Daft Punk: How did they stand the test of time? S/D

both duh

i guess only certain people would've hailed them as geniuses before 'Discovery' came out but after that the audience seems wider still and because it was a bit of a shift for them it attracted a lot more people who valued good fun songwriting more than multiple filter sequences

not sure where they can go from here but look forward to any new stuff

one criticism i do have of a lot of Bangalter's work is that he is TOO obsessed with simplicity and this seems to result in him dragging things out a bit on some of his remixes (thus amazing that the tracks on 'Discovery' are all quite short, except 'Too Long' which must be some sort of joke). i love that one he did of Roy Davis Jr's 'Rock Shock' but it struck me that there's not enough happening in it for it to really hold my interest in the long term - its more like its just about that one great hook - capturing a single moment, but with most of the 'Discovery' tracks being structured more like proper songs they seem to have a longer life.

(& I'm surprised by how many fans are writing off their next album before it comes out).

there were always problems i had with 'Homework' as well - 'Rock n' Roll' was a bit boring to me, 'Phoenix' dragged on too long, so does 'Around The World' in fact, but all in all i'm still inclined to rate the first album above the second.

I still don't own a copy of Homework tbh.

Actually there is the thing that with Daft Punk/Andrew W.K./Super Furry Animals/Electric Six, there's the question of whether they're using this self-consciously retro style because it's their favourite language (like SFA actually releasing an album in Welsh), as opposed to getting masturbatory ironic kicks. I got no/yes/yes/no on those bands, though Daft Punk were more maybe after their first album.

I am probably going to sound like some sort of old fogey, but I don't think seven years is a particularly long period of time; it would seem premature to say "their music has stood the test of time" if you were the type of person who believed such things to be important.

certainly in the UK where 'Da Funk' crashed the top ten (with 'Around The World' doing even better) and 'Homework' selling better than you would think (i recall it entering the album chart at number 6 which, despite it being very early in the year, was still a bit of a shock). thanks to hype from NME, Muzik and the like and MTV support they had a great inauguration, as did Air the following year.

we're both old fogeys then, nicole, since my first reaction on seeing the thread title was "2 years is the test of time?!"

ha ha andrew, we really don't want to talk about "clocks." one of the two times i've actually cried to music this summer WAS that.

"Did"?! Well I kno' time's supposed to sometimes "fly" b-b-but... Oh never mind, keep on "testing" to your heart's content by all means.

I wonder if the better way is to say it's stood the test of your mind? Or something where it's less temporal and more mental(ist).

it's good to have a MAJOR SUCCESSFUL GROUP whose main signature/area of emotional reach is vague draining melancholy.

It is? (I say this in part because I've just realized that the secret of Coldplay is that it's just lazy mid-seventies Clapton dressed up as depth -- the difference between "Wonderful Tonight" and "In My Place" is not all that great!)

Stardust Music Sounds Better With You is probably my favourite Bangalter thing but god I could go on all day. Face To Face, Too Long, Digital Love, Together, Crydamoure, Roule, Trax On Da Rox, Rollin' and Scratchin', the entire live CD.

Also if anyone cares about tests of time, I don't really, look at all the millions and millions of records "influenced" by Daft Punk.

Blar, no way! Best bassline of the year no problem.

oops, back to Daft Punk...well you can't make a track like 'Digital Love' or 'Aerodynamic', play it to people in late 2000 and not have them say 'ooooh thats a bit retro - so you guys dig Whitesnake and Van Halen too?!'

re 'Phoenix', i like the track a lot (tho the Basement Jaxx mix really is something else) but if they weren't gonna put anything more in it i would've kept it at 3 minutes

and Ronan's right about the DP influence, Stardust alone inspired about 2000 other tracks...tho some of the credit has to go to whoever played that guitar lick on Chaka Khan's 'Fate' perhaps

sorry i was just thinking of the guitar solo in 'Aerodynamic' i guess. 'Digital love' is on the equally retro Buggles/70s glam-pop trip tho. and what with 'Superheroes' sampling Barry Manilow, then it seems pretty clear they were really keen to bring their childhood influences more into range with that album.

Unsurprisingly, these guys cite 'Musique' is taken that only track worth owning - which as hipstari as you can get, really (but still a valid point in terms of the blueprint sound for Homework, if you had to buy only one track).

Particularly since Discovery tho - I think that they sit smack between dance and rock, maybe that alienates some people - filtered house innovators/big beat associates/retro-stylists equally. Not mention bridging pop and 'alternative' music.

And they kinda seem to seriously like Van Halen...

See, on paper, Doves are quite cleary the greatest rock band there ever was, marrying Marr-like exquisiteness with Zep power and a total lack of crapitude.

Course on paper, it's like having a flock of Canada Geese tramping through yer room. His voice! Bad enough, then they go and multitrack it. It's painful, surely?

Chris Martin, on the other hand, can sing a bit, however unpalatable you mind find his lyrics (maybe he should be on the Doves' records? Come to think of it, 'Politik' is fairly close to their dynamic, no?), plus it's good to have rock records with interesting piano (i.e. not remotely Rolling Stonesy)

er, yes: Daft Punk. I love love LOVE Discovery. Face To Face is sooo... gorgeous.

'Crazy In Love' is reminding me of 'One More Time'.... I am sick somehow?

BUT. Daft Punk. I loved Homework when it came out and listened to it constantly whilst playing Interstate '76. I actually think it was my "hey wait disco isn't wrong or evil" turning point. And Discovery = after-the-fact favorite album of 2001 if you consider Since I Left You as 2000. The closest I can come to complaining is that "Nightvision" should've been five minutes and featured vocals about not being in love neon robots.

Hahaha, "even"!

Discovery is just one of the best albums EVER

I like DP very muchly, but that track annoyed the hell out of me at the time.

and to lee, i think Jez actually has a bit more 'soul' in his voice than Chris and they're just generally much better at capturing blokey melancholy, more interesting sonically too. (talking about Doves and Daft Punk on the same thread - ILM probably doesn't get any better for me now...but the only link is that when i saw Doves in Northampton they had 'Discovery' playing before they came on and it was funny to see people's faces range from joy to disgust)

homework,however,is exceptional,and the live album is even better

as for standing the test of time,i don't really think anyone has bettered them for that type of music in the last few years

rollin' and scratchin' is fucking incredible

God only knows why I'd avoided them for so long. The suspicion of them being a major label act in the boom-time of dance popularity? I got it cheap and expected dissapointment, ace couple of singles, probably overlong filler.

fuck ................. me

16 tracks and I'd maybe lose only 3 or 4 if I had to and tbh nothing drags as much as I'd expected at all.

It's astounding. So simple in excecution, yet so innovative. All within the confines of a totally recognisable house/techno/disco blueprint (I mean it isn't 'prog'-anything).

And it rocks like a bastard.

Back in 1996 Their Great level was at a 10. then when Discovery came out, it was still at a 10.

But now that this new album came out. they're at a 9.

They are still great and I have total respect for anything they do.

Someday I'll burn Homework off somebody.

you may see visions. What a great album.

(I'm listening to it now, is why I'm posting here.)

They were geniuses and always right.They were geniuses and always right.They were geniuses and always right.They were geniuses and always right.They were geniuses and always right.They were geniuses and always right.They were geniuses and always right.They were geniuses and always right.They were geniuses and always right.They were geniuses and always right.They were geniuses and always right.They were geniuses and always right.They were geniuses and always right.They were geniuses and always right.They were geniuses and always right.They were geniuses and always right.

I still don't own a copy of Homework tbh.

-- Tom (Groke), Wednesday, July 30, 2003 1:53 PM (4 years ago) Bookmark Link

wtf

so their current live set is apparently blinding and whaddayaknow, they might have over 1/2 dozen good tracks to their name (cba to RESCREEN them atm tho). but y'know, Discovery was almost 100% shit and no amount of appendice-servicing can alter that.

ha. what?

cba, can't be arsed. atm, at the moment. you figure out the rest

Blunt OffTM

oh I actually meant Human After All not Discovery (only 50% shit that one)

Yeah, I was about to say, you're 100% retarded.

And you did it anyway.

Deal with it, missy!!

I really like "Human After All"