james-murphy-daymoves

James Murphy's new Williamsburg cafe, Daymoves, opens this week

As mentioned, James Murphy took over the old Larry Lawrence space at 295 Grand St, that is right next to his restaurant/wine bar, The Four Horsemen, with plans to open a spot that is a cafe by day, and a club at night. While the club part, Nightmoves, is still on the horizon, its cafe alter ego, Daymoves, opens this Thursday (9/19). Grub Street got an early look and it sounds very James Murphy.

Like at Larry Lawrence, there will be no sign on the street and that long hallway to get to the main space remains, as does the skylight, which is now lined with mirrors around the base. “People have to be a little bit intentional about coming here,” Amanda Spina, the general manager, tells Grub Street. She also says they don’t want it to be a coffee shop where everyone’s grabbing a cold brew to go, instead aiming for a “daytime space where you can feel present and have a decent coffee without it feeling super, super buzzy or loud or busy.” Vintage Italian furniture fills Daymoves for “an artist’s loft in the ’70s or ’80s” vibe.

Murphy designed the soundsystem and built the large, primary colored speakers which are powered by McIntosh MC2500 amplifiers. “Usually, because amplifiers are quite expensive, you wind up with things that are just, almost enough to do the job and they’re strained,” Murphy tells Grub Street, saying that here, “there’s no strain. They’re really open and easy sounding.” There’s a DJ both and in the daytime they’ll spin vinyl from Murphy’s own collection.

There will be food, from Four Horseman chef Nick Curtola, with dishes that will be similar to the set lunches Four Horseman does on weekends, but for now they’ll have pastries from Bushwick’s L’imprimerie to go with what is sure to be some serious coffee (If you’ve seen LCD documentary Shut Up and Play the Hits, you know Murphy is a coffee obsessive).

Daymoves will be open seven days a week from “approximately 8 AM.”

In other news, James Murphy will DJ at The Kitchen on September 25, which is a benefit for the long-running black box arts space. They’re promising “special guests” in the DJ booth and tickets include a Bulleit and Ketel One Vodka open bar.