James Jeremiah Murphy[2] (born February 4, 1970) is an American musician, DJ, singer, songwriter, and record producer.

His most well-known musical project is LCD Soundsystem, which first gained attention with its single "Losing My Edge" in 2002 before releasing its eponymous debut album in February 2005 to critical acclaim and top 20 success in the UK.

LCD Soundsystem's second and third studio albums, Sound of Silver (2007) and This Is Happening (2010) respectively, were praised by several music review outlets.

[9] LCD Soundsystem was named one of Rolling Stone's New Immortals—"currently active (or relatively recently defunct) artists who [they] think will stand the test of time.

In early 2016, the band announced a reunion as well as an appearance at the 2016 Coachella Festival, with their fourth album American Dream and respective tour following afterwards in 2017.

Murphy was born and grew up in Princeton Junction, New Jersey,[11] and graduated from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School in 1988.

In 2000 Murphy engineered Northern Irish DJ David Holmes' album Bow Down to the Exit Sign and was introduced to the record's co-producer, Tim Goldsworthy (formerly of UNKLE).

[20] In 2002, Murphy started the electronic dance-punk band LCD Soundsystem, releasing a string of singles through DFA Records.

The album is dedicated to Jerry Fuchs (1974–2009), who had performed drums live with the band on occasion as well as having a big part with other associated DFA acts.

[citation needed] Murphy announced his retirement from LCD Soundsystem with the release of This Is Happening, and made his last television appearance under that name on February 14, 2011, on The Colbert Report.

[citation needed] In July 2012, Shut Up and Play the Hits, a documentary film about Murphy and LCD Soundsystem's final concert, received a limited theatrical release in the US and subsequently in UK cinemas and on Blu-ray and DVD.

The film follows Murphy over a 48-hour period, from the day of the band's final gig at Madison Square Garden to the morning after the show.

[29] The film also features intermittent segments from an extended interview between Murphy and pop culture writer Chuck Klosterman.

[33] On January 5, 2016, Murphy confirmed a new studio album, called American Dream, would be released in 2016, and that the band would make additional appearances.

[35] On May 4, 2017, Murphy announced two new LCD Soundsystem singles entitled "Call the Police" and "American Dream" were to be released at midnight, coinciding with their performance on Saturday Night Live.

[37] After the disbandment of LCD Soundsystem (between 2011 and 2015), Murphy pursued other artistic projects including remixing, producing, directing, and even developing his own espresso.

[41] Though Murphy regularly stated in interviews that he "didn't do that much" to help Arcade Fire, he has said that he worked the most extensively on the song "Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice)".

[42][41] Together with David and Stephen Dewaele of 2ManyDjs, and engineer John Klett, Murphy designed Despacio: a formation of eight McIntosh speakers stacked to eleven feet.

The reason behind creating and performing with Despacio is to encourage DJs to implement a similar sound system, altering the course of DJ culture to its dance roots.

However, the MTA denied any possibility of the project happening, as the standard turnstile beep is a necessary ADA-compliant tool for the visually impaired.

Murphy composed an algorithm that generated pieces from the sounds and occurrences, such as fault, point and ace for example, of the actual matches.

Shut Up and Play the Hits, directed by Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern, documents the highlights of the show and Murphy's actions after it.

[52] The concert footage is interwoven with scenes from Murphy's personal life, including an interview with writer Chuck Klosterman.

[53] The documentary screened at select theaters around the US for a limited time in 2012, and was later released in a DVD and Blu-ray form by Oscilloscope on October 9, 2012.

Murphy and fellow LCD Soundsystem bandmember Nancy Whang collaborated with IDLES on the song "Dancer," released in 2023.