The robotic duo has set standards for french house and techno in general since their first entry Homework, back in 1997. After their Alive album in 2007, things got quiet from the french house masters. It wasn't until Tron Legacy, released in 2010, that we heard new content from the robots in the form of a electric-symphony mash-up. Many thought they had retired or moved onto other things. Rumors began spreading on the internet like a wild fire that a new Daft Punk was in the works. Sure enough, it was confirmed by bass legend Nile Rodgers that he had been collaborating with the French duo on several tracks for a new album. Random Access Memories was born. Here is my review.
Random Access Memories is not the standard Daft Punk fair. Missing some of the heavy french house vibe of previous entries, RAM is a more funk filled, disco-baby Daft Punk offering. Not to say it's entirely devoid of synthesizers or Daft Punk's trademark robo-voice vocals. They are indeed present and accounted for. It's not as heavily dance oriented as previous albums either, but there are a few good "club" tracks that would easily be remixed. The majority of the track list is comprised of slower, more disco sounding tracks that will make your foot move, or get up and slow dance with your significant other.
The album is comprised of 13 tracks in total, featuring such collaborators as Moroder, Pharrell Willaims of N.E.R.D., and bass master Nile Rodgers. It's a unique mix of tracks that sound like something straight out of the late 60's and early 70's. Almost as if Daft Punk had abducted all of the collaborators, hopped into Doc Brown's Delorian time machine, went back to the disco era and recorded an album. Then brought it back to 2013 for mass consumption.
The tracks "Lose Yourself to Dance", "Get Lucky", "Doin It Right" and finally "Contact" are tracks that, at least to me, sound 100% like Daft Punk. But some of the tracks sound like the collaborators were allowed a heavier influence. Which isn't completely a bad thing. Every track offers something unique and interesting to take in and it overall is an enjoyable album. It's just a much different experience than their previous work. "Giorgio" has a short commentary by Moroder about his humble beginnings in the discotheques of Germany in the late 60's. "Within" offers the lamenting of an A.I. asking "Please tell me who I am."
I recommend the album for any fan of Daft Punk or anyone whose really into old-school funk & disco. It's a great album that, while VERY different from everything Daft Punk has done to date, is still a worthy Daft Punk album to have in your collection. If you're expecting a ground thumping club anthem, you probably should look elsewhere or at Daft Punks back catalog. To me, this album would be like Rammstein doing a polka album. It'll be the best goddamn polka you ever heard, but it's not Rammstein's defining style.
I admit that I was disappointed in the album after the first listen, but it was mostly because I expected something totally different than what was presented. It's not a bad album by any stretch of the imagination. I've actually grown to love it more and more with each listening session. Daft Punk, and the collaborators on this album, did a stellar job and you will thoroughly enjoy giving this record a spin.
- D. Viking
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Should you buy this album?
YES!
It's funkadelic, disco flavor is a unique offering from the french robotic duo. If you can, snag this album on vinyl.
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories is available on 5/21/13 on iTunes, Amazon.com and other fine music retailers.
No comments:
Post a Comment