It seems as if we have been waiting eons for Daft Punk’s newest album, Random Access Memories, to find its way into our music libraries. We all have been on edge for months, anxiously waiting for any snippet of news. Amongst all this hype and anticipation, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo are positive no one will like it.
In an exclusive, and very rare, interview with GQ, they openly compare its success to a scene from Scary Movie 2, in which it is stated how “sequels always suck”. Bangalter added, “We’re making music for twenty years. How many bands and acts do you know that are still making good music after 20 years?”
The interview is full of these oblique remarks from both guys, which is at times hilarious and others slightly awkward (Their absence from interviews definitely shows!). Even more, they are referring to their new album as the Daft Punk Sucks record, secretly hoping more and more to be made irrelevant amongst the growing scene of dance music:
“Its always been this thing where we’re constantly waiting for something that will come in electronic music that says Daft Punk Sucks! That’s actually something that is much more interesting and exciting that someone who will pay homage.”
While they seem to criticize the most anticipated album of 2013, they know it’s going to not only break record sales, but also make a permanent imprint on the face of dance music.
Perhaps the most peculiar note protruding from the interview was the mention of using mostly live instruments and voices, rather than the mechanical, robotic sounds on which they claimed their fame. On the use of laptop production for the album, Bangalter remarks, “Those tools were very good at many things, but were worthless in generating emotion of musical instruments”. Instead, they decided to bring in a few of music’s most talented artists, like the great Nile Rodgers, Pharrell, and even Animal Collective’s Panda Bear. And that’s just a start. Intent on never doing the same album twice, as that is practically their life motto, Random Access Memories has the potential to be the best album ever made.
I say this not because it’s made by the same guys who created “One More Time” or even the fact that their name is Daft Punk, but because the fusion of genres like funk, rock, and disco with dance give the album enormous depth that could never be achieved by any other producer today. It may not blow us away on the first listen, or even the eighth for that matter. Yet, it’s something that will stick to us.
Reading up on a recent album review for Random Access Memories, it’s clear that this album encapsulates nothing short of excellence. Nearly none of it pertains to the modern EDM sound as the album is bustling with “orchestras, jazz-drum freakouts, and primitive synths gone wild”. The compilations of various artists, sounds, and all make this album between the bounds of ridiculous and heroic. We look forward for May 21 to give you our own exclusive review, but until then stay tuned here for all latest and breaking Daft Punk news!
Source: GQ
Great article! Can’t wait for this album. My ears are going to be pregnant on May 1st <3.
They may not think it’s a great album but we’re stuck in an EDM rut right now and the same music keeps getting regurgitated constantly. We need any change, it’ll help.
They are incredibly smart, everything they do and say is very well thought out – and I believe it to be a reference to their favourite time in music around the late 70’s early 80’s where if you remember disco was beginning to get on everyones nerves and the catchphrase “disco sucks” was coined! I don’t believe for a second that they would put out an album that they are not happy with – what you never know though is how the public will react – but they know what they are capable of and realize that the first 2 albums are considered classics. Just look at Human After All, (they wanted or either had to put out a record in a short space of time due to record contract obligations) hence the title and they printed the time it took to record it in the inner sleeve. They knew that fans of the first 2 albums would be disapointed (which I was even though it is a good album) so basically point being – they are covering their backs in a clever way to warn people of the switch in style (they don’t think disco sucks, but where edm is at the mo, this is a big change for peoples ears).