Da Funk!

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Daft Punk, Discovery, French duo, Music, review

Now let’s talk about some funky electronic music…

The Discovery of Random Access Memories in our own Homework makes us Human After All…

What can I say – I liked Daft Punk ever since I heard “Around the world”. The two French guys with the masks are part of my life. Now millions of people discover and enjoy Daft Punk’s catchy music, but back then when “Da Funk” first came out the world didn’t really know much about Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo.

The French duo met first at their Secondary school. Being good friends they formed a band with a third pal – “Darlin'” in 1992. At that time a journalist wrote a negative review about their rock music, stating that it was “a daft punky thrash”. And this is how the name was born. Darlin’ disbanded pretty soon after that and Bangalter and de Homem-Christo formed the new duo “Daft Punk”. Synthesizers and drum machines came into play and soon the band recorded their first commercially successful track – “Da Funk” in 1995.
1997 saw the first album by the duo. It was called “Homework”. The album was highly praised and the most famous song from it was, of course, “Around the world”:

You know it – this single is a huge contribution to the house music. Every time I listen to this album I hear nothing but “big beat”.

In 2001 Daft Punk released their second album “Discovery”. This synthpop album is much more playful and crosses several genres. For me the most important feature of this part of Daft Punk’s legacy is the idea to create and use Japanese animated music videos. As a fan of Leiji Matsumoto, this was a huge gift for me (and I think that many fans thought the same way back then). Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem is e perfect embodiment of the joint genius of the East and the West. Discovery is like a trip to the childhood, which many of us gladly took. “One more time” became an instant hit in Europe and America and the legacy of “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” can still be felt in many dance clubs. So here I give you – “One more time”:

The duo’s third album “Human after all” was released in 2005. Although this creation was not that impressive as their previous two albums, we still can dance to hits like “Technologic” and “Robot Rock”. The two French geniuses were human after all 🙂 But the duo took their time and made their first film (directed by themselves) “Daft Punk’s Electroma” about two robots which desperately want to be human. Most of the comments which I read about the movie are positive. I personally had mixed feelings after I watched it. Maybe it was a little bit too sophisticated for my taste at first, but after the second review of the movie I felt a bit more connected to the metaphors in this interpretation of the human relations. My personal favorite was the way the two French musicians describe their friendship. As an experimental movie it is more like a mirror. It is definitely not a finished story that gives answers back to the viewer. You can watch the whole film here:

After their “Alive” tour in 2007 Daft Punk provided mixes of their music for the video game “DJ Hero” and in 2009 it was announced that they have recorded the soundtrack for the highly anticipated movie “Tron: Legacy”. A mixture of symphonic and electronic elements this album was more than a suitable OST for that average film. The music was prime as expected. The duo made a cameo appearance in the famous club scene from the movie where they “electrify the audience”:

Let’s not forget that before “Random Access Memories” Daft Punk became Chevaliers of “Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” – a reward well deserved.
After that? You know the story – Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo conquered the world with their fourth album and especially with their funky hit “Get Lucky”:

I guess we all benefit from such a career – funk, dance, melody, beats – you name your preference. The innovative nature of Daft Punk is what amazes the world almost 20 years. The modern features of their songs represent both their talent and hard work. They got lucky, but we also did. Such musicians are not bred, but born. Imagination is the true reason for their immense success. And to prove that, I would like to show you a rare interview (in English and Swedish) with Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter which proves that if you stay true to your dreams you can succeed not only in fulfilling them, but also in making other people’s dreams come true…