if joy division was already pioneering a post-punk movement in the 70s, it’s hard to make sense of lcd soundsystem’s cover (post-post?) of their classic “no love lost”, released last year on their split single with the arcade fire. while joy division’s original needs no challenging in its unrivaled raw energy, lcd soundsystem’s version remains relevant simply for raising certain questions on the meaning of going post-joy division, as many bands today so undertake. their cover of “no love lost” stays surprisingly true to the original, from the patient introspective opening to the overall delivery, almost as if in such awe of joy division’s legacy that only a faithful tribute seemed fitting. why even bother?, one might ask. on one hand this allows us to see the debt owed to joy division in lcd soundystem’s own work, but on the other, it reveals the paradoxical futility of going down that route. what sets james murphy and co. apart is how they’ve carried on the joy division ethic without trying to mimic their aesthetic (listen to sound of silver again if you haven’t for the hundredth time). that they’ve failed to add much to the song stands not so much as a flawed cover on their part, but a knowing statement to the world that they know their heroes well enough to avoid sounding like them, all this whilst indulging the sinful pleasure of being nothing else but a cover band, if only for just this once. no love lost, yeah.
3 responses so far ↓
Media Training // August 27, 2008 at 11:23 pm |
LCD Soundsytems a Sound of Silver was one of my albums of last year and I have to say I would be very interested in finding out more about this single which I had no idea was out!
wakingupto // August 28, 2008 at 12:46 am |
hi peter! it was one of my favorite albums of last year too: ) this was released as a split 7″ single with the arcade fire on merge records and sold during the tour they shared together. there were some copies leftover that went on sale at the dfa webstore.
the song also appears on the “all my friends” 7″ which features a franz ferdinand cover of the a-side. “all of friends” was, in my opinion, one of the highlights of sound of silver.
flip music charts // February 6, 2009 at 4:18 am |
Thank you very much for the great information.
Thanks
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