"Too Old To Be New, Too New To Be Classic" is an appropriate description of seminal NYC indie record label DFA. It's also the title of a short documentary that looks at the label's twelve years in business. Responsible for making dance music cool again in the early '00s, the label founded by James Murphy, Tim Goldsworthy and Jon Galkin spawned bands like The Rapture, Holy Ghost!, The Juan MacLean, YACHT, Sinkane and, of course, Murphy's LCD Soundsystem. As any music nerd (or casual Pitchork reader) can tell you, DFA has had a hand in shaping the "dance punk" sound we've now come to associate with much of the aughts (or, as Murphy puts it, the "live drums and synthesizers"). But just as the second half of the title suggests, the label's still in its adolescence -- and still making kids sweaty, dancing to the latest DFA singles inside Bushwick warehouses off the Myrtle-Wyckoff stop.
In tandem with this very enjoyable documentary, narrated by Marc Maron, DFA is hosting a blow-out at Brooklyn's Grand Prospect Hall on May 25 as part of the ongoing Red Bull Music Academy (who also produced the video). The party will feature DJ and live sets by James Murphy, The Crystal Ark, YACHT, The Rapture, Nancy Whang, Juan MacLean and a whole bunch more. But in case you're getting nervous that all of these celebratory vibes herald DFA's finale (much like LCD Soundsystem's "last hurrah" show at Madison Square Garden in 2011), fear not: at one point in this video Murphy, enjoying the sea breeze and copious pastries while on the Coachella cruise, says to the camera, "I think we have years of embarrassing ourselves by trying to be current ahead of us...hopefully." Something tells us DFA's teenage years won't be so embarrassing.