any better than this.
Well, Daft Punk is playing at my house, my house
I’ll show you the ropes kid, show you the ropes
I got a bus and a trailer at my house, my house
I’ll show you the ropes kid, show you the ropes
I bought fifteen cases for my house, my house
All the furniture is in the garage
Well, Daft Punk is playing at my house, my house
You got to set them up kid, set them up
[Chorus]
You got to set ’em up, ooh ooh yeah
You got to set ’em up, ooh ooh yeah
You got to set them up, set them up
[Verse 2]
Well, Daft Punk is playing at my house, my house
I waited 7 years and 15 days
There’s every kid for miles at my house, my house
And the neighbors can’t call the police
There’s a fist fight brewin’ at my house, my house
Because the jocks can’t get in the door
When Daft Punk is playing at my house, my house
You got to set them up kid, set them up
[Chorus]
You got to set ’em up, ooh ooh yeah
You got to set ’em up, ooh ooh yeah
You got to set them up, set them up
You got to set ’em up, ooh ooh yeah
You got to set ’em up, ooh ooh yeah
You got to set them up, set them up
[Cowbell Solo]
[Verse 3]
Well, everybody’s lined up in my house, my house
And Sarah’s girlfriend is working the door
Got everybody’s PA in my house, my house
All the robots descend from the bus
There’s a freak out brewing in my house, my house
In the basement
‘Cause Daft Punk is playing in my house, my house
You got to set them up kid, set them up
[Chorus]
You got to set ’em up, ooh ooh yeah
You got to set ’em up, ooh ooh yeah
You got to set them up, set them up
You got to set ’em up, ooh ooh yeah
You got to set ’em up, ooh ooh yeah
You got to set them up, set them up
[Outro]
And never, never let them go
No never, never, never let them go
Never, never, never let them go
Let ’em go
Never, never, never let them go
Oh never, never, never let them go
Never, never, never let them go
Let them go
Downtown
Meet Me In Montauk 
I think the same can be said about film critics reviewing different genres of movies. If a critic doesn’t like horror films or westerns, should they still review these films? Do they just go along with the consensus? I can’t recall a critic ever confessing to not liking a genre but they can’t all like everything.
Perhaps an even better example is a food critic. I suppose to be a good one, you really have to like all types of foods and cuisine, or do some of them just, to paraphrase A Few Good Men, follow the crowd at chow time?