For those of us who were sad to hear that LCD Soundsystem broke up back in 2011, in the future there could be something in New York’s MTA Subway system to make us feel like we have some of it back.
Founder of LCD Soundsystem, Princeton native James Murphy, has long been taking the subway system and hating the noise that the turnstiles make when you swipe your Metrocard. To help alleviate his own aural discomfort he took up the Subway Symphony project. Recently, the state’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced a $900,000-a-year project to modernize turnstiles, furniture and emergency exits to help the flow of passengers. James saw this MTA project as his door to getting the Subway Symphony project implemented.
photo credit: Araby Williams/The Wall Street Journal
Each subway stop will have it’s own special series of notes that would sound when a Metrocard is used in the turnstile. James thinks that this will eventually lead to musical memories for riders and neighborhoods who will come to associate their subway station’s tune to their home.
Click into the Wall Street Journal article about James and his Subway Symphony project to hear a sample of what a station might sound like.
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about the author: Alice Magdziak
