LCD Soundsystem, This Is Happening
James Murphy makes dance music for people who don't normally like dance music. Operating under the name LCD Soundsystem, the DJ and record producer has created some of this decade's most undeniably catchy rhythms, and the tracks on This Is Happening are no exception. To get people to dance, you usually have to sing about wanting to dance — which makes for some pretty boring lyrics — but Murphy makes depressive introspection groovy on such lovelorn laments as "I Can Change" and "All I Want." In fact, much of the album deals with regret, isolation and pain. Even the hyperactive "Drunk Girls" isn't at all the party anthem it sounds like. It's just a kick-ass dance song that will be chanted by kids who don't realize they're pumping their fists to a song that is mocking them.