Oh man. That's what went through my head when I heard the disco force behind the opening stretch of Random Access Memories, french disco funk duo Daft Punk's latest delivery. The sexed up jazzy strums and popping bass features heavily throughout, with electronic vox that soar into electronic sounds padding out beautifully eerie choruses delivered by guest performers giving a more than adequately produced album.
There are beautiful nods to Discovery with The Game Of Love about losing a love once there; possibly a sequel to Something About Us? This feels like a personal story being told by two cyborg musicians who upon feeling they may be Human After All, they remember when they could Touch. The robotic persona almost feels like a beautiful disguise hiding their feelings of alienation from their humble yet troubled beginnings whereupon their name originated - "a daft, punky trash."
Influences stem from Chic, Supertramp, ELO, Aphex Twin and even themselves. Everything is a reminder of what is good about Daft Punk and every track a soaring successor. We're going on a journey through their RAM.
It's a very chilled adventure. There are only a few songs that would be considered singles. The tracks here aren't total floorfillers, with the exception of Get Lucky, Lose Yourself To Dance (also featuring Pharell) and possibly Instant Crush (with Julian Casablancas giving a fantastic turn with auto-tune at least done right).
I particularly felt haunted, moved and headnodding when listening to Giorgio Moroder's monologue over Giorgio By Moroder. His line regarding wanting to create music from the 60's and 70's felt perfectly attuned to what Daft Punk were attempting and succeeding with here. This reminded my of Dennis Hopper's guest monologue on Gorillaz' Fire Coming Out Of A Monkey's Head but done right. While that was an enjoyable story, Giorgio's is a story of being a struggling musician and about music; much akin to Music Is Music by Ed Solo and Skool of Thought.
The closing track Contact, featuring a sample (and the only sample on the album) from The Sherbs' We Ride Tonight is beautifully epic and nods towards the low synth of Goblin or even Justice. The track gives in to the continuing fantasy of Daft Punk that was fully realised during Discovery - that Guy-Manuel and Thomas Bangalter are music machines on a journey through time, space and memory.
No comments:
Post a Comment