Twenty years ago, producer and musician James Murphy was gripped with the fear of creative failure… so he set about bringing the New York dance-punk scene to the masses.

Already well known in New York for production work and DJ sets, James Murphy co-founded the DFA label alongside Tim Goldsworthy and Jonathan Galkin in 2001, releasing some of the city's finest modern riches (including the absolutely scorching debut LP, Echoes by The Rapture). But there was a creative itch that needed scratching, and Murphy formed the band LCD Soundsystem to unify his influences across punk, dance and other electronic glitches. Preceded by the smash "Losing My Edge" 12” in 2002, the eponymous debut LP was recorded primarily at DFA Studios in Manhattan, with Murphy writing, producing and performing the vast majority of the material himself. He is in fact credited as “most sounds”, with Tim Goldsworthy, Eric Broucek, Tyler Pope, Nancy Whang, Patrick Mahoney and Mandy Coon listed as providing “other sounds”.

That loose approach from contributors really adds to the unfussy atmosphere, the album is all about groove. Listening to it twenty years later it still sounds so vibrant, with the rawness of the production giving it a free flowing energy, with its analogue imperfections adding to a sound that evokes a DJ set as much as anything else. And that is what really came across, it is an album rich in NYC influences and high on party energy. A little bit of ESG, some Talking Heads, the motorik strut of Can and a reimagining of punk basslines and New Wave. The Guardian nailed it on release with a five star review that proclaimed that “LCD Soundsystem is that rare beast: music for both brain and feet.”

One of our favourite LCD Soundsystem signifiers are the off-kilter tracks that sit beautifully amongst the pumping synths and crunching drum machines. The first side of the record ends with one of those, a beauty called ‘Never as Tired as When I’m Waking Up’ that is more George Harrison than post-disco banger. On the other side, the album closer ‘Great Release’ is another great example as the drum machine skiffles at a whisper under epic piano shapes. The album has such a timeless feel, from the first crackles - on the era defining ‘Daft Punk Is Playing at My House’ - through to each time something stark or pulsating fills the stereo; it could have been created anytime in the last fifty years, give or take.

Confident but with cause, LCD Soundsystem starts, extends and brings any party to a crescendo.