7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.3 |
Documentary following the build up to the US-based dance-punk band LCD Soundsystem's final show at Madison Square Garden, New York, in April 2011. The band's main creative force is songwriter and producer James Murphy, who the film makers followed closely for the 48 hours surrounding the show. With LCD Soundsystem set to go out at the peak of their popularity, there was an intense spotlight on both the gig and Murphy during this period. How would the musician cope with the build up to the gig, the performance itself and waking up the next morning knowing that the band would never perform again?
Starring: James Murphy (XXV), LCD SoundsystemMusic | 100% |
Documentary | 90% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: LPCM 2.0
English SDH, French
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (3 BDs)
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
When James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem announced in 2011 that the band would be calling it quits, a thousand thousand indie-minded twenty-and- thirty-somethings—record shop employees, bedroom recording artists, mixtape masters, fixie riders, vinyl curators, hipsters if you absolutely must use the dreaded word—loosed a sad collective sigh over the internet. For a decade, LCD Soundsystem's electro-dance- punk has been the backbeat for house parties, the earbud metronome for late night urban jogging sessions, the make-out music for the youngish and drunk and studiously cool. The fashionably grizzled Murphy himself has become a kind of D.I.Y. hero. Unlike the mythic and unapproachable rock stars of yore— the Bowies and Nick Caves, say—he's iconic but also one of us, a husky scruff in a blazer who DJ'd for a while, played in local bands, got into music production, and then started LCD Soundsystem in his thirties just for kicks, with no intention to tour or make it big. After nine years and three albums, though, the band did get big, maybe not mainstream top-40 huge, but massively influential by indie rock standards.
With Spike Jonze and Yorick Le Saux and Reed Morano behind the camera, Shut Up and Play the Hits unsurprisingly features better cinematography than most concert movies. The film's 1080p/AVC-encoded Blu-ray presentation is gorgeous, and since Oscilloscope opted to split this release into a 3-disc set, instead of trying to cram the documentary and the entire 4-hour concert onto two discs, there are no compression issues to mar the experience. Shot digitally using Arri Alexa cameras—and a few DSLRs too, from the look of some of the footage—the concert and interview material is satisfyingly sharp and clean, with visible fine detail in closeups and an overall sense of refinement. Noise does spike when lighting is particularly low, but this is to be expected, and it isn't distracting—or even noticeable, really—from a normal viewing distance. Color is dense and well- graded, with vibrant flashing lights at the show and a punchy-but-realistic quality to the interview scenes. Contrast is right where it needs to be as well; blacks are deep but never crushing, and highlights rarely blow out. The high level of picture quality is maintained across all three discs. No distractions or slip-ups here.
James Murphy personally supervised the film's mixing process, so we can presume that the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track included here is absolutely true to intent. Rather than panning instrumentation arbitrarily into the rear channels, Murphy keeps the mix live-sounding, with the band anchored firmly in the front channels and a light wash of crowd noise and acoustic ambience in the surround speakers. Its like you're right there on the Madison Square Garden floor. The music is dynamic and detailed and has a great sense of presence, especially when you crank your receiver up a few notches from your normal listening levels. Bass is deep but defined, drum hits are crisp, guitar and synth lines slice through clearly, and Murphy's vocals ride comprehensibly over it all. There is a noticeable volume disparity between the loudness of the concert footage and the relative quiet of the documentary/interview material, so you might want to keep your remote handy. Otherwise, there are no issues here whatsoever; Shut Up and Play the Hits sounds fantastic. Do note that the disc also includes an uncompressed Linear PCM 2.0 track—that hits just as hard—along with optional English SDH and French subtitles.
Disc 1: Shut Up and Play the Hits
Shut Up and Play the Hits is one of the best concert films since The Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense; capturing LCD Soundsystem at its peak and revealing the mixed emotions of its 42-year-old frontman, James Murphy, who chose to gracefully remove himself from the limelight. If the film itself weren't enough, this gorgeous Blu-ray set from Oscilloscope also includes the entire concert—nearly four hours— spread across two separate discs, all housed within a classy recycled cardboard case. With sound personally mixed by Murphy and a crisp high definition image, this is an absolute must-own release for fans of the band, and I suspect it may eventually be responsible for some new converts to the cult of LCD Soundsystem as well. Highly recommended!
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