He wasn't always a billionaire international pop superstar with a private jetSo today at the office I am spinning 2003's still-appallingly excellent DFA Compilation #1, which I remember acquiring at Philly's AKA Records back when it was still hopscotching around 2nd Street. DFA #1 assembled all of the vinyl-only 12-inch singles released to that point by the Death From Above (hence, The DFA) production team of James Murphy (now better known for his role as LCD Soundsystem) and Tim Goldsworthy (of U.N.K.L.E.). The track listing is as follows:
Yet, revisit these early tracks and you needn't feel like you've missed too too much (even though you kind of have.) The DNA is all there, from the four-on-the-floor throwdown of "By the Time I Get to Venus" to the cracked out bleep-gasm of "Cone Toaster" to the barbed wit of the scene-skewering (and celebrating) "Losing My Edge". Greatest amongst equals is The Rapture's anthemic "House of Jealous Lovers", the single that dominated 2002's more discerning dancefloors and broke The DFA "sound". Presented here in its complete majesty, "House of Jealous Lovers" is, along with Yeah Yeah Yeah's "Maps" and The Strokes Is This It, one of the most enduring artifacts of the early-'00s New York scene that was supposed to save rock and roll and shape American pop music for the next decade. Remember this when Echoes is reissued to much fanfare 20 years from now after a long spell out of print.
Luckily for you, DFA Compilation #1 remains in print to this day, although it may not be readily available at all brick-and-mortar record shops. So before you rush out to pick up that new Prinzhorn Dance School 7-inch or the upcoming Shocking Pinks album, sit down with some jams of the old new school and kick it like you're still the coolest kid in college.
- "By the Time I Get to Venus" - The Juan MacLean
- "Give It Up" - LCD Soundsystem
- "House of Jealous Lovers" - The Rapture
- "Cone Toaster" - Black Dice
- "You Can't Have It Both Ways" - The Juan MacLean
- "Silent Morning" - The Rapture
- "Losing My Edge" - LCD Soundsystem
- "Endless Happiness" - Black Dice
Yet, revisit these early tracks and you needn't feel like you've missed too too much (even though you kind of have.) The DNA is all there, from the four-on-the-floor throwdown of "By the Time I Get to Venus" to the cracked out bleep-gasm of "Cone Toaster" to the barbed wit of the scene-skewering (and celebrating) "Losing My Edge". Greatest amongst equals is The Rapture's anthemic "House of Jealous Lovers", the single that dominated 2002's more discerning dancefloors and broke The DFA "sound". Presented here in its complete majesty, "House of Jealous Lovers" is, along with Yeah Yeah Yeah's "Maps" and The Strokes Is This It, one of the most enduring artifacts of the early-'00s New York scene that was supposed to save rock and roll and shape American pop music for the next decade. Remember this when Echoes is reissued to much fanfare 20 years from now after a long spell out of print.
Luckily for you, DFA Compilation #1 remains in print to this day, although it may not be readily available at all brick-and-mortar record shops. So before you rush out to pick up that new Prinzhorn Dance School 7-inch or the upcoming Shocking Pinks album, sit down with some jams of the old new school and kick it like you're still the coolest kid in college.
