Daft Punk is largely, indirectly, responsible for today’s meteoric rise of popularity of electronic dance music, despite the duo’s disdain for the current trends. Their influence is seen everywhere, whether on the head of Deadmau5, the light show of Swedish House Mafia, or simply the in the chopped, disco funk of someone like DJ Dan. Daft Punk have pioneered the scene, whether always appearing in costume, or creating a blinding musical pyramid for their live performances. With their last major mark made being the Alive 2007 tour and album, now seemed like a natural time for Daft Punk to return, and set the world they created ablaze with new music.
With Random Access Memories, the robots have returned, yet have taken a decidedly different approach, shunning the current scene and taking a new direction. Call it “d1sc0″, call it “bluetooth soul”, stick any label you like on it, just don’t confuse it for “house” or “EDM”.
This makes Random Access Memories a very polarizing album for many listeners, as Daft Punk is the very act that turned many people on to both the electronic music and festival scenes. So for the superheroes of the genre to completely abandon it after a long absence, especially when the movement is so flourishing, it is a disappointment. It’s as if your favorite basketball player were to announce a comeback after several years absence, and at the last minute tell you that he’s actually moving to baseball. But we want to see the slam dunks!
Except that Random Access Memories actually hits some pretty amazing home runs, fully delivering on the promise of a tribute to the music of the 1970′s and early 80′s.
We live in an age of 140 character, first impression “album reviews”, which unfortunately sways the public opinion, for better or for worse. Coupled with the fact that people have more-or-less stopped paying for music, it’s value has diminished, leading to quick deleting of files, unlike the physical media of years past that remained in your possession eternally. That being said, fans quick to fire off on Daft Punk’s new direction may also be quick to move on to the next thing, as we live in an age of disposable arts.
But too bad for them, as Random Access Memories is quite easily Daft Punk’s strongest LP since Discovery (which still remains their greatest accomplishment), despite being something that completely rewrites the blueprint. The catchy, commercial lead single, “Get Lucky” with Pharrell and disco pioneer Nile Rodgers is merely meant to lure you in – much like “One More Time” did for Discovery – only to showcase an album of much deeper material.
Among those deeper cuts are some sultry robo-love ballads, in the tradition of classics like “Something About Us” and “Digital Love”, which kick the album off in the form of “Game Of Love” and “Within”, yet trading synths for live drums and melodic pianos. Later on “Instant Crush”, we find what sounds like the perfect meshing of Daft / Strokes sounds, as Julian Casablacas puts on the robot voice for this gorgeous tribute to 80′s rock acts like The Police or The Cars. Again on “Beyond” which licks with Michael Mcdonald-esque grooves, or the soft robot rock groove of “Fragments Of Time”, the sound of Random Access Memories is love lorn, luscious, and laidback.
The crown jewel of this LP may very well be it’s centerpiece, “Touch”, which plays a bit like a rock opera, clearly influenced by the 1974 Brian Depalma film, Phantom Of The Paradise, starring Paul Williams, whom also appears on the track. The eight minute opus flirts with the idea of being numb to touch – perhaps a metaphor for their feelings of today’s music scene – which builds into a beautiful, harmonic choir of a crescendo. Closing out, the album looks towards the future on “Contact”, acting as sort of a nod to their original style, as well as that of the current popularity of house music, suggesting all of these classic, musical elements would eventually lead to this point.
Like the duo’s previous three albums, the brilliance of Random Access Memories may not be realized until years later, once Random Access Memories takes on new forms, in accompanying film, remix, and tour projects. As house music fans, there is a sense of let down in the fact that Daft Punk did not come back and dominate the scene, yet in the longrun, this fleeting feeling will not matter in the grand scheme of things, when it’s recognized as the classic it truly is.