Pitchfork

In which James Murphy borrows Robert Palmer's suit and Peter Gabriel's facepaint and sings one of his best songs so close he's almost breathing on the lens. Much has been made of YouTube's small screen and what that means for the form but I'm not sure I'd want to see these opening couple minutes spread across 21 diagonal inches. By the time the camera has dollied out and we see the full band, however, the video nails the song's brilliant juxtaposition of humor ("If I'm sued into submission/ I can still come home to this") and melancholy (that one chord drone). And then the rain-- the kind that only happens in videos-- can't dampen the fireworks. The video was directed by Tom Kuntz for MJZ, and there is a "making-of" feature here.

[from Sound of Silver; out now on DFA/EMI]