DJ, producer, and electronic music wizard James Murphy hasn't released any original music since he disbanded his beloved dance act LCD Soundsystem back in 2011 (with the exception of the Converse-commissioned Gorillaz/Andre 3000 collaborative single "DoYaThing" in 2012), but his new project comes pretty close.
As reported by Self-Titled, Murphy is currently working with IBM developer Patrick Gunderson on the U.S. Open Sessions project, in which raw data gathered from tennis matches at the U.S. Open is being turned into algorithms to create musical compositions.
Each match at the tournament will be translated into its own abstract electronic composition. "We're gonna generate almost 400 hours worth of music," Murphy said in a trailer for the project. Note his use of the word "generate" rather than "compose," as he clarifies that he's not actually writing or performing any music. "I'm not gonna sit here and play 400 hours of music," he says. "I'm setting up a machine to do that...I'm not writing music. I'm generating probabilities for music."
"It's the technology that's quite different for me," Murphy goes on to say. "I work with...physical things, and [Gunderson's] making the computer look like a physical thing for me."
The project will run the length of the U.S. Open, which began on Monday, Aug. 25, and will conclude on Sept. 8. Some of the compositions are available to be heard online right now, and though they're not quite "Dance Yrself Clean," they are definitely worth a listen, especially if you're a fan of experimental electronic music.
You can check out the trailer for the U.S. Open Sessions project right here:
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