Preview: James Murphy's soundtrack to 'Greenberg' contrasts with LCD Soundsystem

James Murphy's contributions to the score and soundtrack of "Greenberg" are just as quirky and disparate as the film itself.

Make no mistake: viewers and fans of Murphy's LCD Soundsystem project should not go into the theater expecting the rigorous and driving melody of "All My Friends," the track that backs the trailer to the Noah Baumbach-directed flick, culled from LCD's "Sound of Silver." The 11 tracks included on the set from Murphy are far more lean, minimalistic and daringly dance-free.

Acoustic-and-mumbler number "Birthday Song," for instance, sounds like a first take with harmonies dubbed in later, but it's delicate charm provides a daydreamy Florence, played by Greta Gerwig. "Gente," an upbeat flamenco number in genre only, has the lackadaisically performed on guitar while the intensity of handclaps underscores Ben Stiller's frenetic, idiosyncratic title character. Murphy enlists his falsetto for "Photographs" as piano and acoustic guitar delicately back him Badly Drawn Boy-style. The stompy-happy-buddy feeling of "Birthday Song" could've fallen straight off of Karen O's docket for "Where the Wild Things Are."

But then there's the sole, new LCD track in the film, "Oh You (Christmas Blues)." Christmastime doesn't come to pass in the movie, but the sentimental, longing emoting of 2007's "Sound of Silver" seems to crop up again. Which brings us to: What should we expect from this new LCD Soundsytem set anyway?

More details were announced today for the as-yet-untitled effort, due May 18 from DFA/Virgin and boasting of track titles like "Drunk Girls" and "Pow Pow." A list of tracks -- but not necessarily their final order -- is listed below. It was recorded over 10-11 months, from April 2009 to last month.

Murphy and his band are heading to a handful of major U.S. festivals this summer, including Coachella in April, the newly line-up Sasquatch!, Bonnaroo and Pitchfork Music Festival. A full-fledged tour is expected to be announced, to fill in the gaps.

Here are the tracks to be included on LCD Soundsystem's new album:

 Dance Yrself Clean
 Drunk Girls
 One Touch
 All I Want
 Change
 Hit
 Pow Pow
 Somebody's Calling Me
 What You  Need

Here is the tracklist for the soundtrack to "Greenberg":

01 James Murphy: "People"
02 Nite Jewel: "Suburbia"
03 James Murphy: "Sleepy Baby"
04 James Murphy: "Thumbs"
05 Albert Hammond: "It Never Rains in Southern California"
06 James Murphy: "Plenty of Time"
07 James Murphy: "Photographs"
08 James Murphy: "Gente"
09 Galaxie 500: "Strange"
10 LCD Soundsystem: "Oh You (Christmas Blues)"
11 James Murphy: "Birthday Song"
12 James Murphy: "Dear You"
13 The Sonics: "Shot Down"
14 Duran Duran: "The Chauffeur"
15 James Murphy: "If You Need a Friend"
16 James Murphy : "Please Don't Follow Me"
17 James Murphy: "Photographs (Piano)"

Katie Hasty
Managing Editor

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After five years as a columnist and editor at Billboard, Katie Hasty joined HitFix in 2009 for music and film reporting out of New York. The Midwest native has worked as a writer, music promoter and in A&R since 1999 and performs with her band Numbers And Letters.