Just like the Fleet Foxes at #12, the band at #11 broke up at the beginning of the decade, only to reunite to great triumph years later. But where the Fleet Foxes went away in 2011 with a whimper, James Murphy and his band LCD Soundsystem went out in the biggest way possible, playing their “last show ever” at Madison Square Garden along with four warm-up shows at Terminal 5 in New York. The build up to those last shows was even followed by a documentary about the experience. It features many non-performance shots of Murphy in his daily life as well as him being interviewed by Chuck Klosterman, called Shut Up and Play the Hits (it’s great, if you haven’t seen it I recommend it highly). The band was 100% dead by the end of 2012.

Or so it seemed. Three years later, the rumors started flying around the internet that LCD Soundsystem was going to be reuniting in 2016. Thankfully, the rumors proved to be true. They reunited, and then proceeded to record this album, american dream, which is truly great. It sounds as if the band never went anywhere, picking up exactly where they left off in sound and stature. This isn’t the first time LCD Soundsystem has appeared on the Top 31. Their previous album, This is Happening, was #21 that year (looking back, I should have ranked it much higher, probably around #11 or #12, as I continue to listen to it fairly regularly).

Much like past LCD albums, there are one or two klunker songs, but overall it’s superb. The same influences are there (David Bowie being most prominent), with the same unmistakable sound and James Murphy’s near-spoken lyrics. If you’ve liked past LCD Soundsystem albums, you’ll like this one every bit as much.

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12. Crack-Up by Fleet Foxes
13. Famous Last Words by The True Loves
14. Cry Cry Cry by Wolf Parade
15. Pure Comedy by Father John Misty
16. Shake the Shudder by !!!
17. La La Land (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by La La Land
18. The Underside of Power by Algiers
19. What Now by Sylvan Esso
20. 50 Song Memoir by The Magnetic Fields
21. Plunge by Fever Ray
22. DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar
23. Capacity by Big Thief
24. The Tourist by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
25. CCFX EP by CCFX
26. Woodstock by Portugal. The Man
27. MASSEDUCTION by St. Vincent
28. On the Spot by Hot 8 Brass Band
29. A Deeper Understanding by The War on Drugs
30. Planetarium by Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner, & James McAlister
31. A Moment Apart by Odesza

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2009-2016 Top 31s