LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great

OCT 22 2007 · 12:00

LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great (2007) Director: Doug Aitken Era: Indie Electro Golden Age (2007) - Peak era of critically acclaimed art-directed music videos aligned with the rise of indietronica and DFA Records' cultural dominance in NYC's downtown scene. Exceptionally high. The 'Someone Great' video is one of the most significant fine-art-directed music videos of the 2000s, representing a convergence of critically acclaimed music, conceptual visual art, and cultural moment. As both a document of LCD Soundsystem's peak creative period and a work by a Venice Biennale Golden Lion-winning artist, it occupies a rare dual position in music video history and contemporary art history. Essential for any archive focused on the art-music interface of the mid-2000s. Context: Released in late 2007 as the third single from LCD Soundsystem's universally acclaimed album 'Sound of Silver,' 'Someone Great' emerged at the apex of the mid-2000s indietronica moment when DFA Records served as the creative hub of New York's downtown art-dance crossover scene. The song's ambiguous meditation on loss, whether death, romantic dissolution, or grief, made it one of the most emotionally resonant tracks of its era. Commissioning fine-art filmmaker and installation artist Doug Aitken to direct the video signaled a deliberate elevation of the format beyond commercial MTV convention, situating it firmly within art-world discourse. The video's release coincided with Aitken's own landmark year in contemporary art, during which 'Sleepwalkers' was projected on the exterior of MoMA. Director notes: Confirmed as director of the 'Someone Great' music video (2007) via IMDb (tt6874422) and Last.fm. The video was produced in association with Parlophone Records. Aitken's approach to the video is consistent with his broader fine-art practice, characterized by a fascination with motion, velocity, and a media-saturated visual language. The video's rapid associative montage and warm, muted aesthetic align with his gallery installation work of the same period, including 'Sleepwalkers' (2007), a multi-screen outdoor projection on the facade of MoMA. The 'Someone Great' video represents a rare intersection of his fine-art visual language and mainstream music video commission.