1/1/1900 21:33

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2007 CD release from the New York Avante-Electronic outfit, the much sought after (and previously a download-only) '45:33'. This cut was the band's iTunes collaboration with Nike and is without a doubt one of the most unique pieces of work you will hear all year. The CD comes with extra tracks thrown in for good measure (two previous LCD b-sides and a remix of "North American Scum"). DFA. .com ---- Initially created as part of a marketing campaign with Nike and iTunes, 45:33 was supposedly designed to be the ideal jogging soundtrack. If you’re familiar with the sardonic antics of James Murphy (a.k.a. LCD Soundsystem) you hear that background and wait for the punchline. Turns out there isn’t one, which--of course--might be the joke. Recreated here as a series of continuous tracks, the composition has the arc of good workout music: It starts slow, works up a lather, then gradually winds down. 45:33 is mostly played straight, a big, bright rave-up peppered with hypnotic melodies and tongue-in-cheek samples. After the opening disco-fied, downtempo piano motif, the beats soon drop, packing in a focused momentum and deep, insistent thumps. It ends with a sparse, ambient hum that, while done perfectly well here, has been done elsewhere before, and better. Overall, listening to the ultra-cool Murphy drop the pretense and cut a rug is too fun to complain about. Three other tracks are included here: a version of the single "North American Scum" and two b-sides ("Hippie Priest Burn-Out," "Freak Out/Starry Eyes"). In combination, the entire package feels a little thrown together but should satisfy those iPod-deprived souls who missed it the first time around. –Matthew Cooke