There's a pretty solid chance that in James Murphy's personal day planner, the first week of December is perennially empty, except for a short, four-word phrase, presumably written in fat, blood-red block letters: Art Basel Miami Beach.
Last year, mere months before officially and finally disbanding his adored dance-rock band, Murphy and LCD Soundsystem made a special trip to SoBe for a private, invite-only performance at MOCA Los Angeles's Basel bash. And now the DFA Records exec and former LCD frontman will be back for Basel 2011, headlining another arty party in Miami, along with garage gang Black Lips, solo disco-house dude Midnight Surfer, and a "surprise guest DJ."
Presented by Toyota Antics and Filter Magazine, Murphy will play at Grand Central this Thursday under the Special Disco Version moniker along with ex-LCD bandmate Pat Mahoney. The project is essentially a two-man Soundsystem spinoff. But it's also been an occasionally wandering club event that's made stops in exotic locales such as San Fran, Chicago, Dublin, Belgrade, and Canada. "It's the name of the party and the traveling road show that is me and James Murphy playing records," Mahoney recently explained to the Daily Tar Heel. "Now that LCD is retired happily, we're doing some shows on the road as Special Disco Version."
Sounds like it's time to dance your art-loving ass off.
