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Written by Gabe Bullard Sunday, 16 September 2007 13:35

While 45:33 was supposedly made for joggers to listen to while working out, A Bunch of Stuff seems destined for club DJs and people who aspire to be club DJs.

 

 

With the early singles "Losing My Edge" and "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House," it seemed like LCD Soundsystem (James Murphy) was a man after the hearts of dance-clubbers and irony-lovers alike, and the sales of the self-titled debut reflected that. Murphy's second album as LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver, supplied non-clubbers with even more dance music they wouldn't normally hear.

So it only makes sense that A Bunch of Stuff opens with a cover of Sound of Silver's "All My Friends" by another band that brought dance ideas to non-dancers, Franz Ferdinand. The cover sounds like one of the band's album cuts, proving the thinness of the line between electronic-influenced dance and guitar-driven dance-rock.

The rest of the EP is also covers, or as they're called in the dance world, "remixes," by artists like Soulwax and Gucci Soundsystem. These tracks cater more toward dance fans; every song but one (a radio remix of "Us V Them") is longer, with more time given to repeating beats and other rhythmic toying.

The last LCD Soundsystem EP was 45:33, a nearly hour-long workout track used to promote Nike's partnership with Apple. While that was supposedly made for joggers to listen to while working out, A Bunch of Stuff seems destined for club DJs and people who aspire to be club DJs.

Overall, this EP is an enjoyable, upbeat listen that isn't for casual LCD Soundsystem fans. Sure, a lot of the audience will probably like the remixes and rock cover, but unlike previous releases, this is dance music for people who already like dance music. B | Gabe Bullard

RIYL: Daft Punk, Le Tigre, Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party