So first off, I’d like to make one thing clear. DJ sets are not my “thing”. Not usually, anyways. But this was not just any DJ set. This was James Murphy.

     For those of you who have never heard of James Murphy, here’s a little background on possibly the hippest guy to ever walk the streets of Manhattan. Fronting the electronic dance-punk group LCD Soundsystem, Murphy spent the early 2000’s making waves in the indie music scene. With dance hits like Losing My Edge (2002), Daft Punk Is Playing at My House (2005), and All My Friends (2007), the band provided indie rockers with electronic music that they could “get down to” and cry to. After ending the legendary group with what might have been the most epic funeral of all time, selling out Madison Square Garden and throwing one final all-night party (and a great one at that), Murphy announced that he wasn’t finished with the indie music scene. He has since gone on to write music with Andre 3000 of Outkast and Damon Albarn of Gorillaz, and is currently working with Arcade Fire in producing their upcoming album, set for release in late October. Oh, and he’s somehow managed to put himself at #7 on The Rolling Stone’s “25 DJ’s That Rule The Earth”. In other words, I was understandably excited when I saw that James Murphy would be DJ-ing at The Sinclair on Friday, and apparently so was the rest of Cambridge. It was a sold-out show.

     Now I won’t say that I enjoyed Murphy’s DJ set as much as I do his original work, but I’d blame that on preference. If dance music is for you, listen up.

Upon walking into The Sinclair soon after opening, it didn’t look like much was happening at all. With maybe thirty people total in the club, the opening DJs weren’t able to stir up too much excitement. For the first hour or so listeners spent most of their time leaning on walls and buying drinks, and I personally didn’t care for the set too much. I understand that opening for someone who is presumably a better DJ than you are isn’t exactly easy, but I’d expected something more from the opening act for James Murphy himself; especially at a sold out show. Of course they did spin Toto’s Africa, so I guess I can’t be too hard on them.

When Murphy took the stage in a white T-shirt and with a pair of headphones around his neck (rather informal attire when compared to his tuxedos which he frequently sported at LCD Soundsystem’s shows) the crowd went wild. He didn’t bother to stop the track which the opening DJ’s were currently spinning, and instead he worked his way into the mix until the two openers had left the stage. I’d say that Murphy acted friendly enough towards the two DJ’s (it looked that way onstage) but after listening in on one of their conversations during Murphy’s set, I overheard that the former indie-rock star had gotten pretty angry when he heard the opening act “spinning one of his tracks.” Of course, I can’t blame him for being upset, and to be honest, I didn’t even notice the repeated portion of whatever song had been “stolen” from him.

Personally, my favorite part of the set was Murphy’s use of the percussion from The Rolling Stones’ Sympathy For The Devil in creating a mashup of classic rock and electronic dance music. Other than that iconic track, I wasn’t really able to identify any of Murphy’s choices by name except for maybe a few Bowie songs, but I did genuinely enjoy most of the performance. Incoming junior Max DiRado explains, “I don’t like dancing, and I don’t like house music; but I liked this.” Aside from the whole dancing part, I’d have to agree with him.

For fans of Murphy’s music, I would recommend the following albums: Hot Chip’s ‘The Warning’ (2006), Passion Pit’s ‘Chunk of Change’ (2008), and anything by Daft Punk.