James Murphy had already proved his kung-fu as the most badass electro-punk producer in clubland, with DFA, the label he co-founded. But not even fierce fans dreamed he’d make a masterpiece like Sound of Silver. Every track sounded like a different band’s greatest hit, from the political punk goof North American Scum to the Detroit techno trip Get Innocuous! to the synth-pop breakup lament Someone Great. *All My Friends( was huge, sweeping, ferociously emotional, disco keyboards and rock guitars pulsing as Murphy looked back on a youth of killer parties and silent mornings — a perfect song, from a perfect album.