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James Murphy Opens Up (About Tolkien) and Plays the Hits for Red Bull

James Murphy, Red Bull Music Academy, video

“To want me to do something that you want me to do,” James Murphy told an interviewer from the Guardian recently, “is to miss the fucking point.” But what if what we want is to watch the LCD Soundsystem and DFA Records honcho hold forth passionately and nerdily about music, right before listening to him spin a wide-ranging DJ set? Well, that’d be on point, is the point.

On Monday, Murphy talked about his influences, his experiences, and how J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy affected his approach to music-making in an enlightening 90-minute chat at the Red Bull Music Academy in Manhattan (watch above, via Rolling Stone). On Saturday night, as part of DFA’s 12-year anniversary festivities, Murphy played records for about an hour at Grand Prospect Hall in Brooklyn (listen below). The set is as classy, disco-riddled, and eclectic as you’d expect. Giorgio Moroder executed the same two-part play for RBMA earlier this month, speaking on his mustache and spinning the hits.

And in case you’re wondering what Murphy has to say about the Arcade Fire record he’s helping produce, he told RS, “I think it’s going to be a really great record, actually.” Fine! We didn’t want you to tell us anything about one of our 50 Albums You Gotta Hear in 2013 anyway. #reversepsychology