Daft Punk ‎– Random Access Memories (2013)

Sorry if there is a thread about this already, but it's my most highly anticipated album release at the moment and it officially came out in physical form yesterday. I haven't heard the entire album yet because I'm still waiting for my local record store to receive their order of which I've got a vinyl copy reserved but from what I have heard so far (about 3/4 of it) it is my favorite release after Discovery.

Much is being made about the production and the exclusive use of "real instruments" put to work with this album, and meanwhile a chasmic divide has been unearthed between the casual pop fans and the intrepid devotees, as well as between those who were expecting the regurgitation of the expected house-based sound and those who were expecting Daft Punk to reinvent themselves; I am of the latter group and my expectations were greatly exceeded. The sound here varies but there are elements of blue-eyed soul and outright R&B and funk, as well as a truly pure form of progressive disco-rock, and it is the prog disco that appeals directly to the bulls eye of my tastes, this coming from a long line of 70's and early 80's krautrock and Berlin school inspired disco-rock delivered by the likes of Frédéric Mercier, Zodiac (see: Disco Alliance), Space, Giorgio Moroder (who makes an appearance on this album), Cerrone, House of the Rising Sun, Tantra, Ganymed, and many others, but where I see the overall sound of the album drawing influences from can be traced back (indirectly as it may be) to people who did EXACTLY the kind of genre-blending Daft Punk has done during the very time period where each of these genres (disco, prog, funk) were still relatively brand new, with artists such as Dominik Von Senger, Richard Schneider Jr., Schoenherz, and Supersempfft (see: 1979's "Roboterwerke" on CBS), none of whom save for possibly Moroder were well known among their contemporaries and remain obscure to this day.

Anyway, the direction Daft Punk has moved into is one that I essentially predicted as they have grown and so have I, and when you are interested in this area of music, over the years you unravel the very obscure history of how this sound has developed and realize that it was fully matured from the outset in the mid-seventies and that some of the most profound music ever made has been relegated to dusty thrift stores and yard sales in rural Europe only to turn up online by elitist DJ's for sale at ridiculous triple digit prices, meanwhile bands ride a hype train of fame thinking that they've invented a new style. Daft Punk acknlowedges their influences and always have, and so I see this album as a celebration, as a tribute to a sound that was almost entirely forgotten, the basic elements of which nearly everyone is in some sense vaguely familiar with but when pressed for info can only stutter and say "uhh..Kraftwerk?". This album is a strong 10/10 despite my distaste for nearly all of the guest artists (especially Panda Bear) because the effort is so genuine and pure and the music itself fucking rocks (see: Contact, the final track). Definitely my favorite album of the year and likely of the 21st century.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAnsARL3WUw"]Random Access Memories - Album Complet - Full - YouTube

 

Fantano gives it a good review. Not that I care what he thinks, and I often disagree with him, but he articulates well at least.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTUBoFVi-HY"]Daft Punk - Random Access Memories ALBUM REVIEW - YouTube

As for myself, I am not a huge DP (Daft Punk -- not double penetration) fan, but sometimes their music is nice to just blast really loud on a good car stereo system.

 

Also, I think the Music forum should be merged with this forum. I never post in the Music forum because I feel nobody reads the threads there.

 

Yes, I've forsaken that subforum as well, and because you are one of the only people on here whose taste and knowledge I have actual respect for, I've decided to begin posting about music in here instead.

Matt, let me just say that, as mentioned and as primarily the cause for the stark contrast generated around this albums release (among the starkest I've ever seen) this album does *not* sound like Daft Punk in the sense that they've come to be thought of.. even if you take the single, the only song from the album to sound anything like their previous records "Get Lucky", which admittedly took a good 5 listenings over a two week period to begin to really like, you of all people can feel how deep the production goes and how much effort they put into performing and recording this to a projected very high standard that is very rarely met with. They were recording the vocals with 3 microphones, for example, each from different decades, because the attention to detail includes authenticating the time period they were trying to capture. Seriously check this album out Matt, it is a high work of art, this is not EDM in the sense that this generally applies, it is EDM in the sense that you would get from somebody like me pulling records out of the Telefunken, Sky and Barclay labels.

And yes, Fantano is one cool guy, I often disagree with him but this is entirely due to taste and reasons for listening. For him to give this record an 8 raises my opinion of him slightly, because I've never taken him to be much of a disco or soul kind of guy, but I suppose he may be commenting on the amount of work and mastery that went into it by that number.

 

Man, the anticipation is killing me, I hate when an official release gets dragged on due to late shipments or short supply or whatever it is causing this. You can't even find a US copy on discogs for any price right now and it's been out for only one day! It sucks because I have the full album on my iPod but I refuse to listen to it entirely on anything but a sealed brand new vinyl copy, not for audiophile reasons but for personal quirk reasons. I'm already in love with it so it's torture knowing that it rocks but that I'm stuck waiting for the stupid thing to arrive at the store. Should have pre-ordered but I kept forgetting to do so

 

I made a thread about this the other day.

But another one is cool. I can't wait for this albums. I read good reviews on it and can't wait to get it.

Yay.

 

It's this song which truly represents the level of excellence to which Daft Punk have ascended. Hard to believe that the guys with whom I fell in love over the song Superheroes are responsible for me falling in love all over again because of this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-yUIMrRlEQ"]Contact - Daft Punk (Random Access Memories) 2013 - YouTube




And, for old times:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRt5z880CFY"]Daft Punk - Superheroes - YouTube

 

John - got a link so I can d/l this?

 

You know about kat.ph, right? I saw you mention that it was getting harder to download music recently.. problem fixed, my friend.

http://kat.ph/daft-punk-random-access-memories-320-kbps-2013-t7416325.html

 

And if you like, I'll shoot you the download coupon once I get the vinyl copy, I'm certain it will come with one and that way you will get flawless copy straight from the source.

 

That single is no doubt a great song, only I am not crazy about the repetition of the title in the chorus, but his vocals leading up to that point are great!

 

So far I am really digging this album... A LOT!!! This is probably going to end up being my favorite Daft Punk album.

I am still digesting the first half of the album. There are a few tracks I don't care for (at least not yet), but when I like what I hear, I really like it.

I can see how John would LOVE this album, with its obvious Italo influences and all. The second track on here is especially beautiful and has an amazing atmospheric quality. And how cool is 'Giorgio by Moroder'? I wonder how many fans of Daft Punk know who Giorgio Moroder is. Well, I guess they do now. I love how the aforementioned song really builds in intensity following the orchestral break in the middle.

I am not even all the way into this album, but what I hear sounds very promising. This is a new direction for Daft Punk, and it doesn't even really sound like them a lot of the time, as many tracks on here have a very organic, instrumental and at times symphonic quality not heard on their previous albums. I can see how some of their fans would not appreciate this album, as Daft Punk does have a large pleb following who might not be familiar with the music this album derives from, thus are unable to appreciate its depth and what is more or less a homage to DP's influences.

This album has some killer grooves to it, too. I love some of the bass, beats, and just the overall retro sound I am hearing that harks back to the Euro-disco of the late 70s and early 80s. I was grooving to this hardcore in my car this morning, with the volume turned up as loud as it can go. I found a good FLAC download of the album, so the sound quality is superb.

Thanks for inspiring me to check this album out, John. I may not have if it wasn't for your recommendation.

 

zteeehehehehe, pressed rat likes double penetration

 

I am more of an ATM guy myself.

 

What I find curious about any album review is its not going to be till weeks later that you 'get' it, and the real test doesnt come until years later when you are still playing the damn thing or not that you will know just how awesome an album it is.

I'll download it simply cos it is Daft Punk

Pretty much anyone that was a teen in the 80s, Human League were pretty huge, so by association anyone that new them would know Moroder, that Electric Dreams a bit hit

That and Moroder also did the soundtrack for the awesomness that was Top Gun

 

Daft Punk is the stuff. Everything they make is golden.

 

I got to say, the album is a little bit of a snooze, apart from this track Contact (which samples Sherbet of all bands which spun me out) and Get Lucky, both of which I love.

But the rest of the album is sunday drive material, seems to be targeted at whoever was 20 back 16 years ago when Homework came out (could have sworn blind that was well before 97, but whatever)....and is now 36, off on a sunday drive in a turtleneck to picnic with cab sav and brie by the lake and feed the ducks....oh honey, lets put Random Access Memories on, isnt it wonderful weather we are having.

Not saying I dont like it, 'Within' is like a fine wine (there I go again), but the album hardly screams dropping E's and glowsticks, sounds like old farts music

 

Contact is by far the best song. I like the Giorgio song, but I wish there was no talking. I also like Get Lucky and Lose Yourself to Dance a lot. I’m indifferent to the others.

 

It put a huge smile on my face this morning to see that your liking the album, Matt!

And yes Gorilla, the test does ultimately come years later, but I'm already convinced of the "classic, legendary" status of this album and have been from the very first listening. Perhaps not to many others, but to me the release of this album has a profound sense of historicity surrounding it, and this is the first time in my life time that I can say that I've cried from sheer beauty to an album that is on the charts. Every aspect to this work is clearly finely detailed and well thought out, but it is the emotion which comes through and shines brightest, whether that emotion be one of apathy and uncertainty or of love, or excitement. The range of genre here is impressive and I find myself very much enjoying songs in a style that do not typically appeal to me, the song Touch, for example (the chorus as it grows from the vocoder to include the choir is intense, and very moving). One thing I was surprised to find is that disco itself, in it's strict form, does not dominate the album, and does not really even make much of an actual appearance, but rather there is a general retrospective 'essence' of what the time periods music sounded like, and it is only the modular Moog sound that carries over into each song attaching it to disco at the hip; Italo is present, but again blended too deeply to discriminate.

Something which I would like to see further explored is the style of the song Contact, which could be described in numerous ways but which seems to me to be primarily prog; disco prog in a sense but only by association with the rest of the album, as was largely the case for certain artists of the seventies like J.P. Massiera. The song ends on a definite disco note but it's muffled and buried beneath layers of ascending synthesizer tones and abruptly cancels out. I don't know that this is something Daft Punk will go on to explore (I doubt it, anyway) but it is something which I've long hoped would be 'rediscovered' and entertained with live instrumentation rather than purely electronic ala Lindstrom. Listen to the album Star Peace by Droids, or Milkways (self titled) both from the late seventies on the Barclay labels and you'll see what I mean, the use of synthesizers and Rhodes to integrate jazz with disco in a manner of prog rock. It's glorious!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBXv37PFcAQ"]Daft Punk - Lose Yourself To Dance - YouTube

 

Yea, Contact is the only song to feature any sampling (from what I can tell, aside from Giorgio by Moroder, which features Cerrone's Supernature in the beginning, however they are actually covering it rather than sampling) and it's the latter half of the song that I enjoy the most, if you can get past the overwhelming psychedelic foreground.

Oddly enough I found Get Lucky to be the only track on the album (besides the Panda Bear song, which I pretend doesn't exist) that I actually dislike, and I mean to the point that I begin to abhor it as the chorus endlessly repeats, the processing on those vocals is one of the only 'instrumental' weak points to be found. Within is an incredible song although I'm not sure I share the feelings of the 'fine wine' analogy, it was immediately apparent to me how beautiful the intro is in particular.

I most definitely do not think this album to be a bore but as Matt pointed out I live and breathe italo-disco and disco in general, so my thoughts and feelings toward it are going to be drastically different than those of the people who enjoy the more house/EDM style and expected something more contemporary and fist-pump glowstick brostepping. As a musician I have no remaining interest in music made on computers; believe me when I say that I do not say this as an ignorant elitist brute, I've listened to and love my share of electronic music, but there is absent in this approach the very essence of what 'jamming' actually is and it is the use of the instrument I am most fanatical about (the Moog modular) in conjunction with live drums and bass that appeals to me most (Rhodes tinkling doesn't hurt, either), and the genre in which this was pushed to it's extreme potential was the euro space disco of the seventies. Again, this album is not space disco, it is very much soul and funk, but over the years I've come to realize that these other genres go hand in hand with space disco, and often disco is the exception on the albums known for being as such. I don't know, I've gotten a lot of curious and strange looks from people when exposed to my taste in music, and I guess thats to be expected, I mean fuck, in the seventies people used to get together to collectively burn disco records in the street, lol.