Music review: LCD Soundsystem at Barrowland, Glasgow

According to the lyrics of one of LCD Soundsystem's best loved songs New York brings them down, but Glasgow lifted them high last night, as the Brooklyn cool cat ensemble returned to play the first of two sold out shows in their favourite venue, turning Barrowland into a Studio 54 boogie wonderland with their signature spinning discoball.

LCD Soundsystem ****

Barrowland, Glasgow

Below its beams, the stage was set with an orchestra of synthesizers and percussion, with the eight players, including foreman James Murphy, at their stations, turning out a production line of irresistible grooves from the driving motorik rhythm of Call the Police to the 80s synth pop vibe of I Can Change, while an LCD clock counted down the two-hour shift.

Not everyone can translate great music taste into great original music, but Murphy is a shrewd curator of dance music traditions. Yr City’s a Sucker showcased the punk edge to their partying, while the fuzzy analogue synth sound and techno pulse of Tribulations exhibited the ever-present influence of New Order.

The crowd were suitably fired up for the nosebleed electro punk of Movement but let loose in more cathartic style on the torch song New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down, with Murphy mining the melodrama for all he was worth. However, his entertaining spoken word chronicle Losing My Edge remains the quintessential LCD punk-funk number, dedicated here to Glasgow club night Optimo which first brought this New York party band to town.