While the electronic music scene has been going on for decades prior to Daft Punk's arrival in 1994, no other group has had such a huge influence on the advances that the genre has taken since their formation. Consisting of two robot-motorcycle helmet wearing Frenchmen named Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, Daft Punk came into the music scene at the perfect time. With the advances in synthesizer and computer technology, electronic House music was on the brink of a massive explosion in popularity. All that it needed was one populist galvanizing force to push the button and begin that explosion, and Daft Punk was the perfect duo to do just such a thing.
Their debut 1997 album Homework has a heavy acid rock influence, and influenced a lot of the hard-edged techno and House music that was to become in style in the late 90s. It was their second album however, 2001's Discovery, that completely shook the foundations of electronic music, and even music in general. The best way for me to describe this album is to say that it's just the most potent form of joy ever created and put on record. It's an hour long non-stop party, and is absolutely impossible to sit still to while you're listening. Speaking of parties, apparently the Daft Punk live show is the best musical experience going at the present time, and while I've never seen it myself it is my goal to witness it at least one time in my life.
I know that some of you may not have been exposed to a lot of electronic music, or even a lot of music without vocals (although there are some vocals on their albums, mostly just repeating a single phrase over and over), the best thing to do when listening to music like this is to just find the beat and lose yourself in it. I dare all of you to be in a bad mood after listening to Daft Punk.....I think it's impossible.
The Albums:
Homework - I am actually a little surprised, because I didn’t like this as much as I thought I might. Some of the beats just seemed kind of simple to me, at least compared to the Daft Punk I was already familiar with. That being said, I don’t believe I could make this kind of music myself – I’m just saying it wasn’t really for me. It was kind of interesting listening to it at work because it seemed to help the time go by more quickly, but I think the experience would be totally different in a live or in a club setting where I could let the music pour over me and dance like no one’s watching. For that reason, I’d still love to see them live if I should be so lucky (crosses fingers for Bonnaroo 2010). I can imagine that an experience like that would stick with me. The highlights for me were the tracks with words, even if they were just repeating loops. “Around the World” gets stuck in my head. I also enjoyed the track “Teachers.” The voice reminded me a little bit of Wesley Willis. “Dr. Dre is in the house,” was spoken with the same silly lack of emotion as “Wheaties, breakfast of champions.” Haha. Moving on.
ReplyDeleteDiscovery - Right off the bat, this is more exciting and, as David put it, full of joy – a party to end all parties. I still think this should have been the song when the Cardinals took a run at the World Series and won in 2006. Most of you were there, but now it reminds me of last weekend’s trivia night because David played it in the car on the way back after we won! Favorite tracks: “Alive,” “Digital Love” and “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.” Who doesn’t remember that last track after Kanye’s “Stronger?” GREAT music for working out, there’s no doubt about that. It just gets your blood pumping. It’s always interesting to hear these songs and recognize popular references to them, like the song “Crescendolls,” which was used in numerous Bud Select commercials that annoyed the hell out of me. The beat in “High Life” is highly infectious. That’s kind of the theme to this album I think. I love that there seem to be more vocals here as well. The whole tone of the album makes me want to go clubbing really bad. I love it.
ReplyDeleteMy Daft Punk breakdown will be pretty breif, simply for the fact, that their music isn't lyric driven, it has bases in House and Techno music that is driven by beat repitition. I think a better idea would be for all of us to put up videos of ourselves listening to Daft Punk and dancing, as this would speak volumes as to what we truly think.
ReplyDeleteImmediately on Homework's initial track you see how they can take a beat and make some guy saying something in French danceable and catchy. Daft Punk is very special because I get very tired of House and Techno music very quickly but DP apply a pop element of putting catchy chorus' that seems to hang around just long enough that they don't become overbearing and off-putting. Da Funk is my alltime favorite DP track, maybe because the video (Directed by Spike Jonze, about what appears to be McGruff the Crime Dog walking around NYC) was my introduction to them. "Rollin and Scratchin" is not good and "Teachers" pays homage to DP's influences. Listening to this album is an excercise in restraint, as it is nearly impossible to not nod your head to these tracks. At times the music is quite excessive in bass and volume but they balance it out with an uplifting quality that is hard to put into words.
Discovery begins with maybe the mother of all party starters "One More Time", truly celebratory. There is a sunnier, lighter, 70's AM Gold quality to a lot of these songs. DP doesn't really start bangin our noggins until "Superheroes" and "Something About Us" is as funky as they are ever gonna get. There is definatley some experimentation with moods and tempos which makes this album a little uneven. "Too Long" has a great payoff, which ends the album nicely.
Human After All is a very scary album. It's very robotic, and almost completely void of a human touch, which is quite ironic. With tracks like "Robot Rock" and "Steam Machine" I get the feeling of being in a sweat-shop or huge factory and being forced to listen to this while I toil for mechanical task masters. There are strong influences sonically by Pink Floyd's The Wall, and thematically by the films THX-1138 and 2001:A Space Odyssey in dealing with isolation. We get a glimpse of the old poppy DP with Technologic but with cold computerized lyrics. There is a definite progression with all three albums, but I don't like the direction they are steamrolling towards. In a side note the group Stardust, which has Thomas Bangalter of DP, has an unbelievable jam that you should check out called "Music Sounds Better With You".
Having just gotten my introduction to daft punk over Thanksgiving break, I was kind of excited to see that David had chose them for this weeks selection. I remember that I couldn’t keep myself from dancing to the song that was played for me, and was told that the rest of their music is just like what I was listening to.
ReplyDeleteStarting off with “Homework” and I have to say that I am definitely enjoying this group. I am a big fan of music with no lyrics for the simple reasoning that you can make up your own mind on what the song is about. “Revolution 909” is definitely reminiscent of a nightclub scene. I can just picture everyone getting down with their bad selves out on the dance floor. I also really like the song, “Da Funk” it reminds me of something playing in the background of a Guy Ritchie movie or something. The song “Around the World” was really the only song that kind of annoyed me. I mean it just seems like he could pause from saying, “Around the World” for maybe a verse or two. Then you go on to “Teachers” which is kind of a funny song with the chipmunk voice and the deep voice saying random peoples names. I like the premise behind the song, “High Fidelity.” It sounds just like they are flipping through some radio stations and making a song out of it. This is very clever on their part. Overall this is a good album and I am sure it only gets better from here.
“Discovery” starts off on the song; “One More Time” which I think most everyone has heard before but maybe never knew whom the band was. This is probably my favorite song on the album. I also really liked, “Aerodynamic” and the use of electric guitar. It makes it sound like Rock and Roll at times. “Digital Love” also is a song I have heard used in commercials before. I never knew who the band was though until now. I like the first three tracks quite a bit, but when they take a softer turn on “Nightvision,” I have to say that I don’t like it. I definitely prefer the more up tempo/nightclub sound. Along with the song, “Something about us” which reminds me of something I would hear on some soft rock station in the eighties. I just can’t seem to get into these songs as well as the others. While I liked this album as well, I am still not sure if I prefer it over “Homework.”
On “Human After All” you can definitely see a sense of progression the band has made over the years. These songs are definitely more modern sounding to me. “Prime Time of your Life” is a good song to begin with. It was definitely catchy which is something that can be said about most of Daft Punk’s songs. I also really liked the song, “Robot Rock.” It was definitely one of their heavier sounding songs which seems to be what I enjoy most from their music. “Steam Machine” reminded me of some background music I would hear in like a Blade movie or something. I think it would be a great song to listen to when I am in more of an aggressive mood. “Brainwasher” is another one of the heavier sounding songs they released. It is really interesting to see from track to track the diversity of each song. Going from a song such as “Brainwasher” to “Make Love,” show the great variety they achieve in each album.
Daft Punk is a very unique band, and I think David is right by saying that you can’t help but want to dance when you hear their music.
My limited experience in this genre includes BT’s Movement in Still Life, Darude’s Before the Storm, Prodigy’s Fat of the Land, and a few Crystal Method tracks. Obviously, this is a pretty new genre for me.
ReplyDeleteHomework was a pretty good introduction for the duo. They seem to have their shit together and can put out some pretty catchy beats. The word that kept coming to my mind throughout this album was ‘weak.’ Phoenix, in particular, reminded me of Pump Up the Jam, only much ‘weaker.’ Although I found myself lost in these tracks, I couldn’t help but want more out of them. I think this album would serve great at a gathering that you want to be able to talk over the music, but still have a party vibe to it. I just can’t picture this album becoming the life of the party. I did enjoy this album, but hope to hear some progression and maturity in the next couple. My favorite tracks are Da Funk, Rollin’ and Scratchin’, Indo Silver Club, and Around the World, while my least favorites were Teachers and Oh Yeah.
Discovery was a good attempt at growing as musicians. There were a lot of experiments on this album, most notably with the addition of lyrics on several of their tracks. Another was the very slow tempo of Nightvision. Then there was the funky stuff with Night Life and Face to Face. For the most part, I could not picture myself at a party with this in the background with the possible exceptions of One More Time, Crescendolls, and Superheroes. Crescendolls was my favorite on this album with the cool original beat and a sound that you can’t help but envision people having a good time to. I will say that these tracks are easy to get lost to, however, that is not why I put in an electronica album. One thing I do greatly appreciate about this album is how it is very easy to tell when a new track has started. No track sounds the same, yet they all flow together. This was not all that I hoped for in a second effort, but it was definitely a step in the right direction.
Human After All is everything that I would hope to hear in this genre. This album has more of a rock feel to it, along with a dark undertone, which is what I think I like about it. If it can get me pumped up at 12:40am after a long workweek, then it must be pretty catchy. Every track makes me feel like I am either at a dance, nightclub, or party. Even some of the slower tracks like Emotion make you feel like Daft Punk did you a favor and gave you a break from sweating your ass off. Robot Rock was my favorite track of all discs and I also really liked Human After All and Technologic.
This was a really great pick, so thanks for the introduction to Daft Punk. I intend to pick up their discs if I happen to come across them at Half Price Books. Thank you David.
A little late on the uptake, but I didn't like "Human After All" as much as "Discovery." It seems to me like a step back toward "Homework" in all its lyricless concentration on beat. I will say,I like this better than the first album and Daft Punk certainly are masters of their domain. I just prefer the stuff I can sing along to. That being said, I really like the track "Make Love," because of its smooth sound. I could listen to it over and over and over. Thanks for a great week David!
ReplyDeleteReading all these comments I have to say I'm kind of surprised everyone seems to like "Discovery" the least. Except me. And David from what he says. While I agree with Beth and Justin about "Human After All" sounding more modern with all the robot themed humanless beats, but I don't think that makes a better album. While I think the other two albums are great demonstrations of Daft Punk's talent, to me, they don't even compare to the genius of "Discovery."
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