If we here at Crossfade ever manage to get a glimpse at James Murphy's personal day planner, there's a pretty solid chance that 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's Basel bash.
And now, the DFA Records' exec and former LCD frontman has announced that he's gonna 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 be playing at Grand Central on December 1 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 such exotic locales as San Fran, Chicago, Dublin, Belgrade, and Canada.
"Special Disco Version is the name of the party and the traveling road show that is me and James Murphy playing records," Mahoney told the Daily Tar Heel a couple of weeks ago. "We had a party in New York a couple years back that was regularly at Santos Party House in downtown Manhattan.
"It was every Wednesday night, but we put it on a shelf because LCD (Soundsystem) went back on tour. Now that LCD is retired happily, we're doing some shows on the road as Special Disco Version."
James Murphy and Pat Mahoney's Special Disco Version with Black Lips, Midnight Surfer, and a "surprise guest DJ." Thursday, December 1. Grand Central, 697 N. Miami Ave., Miami. The party starts at 10 p.m. and admission is free with RSVP to uptheantics.com/discobasel. Call 305-377-2277 or visit grandcentralmiami.com.
Follow Crossfade on Facebook and Twitter @Crossfade_SFL.
