There is little to understand about why James Murphy, the majordomo of LCD Soundsystem and half of the remix/production team of the DFA, appeals so much to music nerds. He's one himself -- a staggeringly knowledgeable, savagely funny one. And that's not even in person or via his interviews -- that's just on his records.

"I get to be John Cale -- not in terms of importance or quality, but in terms of being a weird Welshman who joined a proto-punk band." -- James Murphy

In 2002, LCD issued its debut, the now classic 12-inch "Losing My Edge" b/w "Beat Connection." The B-side was a what-the-hell-happened-to-the-party anthem ("Nobody's coming undone/Everybody here is afraid of fun/And nobody's getting any play/It's the saddest night out in the U.S.A."); its flip was, and remains, the most savage takedown of the rock-hipster mentality this side of Scharpling & Wurster's comedy album, "Rock, Rot & Rule."

On 2005's "LCD Soundsystem," and on the new "Sound of Silver," Murphy expands LCD's sonic palette from punk-tinged electronic dance to points pop, rock and balladic. Over the phone from his New York studio, he's every bit as engaged as his music.

MSN Music: You're pretty up front about which songs you take cues from.

James Murphy: I don't purposely crib from anything. If people are painters, there's periods in art history where what you're playing with in terms of your history is what you're doing. Abstract impressionism wasn't -- everyone was acting like a crazy person, trying to make art in a vacuum, which I think is a tremendous amount of horses--t.

It's 2007. I've always been a music fan. Rock is not three-and-a-half years old. It's older than me, and I'm 36. It's impossible not to make music without the weight of history hanging over you. That's the only way I can be happy making pop or rock or dance music. I'm not young enough to willfully pretend I don't know things.

Do you think that kind of pretending is common in rock or pop?

I don't think it's common; I think it's pandemic. It's a load of s--t. People see what's [available] and want it. It's like being a kid and wanting a leather jacket because the Fonz is cool. It's adorable, but I'm not gonna buy it.

Was there any particular incident that inspired the new album's "North American Scum," or was that song the result of a series of events?

Watch the video for "North American Scum" | More hot videos

Normally I have a hook or a title, and I know what the title means, and I have to write lyrics that don't betray that meaning. I'm an aphorist, to a certain degree. It's more of a play because of the "North American" -- it also means Canadian. I love the relationship [between the two countries]; all the best comedians come from Canada.

There's an insider-outsider game they can play that I think is kind of beautiful. I love the weird sibling relationship they have, which is endlessly complicated. I get tired of seeing bands traveling and apologize for being Americans in this cloying way and not trying to say that it's a big, complicated place.

That seems analogous to your position, in the DFA and with LCD Soundsystem, with both indie rock and dance music.

Oh sure. Except in LCD, it's a fabrication. With Canada it's real. They do get American television and culture and watch it and consume it. They are outside of America; they can't vote. They have this almost-American life; they have socialized medicine. But they can't do anything, which is such a weird and surreal experience. Whereas with LCD and DFA, I'm an outsider by choice. I am at root a middle-class, white, straight male; I'm not shoved to the outside by America. America has a big place-setting at the table for me anytime I want.

Do you think you have an advantage being older and more experienced within the realm of dance music?

Oh yeah. Also, it's not that much younger, but dance music, as we perceive it now, is younger than rock. The punk rock moment that exists in dance music is about 1989. There are people that started then who are still going. It's not that weird. I think it's very healthy for me to not have as much of a dance music background. I get to be John Cale -- not in terms of importance or quality, but in terms of being a weird Welshman who joined a proto-punk band.

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Michaelangelo Matos is the author of "Sign O' the Times" (Continuum, 2004) and a freelance writer in Seattle.