Grade: A | The brilliance of the full-length debut of James Murphy (aka LCD Soundstystem) is that it sounds like a product of the most complete and intriguing record collection on Earth.

The producer-turned-frontman’s 2005 release compiled the hipster’s taste into a Krautrock/indie rock/post-punk/techno/club collective.

It was jagged. It was edgy. At times it was goofy. And it touched on every genre in his vinyl home library, and named -ropped them all along the way.

But this sophomore album tones down the musical jet-setting and streamlines the artist’s taste into a hybrid of those likings. Instead of sounding like a beginner’s guide to appreciating Murphy’s favorites, it pushes his developed sense of pop music to the forefront. Whereas before he sounded like a guy from punk’s underbelly that stumbled onto rock ‘n’ roll’s club formula for fun dance music, “Sound of Silver” reveals him to be a genuine songwriter.

The producer-extraordinaire no longer sounds like he’s cutting and pasting snips from moments of his musical upbringing; he fleshes such moment out out by blending them together. There are still distinct elements from each genre – the lo-fi, Velvet Underground sound of “New York I Love You,” the new-wave feel of “Watch The Tapes” – but they never feel displaced from the other songs on the record.

The more Murphy distances himself from his influences – or rather, the less often that he includes their samples and mentions them by name – the greater the comparisons to their talent will be, and not just literally to their music. And for an aging record collector, that might be the greatest compliment.