Chris DeLine

DFA President and LCD Soundsystem patriarch James Murphy laces up his shoes and takes to the track as he follows the pace set by the Crystal Method for the second recording in Nike+ Original Run series. For those unfamiliar with the series, the music is made for running, that’s it; no dramatic inspiration, just one mission: make music that accommodates the runner. And as a runner himself, Murphy has done well.

As the forty-some-odd-minute release flows by it becomes unique in that it completely melds together as one solid sound, staying away from the fault of The Method’s take which distinctly swerved in and out of sound lanes attacking its listener at times with mood shifting tempos and samples. Initially beginning the mix with a casual DFA hand smack Murphy takes roughly four and a half minutes before breaking out transparent gospel and proving his mix to be an adventure in itself.

Mixing in an ode to electronic forefathers The Chemical Brothers at around the ten and a half minute mark adds a bit of raver chick swagger to the mix, something that is definitely good in small doses. Then it hits – the realization that 45:33 isn’t simply music formulated to match a runner’s rhythm, it’s something more, but you mustn’t think, you must run. As the twenty minute mark approaches you realize your head has been unknowingly bobbing from side to side as the tracks front cowbell as a weapon, combating the overwhelming techno siege which too is eventually defeated as trumpets bombard and take over a disco-heavy vocal loop.

There are no breaks, there are no individual tracks and there are no high or lows. As the last two minutes of calming ambiance attest to, 45:33 is one of the most complete pieces of electronic music that has been created in a long time, capturing any number of genres and helping influence the listener/runner into redefining what it is that they like about music. And all under the Nike label? The same company that is endlessly accused of global bullying and misguided corporate ethics? It’s a crazy world and it’s hard to know what’s right and what’s wrong, but sometimes all you can do is run; at least this way you have a proper soundtrack.

[This post was first published by Culture Bully.]