Massive Attack live @ Wiltern Theatre, L.A.. CA 5/19/2010

Massive Attack played L.A. for three sold-out nights last week.

I went on the "middle" night, Wednesday. The show was awesome. Massive Attack is still one of my favorite bands of all-time, and they did not disappoint in the least.

Here is my video of them performing "Karmacoma" that night (from the pit, thank you very much!). Good times.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM, "This is Happening (DFA/Virgin)

Like many great modern artists, James Murphy is a master emulator. He has built LCD Soundsystem from a well-studied pastiche between “indie” nonchalance and “underground” dance aesthetics — and, for the most part, it works. “This is Happening” is a meticulously crafted album of New York cool meets Pitchfork-informed self-consciousness, all the right moves made with a nudge and wink. Opening with the almost nine-minute-long epic “Dance Yrself Clean,” the third LCD Soundsystem full-length is only a couple of curious retreads away from being a 5-star achievement like 2007's SOUND OF SILVER. The single “Drunk Girls” lurches about like “Daft Punk is Playing at My House” remixed with zing-heavy lyrics that read more like Aziz Ansari than James Murphy. But when referencing Berlin-period Bowie and classic Psychedelic Furs in one song (“All I Want”), crafting heartfelt dance-floor love songs (“I Can Change”) and signature DFA grooves (“You Wanted A Hit”), THIS IS HAPPENING is ample evidence of how much sonic goodness can be wrung from only a handful of the right references.

(Originally published by Shockhound.com. Photo by Rachel Carr)