INTERVIEWSSee Dirty Projectors' Stunning 'Gun Has No Trigger' Live Debut

If more evidence were needed for how drastically the media landscape has shifted in the past few years, last night you could see a late-night network TV host proudly displaying an 8", square-shaped vinyl record emblazoned with ancient cuneiform script. What, no hieroglyphic, triangular micro-cassettes? Dirty Projectors' ensuing Late Night With Jimmy Fallon take on "Gun Has No Trigger," from the funky art-rock brainiacs' upcoming album Swing Lo Magellan (due out on July 10 via Domino) was the astonishing musical corollary to that once-unthinkable sight. Led by long-haired singer Dave Longstreth, the New York band gave a powerfully locked-in performance, rendering the song's pointillist backing harmonies, limber rhythm section, and inexorably mounting tension with all the vivid color the recording demands. It was the first time the Dirty Projectors have played the song live, and, trigger or no trigger, it spoke as loudly as the sight of a loaded gun. Stillness is still a pretty good move.