None other than the fabled French electronic duo themselves. Their works have shaped the EDM genre but have yet to actually be matched. Since it's difficult for someone born well after their pivotal age, I won't be discussing what they've done, but rather, what they've left behind. 4 studio albums, 2 live shows, and a score. While they've also made films, the albums alone have occupied a large chunk of my life and have shaped other artists, like Justice.
Guy-Manuel and Thomas Bangalter are more notorious for their iconic helmets, masking their identities like real life superheroes. Though their faces and names are known, they chose to personify themselves with something of their own creation, elevating their recognition, originality, and live performances. While artists like deadmau5 and Marshmello have done the same, it's nowhere near as substantial. Unfortunately, the daft punks are very private and collected, with only a small calculated amount to show for. While this is due to their devotion to quality, I feel as though their small amount has left me feeling a bit estranged. However, I agree with the many that believe it's better to know when you're done than to prolong your stay.
Their work starts simple and rhytmic, but as the two grow in ability, so does their variety and quality. They go from borderline thieving (though very knowledgeable in their samples) to completely taking hold of original instrumentation. In the short term, you're jamming to catchy bangers, but in the long term, you're appreciating the growth and mastering.
If you enjoyed it, come back to listen to Random Access Memories and the TRON soundtrack. If that's not enough, Alive 1997 is pretty good, too.
Though they had singles released before the album, like Alive and Da Funk, the singles were included in the album. They start with minimalistic loops that rely on repeating samples and keeping to a structure. The early work is simple, yet complicatedly textured. It's much more of a compilation than a thematic album. The only solid connection is the few transitions between some of the early tracks.
1 - Daftendirekt - 2:44
Recorded from one of their live shows, and commonly used as a show opener, it also opens the album. "Da funk back to the punk, c'mon" repeats through the track on top of a minimal yet gritty loop. While there's not much to it, and it's a little drawn out, it doesn't stay long and it's pretty funky. This track's structure is what most people imagine when they think Daft Punk.
2 - WDPK 83.7 FM - 0:28
A noticeably short track that exists solely as a segue. It doesn't appear that anyone knows what "WDPK" stands for, but from what I can tell, it's purely fictional. A little odd, a little confusing, but undoubtedly French.
3 - Revolution 909 - 5:35
Tomatoes, and more of a 50s screecher sample than a distraught rave, this track is supposedly political (if you can believe that) Rave-hating French coppers aside, this track is a lot more bouncy and disco-esque. The track is likely a reference to the TR-909, topping off all their early sampling. If you're confused, the music video won't help you much.
4 - Da Funk - 5:28
Dogs, the first classic. The TB-303 is absolutely gorgeous in this track, appearing about half-way through the track. The synth is also accompanied by a strange electro-orchestral hit that can only be found in the 90s. The track lingers around a bit longer, but populates itself more.
5 - Phoenix - 4:57
While somehow sampling Elton John's, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," this track doesn't do too much else.
6 - Fresh - 4:04
Opening with a relaxing shoreline sample, the track continues on in this calm and enchanting mood. Sampling Viola Wills, "If You Leave Me Now," it's balanced with this over-driven, yet ambient guitar lead.
7 - Around the World - 7:09
Androids, the second classic. The direction of the music video is fantastic, with the performers repeating a pattern of movements and directions. It accurately visualizes the rhytmic style of the track, with each performer representing one of the song's instruments. While it has that snoopy artistic vibe, it's pretty captivating. And seven songs in, this is only the second instance of their robotic voice looping throughout the song.
8 - Rollin' & Scratchin' - 7:28
Beautifully ugly, this song's detuned synths and scratchy noise is angry yet gorgeous. My car makes the same sound as the hook every morning.
9 - Teachers - 2:53
Being extremely minimalistic, it's more of a shoutout to their inspirations. Due to this, and the wandering pitch-shifted speech, it's not very enjoyable to listen to.
10 - High Fidelity - 6:02
If there's any track that sounds like a broken record, it's this one. The broken record being Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are", this time. I will always misinterpret the lyrics as "break it up and eat it."
11 - Rock'n Roll - 7:33
Not only is the title similar to Rollin' & Scratchin', so is the song itself. While quiet at first, it gets a lot angrier.
12 - Oh Yeah - 2:01
The fantastic steam-like industrial house is unfortunately interrupted by a repetitive "oh yeah!" However, this sample is a surprise tool that will help us later.
13 - Burnin' - 6:54
Firemen. While it's not as known as tracks like Da Funk and Around the World, I think this song is on-level. The funky guitar and the punch drums are impossible to not bob your head to. The rapidly inclining pitch synth might be hard on those with headaches, though. Compared to the rest, this song is filled with a lot more progressive textures. It's one of the glimpses into their later works.
14 - Indo Silver Club - 4:34
Back to bounce, this track settles on a short and relatively unknown sample from Karen Young's, "Hot Shot". While both funky and gritty, the grit easily overpowers any phased guitar lead.
15 - Alive - 5:16
The perfect 90s cinematic buildup music. The noise at the beginning always sounded like TVs being turned on and off to me. While it plays at the end of this album, I feel like it could've served as a fantastic opener. Although, the lead synth does have a rave wrap-up feel to it.
16 - Funk Ad - 0:51
While it's obviously just Da Funk, but backwards, it's amazing how the song is just as catchy and groovy when played backwards.
Shortly after the release of their first album, they would go on their Alive tour. The Alive tours take their songs and give them a live mix that usually combines it with another work of theirs. This results in alternative mixes that are often a lot better than the original track. It's unfortunate that these weren't recorded straight from their deck so some prick can't ruin these songs for all eternity.
Supposedly this recording is of only half the show, explaining the anticlimactic ending. The official tracklist has strange naming conventions, due to legal issues and including W.I.P. tracks that don't have a name yet.
1 - (00:00) WDPK (Part I) - 1:41 - (Short Circuit / Daftendirekt)
The synth here is from Short Circuit, a song that wouldn't be released until their next album. It's not uncommon for many life artists to playtest tracks before they officially release them. deadmau5 still does it to this day.
2 - (01:41) Da Funk - 13:16 - (Da Funk / Daftendirekt / Da Funk (Armand Van Helden's Ten Minutes of Funk Mix))
It starts familiar, with some mild alterations and soloing of some of the instruments. Then it starts getting real crazy. About 4 and a half minutes into the track (6 and a half minutes into the full recording,) it cuts to Armand Van Helden's remix of Da Funk. Unfortunately, there's no HQ video of it yet.
3 - (14:57) Rollin' and Scratchin' - 13:25
Continuing the chaos shortly after its appearance, Rollin' and Scratchin' gets quite the trance treatment.
4 - (28:22) WDPK (Part II) - 11:42 - (Revolution 909)
Following a pan-crazy sequence, Revolution 909 goes strong until some attention-seeking knob decided to ruin it all with his annoying ass whistling. If you want to do yourself a favor, skip it. Later on, he returns once more in full annoying fashion. Thankfully, not for very long.
5 - (40:04) Alive - 5:27
Right before its abrupt end, it goes out with this aggressive sample. Due to the fact this was recorded in their homeland, I can't be certain what any of the samples are saying. After this track, the live event segues into a track called "Can You Fell It," but I don't think that's what's playing. Sounds kinda like "are you in there?"
Technically a soundtrack for "Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem", an anime film they produced, Discovery continues the use of samples. It includes a lot more original instrumentation, such as the use of lyrics that aren't just repeating and gorgeous guitar solos. While Homework was very gritty and minimal, this album is much more funky and complex. Less electronic; more disco.
1 - One More Time - 5:20
Sampling Eddie John's, "More Spell On You," this track includes some iconic lyrics. Some minor details, such as including his exhales and the wholesome "get up!" tones, make the song a bit hard for me to listen to. Other than that, it's pretty groovy.
2 - Aerodynamic - 3:32
Sampling Sister Sledge's, "Il Macquillage Lady," we get funk rock with a fantastic guitar solo. With no lyrics, what can go wrong?
3 - Digital Love - 5:01
Transitioning from Aerodynamic, Digital Love samples George Duke's, "I Love You More." With this album using samples less apologetically, and this time almost entirely from black artists, I'm surprised they haven't been "cancelled" yet. So far, it's been creatively distinct. Aside from this, the lyrics tell a story that every sex-obsessed weeb can resonate with. Songs about sex and love just don't do it for me, but the track itself is really fun. Towards the end, the guitar does this weird whining sound and I love it.
4 - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - 3:44
Third classic. This time, it samples Edwin Birdsong's, "Cola Bottle Baby." Unfortunately, aside from the lyrics, it's almost a carbon copy. On top of that, "our work is never over" turned out to be a fucking lie. Arguable theft and jokes aside, the song is a classic for a reason. The song is funky and the robotic robotic vocals are the icon of an era.
5 - Crescendolls - 3:31
Sampling The Imperials, "Can You Imagine," this track also borders theft while offering a good time. Since a YouTube Music link wasn't present, it might be a song that requires thorough knowledge of the genre to even find. The guitar in this song can only be described as "wet". I'm not even sure how that's possible.
6 - Nightvision - 1:44
Serving as an intermission track, the rhythmic beats, calming rhodes, and ambient synths make for a good track to fall asleep to. Unfortunately, it's only a minute and a half long.
7 - Superheroes - 3:57
This song samples Barry Manilow's fantastic song, "Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed." (Seriously. Give it a listen.) While the sample is remarkably funky, this track decides to take it into more of an electric territory. Half way through, it drops the sample and goes full in on the electronics, delivering something a lot more soundtrack-worthy.
8 - High Life - 3:21
Sampling Tavares', "Break Down For Love," it's pitched to a point of near unrecognizability. It has a strange funky organ interlude that I've only once heard elsewhere. Otherwise, it's pretty standard.
9 - Something About Us - 3:52
An original composition with yet another delicious guitar. Once again, they've somehow made it sound wet. On top of that, this wicked shred quietly plays throughout the track. It's another lovey romance song with vocals that straight out of something a 2000s boyband, but it at least offers a really great instrumental before then. It also has a fantastic electric piano solo towards the end.
10 - Voyager - 3:47
Another fantastic original composition. Compared to Homework, their instrument work has already grown a lot more. Other than the harp solo, the track doesn't do much from its established base. Because of this and the instrument choice, the track is overall calm.
11 - Verdis Quo - 5:45
3 original scores in a row. Once again, it's an atmospheric electro pad. This one has a melancholic electro-flute.
12 - Short Circuit - 3:26
More in the spirit of Homework, it has fun with its robotic arps before trailing off into a separate melancholic chord progression halfway through.
13 - Face to Face - 4:00
Sampling none other than Electric Light Orchestra's, "Evil Woman," this song can't pick a genre, and instead makes up its own. The lyrics are about love once more, but at least this one's enjoyable to listen to.
14 - Too Long - 10:00
Sampling Rose Royce's, "First Come, First Serve," and other than the fact that this song sports an unfortunate choice of words, the bass is pretty funky. Halfway through, it drastically changes tones.
Returning to the gritty roots of Homework, Human After All delivers the same tones but with much more competent instrumentation. This album is a bit of a step back to minimalism, but is a lot more complex than Homework. The grit is grittier and the punk is punkier.
1 - Human After All - 5:19
Here, the lyrics repeat, but have more at play than just the one repeating segment. It also builds to a climax that will also be a useful tool for later. But here, it's the opener. The guitar work is also new to the table.
2 - The Prime Time of Your Life - 4:23
This track is quite similar to Human After All, starting more minimally than usual. However, it builds into something a lot more than Human After All. It kinda just turns into a motorcycle. Don't believe me? You will.
3 - Robot Rock - 4:47
Fourth classic, but unfortunately it's a hard copy of Breakwater's, "Release the Beast." Fortunately, it's the only track in the album that relies on sampling. More over-driven and hard than the rest, it returns back to the single lyric.
4 - Steam Machine - 5:21
In retrospect, this song's a lot slower than I remember. But it still kicks hard. The vocals sound a bit off sync to me, and it always bugs me. Otherwise, the texture of the synth and the EQ-banded drum sequence are fantastic.
5 - Make Love - 4:49
Out of character with the album thus far, this minimal piano-driven interlude is accompanied by another drum sequence and yet another wet guitar lick (even though normal licks are usually wet.) The lyrics are hyper generic, unfortunately. Other than the lyrics, the song stays the same throughout.
6 - The Brainwasher - 4:08
Supposedly an elongated sample of Black Sabbath's, "Iron Man," it also feels slower than it's supposed to. The song is littered with fantastic instrumental grit in all kinds of frequency spectrums. The lyrics are an odd choice, but don't throw off the balance of the track.
7 - On/Off - 0:19
As if the tonal and sounds didn't connect this to Homework enough, we have a segue similar to that of WDPK 83.7 FM. The sound of TV channels serve as the transition for Television Rules the Nation, of course.
8 - Television Rules the Nation - 4:47
Minimal.
9 - Technologic - 4:44
Fifth classic, featuring Chucky's animatronic. The lyrics, while all ending with "it," are a lot less repetitive. You can enable sv_cheats if you memorize the lyrics and repeat out loud without cheating. Separating it from the rest is the diversity in the instrumental.
10 - Emotion - 3:47
Taking a step back into an unevolving extended loop, Emotion really only offers sound and texture.
The perfect send off to an era. It's almost a shame they didn't retire before Random Access Memories, because this could've been their big going out. This live event takes your favorite tracks, perfectly combines them with another, and makes it impossible to go back to certain tracks. Not only have they learned to sample themselves, but they've proven that they've learned and grown. It's no wonder why this album won a Grammy. This is easily one of my favorite albums of all time.
If you liked this, Daft Derek made a remake without the crowd. Though it's nice to not have the crowd, it doesn't feel as hyped without them.
1 - Robot Rock / Oh Yeah - 6:27
It starts off golden, with the brilliant contrast between man and machine through the use of Human After All and Robot Rock. After that amazing event opener, it gets familiar. But once you've become accustomed, it starts changing things on you through Robot Rock's "Maximum Overdrive" mix.
2 - Touch It / Technologic - 5:29
Before heading in familiar territory, it starts with the remix by Busta Rhymes. After the setup, it gets to the kicks. But not before making the funny robot swear. Yes, you're hearing it correctly. This is the only occurrence of an F word in any of their songs, and no it wasn't in the remix. After that, it builds up to the original.
3 - Television Rules the Nation / Crescendolls - 4:50
Like Robot Rock and Human After All, it opens with another fantastic combination that not only makes sense, but actually works: Television Rules the Nation / Around the World. It hard cuts to Crescendolls, but cuts back to a fantastic combination of Crescendolls and Television Rules the Nation.
4 - Too Long / Steam Machine - 7:01
Here we hear Too Long mixed with a new instrumentation. Afterwards, it slows down and starts chugging back to pace like a steam engine. This is one of the edits that permanently associates the original track with its new partner track.
5 - Around the World / Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - 5:42
It seems impossible to have an Alive event without someone screaming over the top of it. It being two of the group's most popular tracks casually blending together. The end of this track cuts differently than the remake does, and I'm not sure if it was cut out or if the remake added something in. Either way, the segment is great and you shouldn't miss out on it. Come back to it after your finishing this album.
6 - Burnin' / Too Long - 7:11
Too Long returns, and it's easy to forget that it has already appeared due to the diverse mixing. This iteration uses the original song.
7 - Face to Face / Short Circuit - 4:55
The slow start to Face to Face is gorgeously disorienting, elevating the confused tones heard in the lyrics. Then it gets anxious, and finally, funky as hell. Though it's not listed, Harder, Better, Faster Stronger makes an appearance. A track that many people use incorrectly is given a proper demonstration of the creative alterations necessary to make it naturally fit into a song.
8 - One More Time / Aerodynamic - 6:10
Though it says Aerodynamic and the bells mean Aerodynamic, it's actually One More Time. The guitar rift mixed with the lyrics gives it less of a funky vibe and makes it feel like there's a limited amount of time, so you better celebrate and dance so free, one more time.
9 - Aerodynamic Beats / Forget About the World - 3:31
A unique version of Aerodynamic is heard here, with its lead rift instead played by a synthesizer. Then it leads to their remix of Gabrielle's Forget About the World.
10 - The Prime Time of Your Life / The Brainwasher / Rollin' and Scratchin' / Alive - 10:22
The Prime Time of Your Life gets intermixed with the sharp sounds of The Brainwasher, and believe me when I say that Brainwasher is used to its full potential. The duo's hall of grit is all meshed together into this fantastic send off track.
11 - Da Funk / Daftendirekt - 6:36
Going a further step backwards into Homework, we get to hear another short combo. Da Funk gets some fantastic treatment regarding its chop-edits.
12 - Superheroes / Human After All / Rock'n Roll - 5:41
Superheroes' "Something in the air" overlaid on top of Rock'n Roll's drums and Human After All's guitar is a strange selection, but a mind-bender none-the-less. If it wasn't for their minimalistic approach in their early years, they wouldn't have the selection necessary to mash them together into something so fantastic. The ever-growing chant and the kickass support of Rock'n Roll elevates the already intense "Human" shouting to a climactic close.
13 - Rappel - Human After All / Together / One More Time (reprise) / Music Sounds Better with You - 9:58
The slow starts may be common here, but the most effective use goes to this encore track. The buildup prepares the audience for the 10 minute finale. A remix and some of the group's old wide work make a brief appearance: Para One's Prime Time of Your Life remix, Together's, well, "Together", and Stardust's "Music Sounds Better With You". One More Time on its own is obnoxious to me, but in the context of this event's encore, the lyrics of One More Time carry extra weight. Its use in the encore really adds to the "don't want it to end" vibes. Unfortunately, the track ends, and with it, the album and the era it closes.
Due to its use of leitmotifs and repeating melodies, I won't go into all 31 tracks. Instead, I'll note these highlights. The Grid starts with a deep bass, arcade drums, and Jeff Bridges textured voice. It swells into an orchestra before finally going completely into its lead. The Son of Flynn sports a catchy arp. Derezzed is known by many, being an intentional selling point. It's what would would imagine when they think of a mix between a score and a hit. Solar Sailor is extremely melancholic and can easily knock you into a depressed mood if you're not careful. TRON Legacy (End Titles) is my favorite due to the the lead being altered to be so beautifully sharp and smooth. It's placed over a retro style of the movie's theme song and carries such a large bag of tones. Kickass, accomplished, and overall, an unforgettable experience. It's a shame it wasn't placed at the end. Sea of Simulation likely uses an auto-appregiator, giving it this robotic lead. Reflections beats Stranger Things to the punch with its dissonant and textured synth. Outlands Pt.II is strangely dark, with a human-like male choir and a synthesizer mixed to sound more like a church organ.
While it is a Daft Punk album, it's definitely not what anyone has in mind when they imagine Daft Punk. While the album is nothing compared to Alive 2007, it carries experimentation that was unable to be done in the previous albums and covers new ground while delivering new sound in full quality. The duo spent a long time working on this album, trying to iron it out as much as possible. It shows in a handful of tracks, but unfortunately, the album has issues.
1 - Give Life Back to Music - 4:35
Not even seconds in, and it's already fantastic. You can already tell the change in growth and ability from Human After All just through that hybrid opener. It features lyrics, but fortunately, they're more tasteful.
2 - The Game of Love - 5:22
The lyrics go full romance, almost as though the 8-year album heard me talk about lyrics. The instrumentation is too colorful to not enjoy.
3 - Giorgio by Moroder - 9:04
His name is Giovanni Giorgio, but everyone calls him Giorgio. Many are familiar with this track, and for a reason. It tells the Italian music-writer's life story while conveying inspiration and paying homage all at the same time. The phased lead is as iconic as it is groovy. It's played along side a jazzy rhodes and eventually goes all in to a orchestral rock segment that barely carries any links to the first half of the entire track. After chilling for a few seconds, it returns to full chaos before ending with a click.
4 - Within - 3:49
A beautiful open to a somewhat standard track. At least the lyrics are more thought-provoking this time.
5 - Instant Crush - 5:37
One of the weaker parts of the album. It still has a decent instrumental.
6 - Lose Yourself to Dance - 5:53
Yes, Pharrell Williams does appear outside of Get Lucky, unfortunately. While standard, it's still pretty solid.
7 - Touch - 8:19
Something straight out of Wizard of Oz and 2001: A Space Odyssey. This track is tied with Contact for my favorite track of the album. The lyrics are first disturbing, then majestic, and finally depressing. It goes on a journey that I can only relate to the chaotic and deep parts of the mind: the good times, the self-envy, and the total disconnect.
8 - Get Lucky - 6:09
Robot Mexican monkey, the only time I've ever heard Daft Punk played on mainstream radio. Due to this, I've heard it so much that I can't stand listening to it. The instrumentation is pretty standard, but the generic sex lyrics are an ironic turn-off.
9 - Beyond - 4:50
An orchestral section that I'd expect out of a weeb's wet dream leading to another RAM standard track. The guitar licks a bit harder and is paired with sliding country steel.
10 - Motherboard - 5:41
Diverse. Instrumental. Experimental. Catchy and of course fantastic. Especially two-thirds through where the brass' bass sets up the drum's return segment.
11 - Fragments of Time - 4:39
While standard, it has this neat glitchy country touch.
12 - Doin' it Right - 4:11
Most accurately described as the Daft Punk track of the album. Repeating, vocoded lyrics with a minimalistic beat.
13 - Contact - 6:23
The duo were given access to Nasa's recordings of our last manned trip to the moon. Ironic that the song features our last steps into the unknown with it also being their last album track. The combination of these two thoughts make for an extremely meaningful track filled with impactful instrumentation and gorgeous composition. In normal Daft Punk style, it goes crazy halfway through before leaving you in disturbing chaos. Almost as though you've been lost to both space and time.
Though the video announcement had a bang in it, I would call this going out anything but. The visuals scene in the video were taken from their 2007 art film, Electroma. The scene transitions to the art piece seen above with Touch playing above it. Aside from the art and the acapella at the end, everything else has been experienced before. The lack of original content in this send off adds disappointment to an already overwhelming sadness. Having something original for a farewell to a passionate years-old project would be expected as well as give the many fans a dedicated scene or composition to associate with during such sad news.
The lack of a bittersweet end is also accompanied by a corporate silence, likely to eventually be filled in down the road. Whether or not the decade-and-a-half old scene holds actual significance to the band's fate has yet to be confirmed and won't be for an unknown amount of time. While I don't doubt that these people aren't educated in handling these kinds of events, I can't help but feel as though this could have been handled a lot better.
With the future unwritten, my thoughts end here. I hope to see each member continue their compositions instead of following the path of a misguided producer. While it's likely that the two had a creative dynamic that balanced one another out perfectly, maybe it'll help hoping that at least one can produce better independently. If not, perhaps it's best that they retire. They've already given so much.
