Final Rating: 8.8/10
Random Access Memory: The storage of temporary files on one’s computer.
Random Access Memories: A futuristic revisitation of old music styles by androids.
It’s here. New Daft Punk is finally here. You will know that instantly by the first track, where you will be knocked back with an onslaught of instruments instantly on Give Life Back To Music. Then the song continues with a groovy bassline, an infectious guitar riff and a robot from a distant planet begging for life to be brought back to music. The concept of the album is stated instantly. There isn’t any blatant story. There are just the lost memories of our generation of generations that have passed on.
Daft Punk broke ground during the 90’s with Homework; an album that introduced the world to European house music. They broke ground again with 2001’s Discovery, where they expanded on what modern music could sound like with quick bits of samples, robotic voices and music that escalates for those who want to explore yet stays stationary for those who just want to dance in place. Human After All may have been a blunder, but was it really THAT bad of an album? After all, it does have a wonderful theme of blurring the lines between what is organic and what is mechanical, and if it wasn’t for that six week experiment, we wouldn’t have the much more worked upon Random Access Memories.
Case in point, each Daft Punk album sounds like its own being, and Random Access Memories is no different. Here, Daft Punk reflect on what may be missing in music. The answer? Sufficient roots. Live instrumentation is used for most of the album, and is then sampled to still sound processed underneath vocals that, for the most part, are robotic and synthetic. Not all of the vocals are heavily altered, though, as singers like Pharell Williams, Paul Williams, and Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear) shine through as songwriters of old and new being given a stage. It’s like the album was a charity event to bring back music and they were the spokes people in between segments. Other singers, like Daft Punk themselves (naturally) and Julian Casablancas, are edited so much that they sound other worldly, which is normal for Daft Punk, but for some reason, this method seems all the more effective here with the 70’s bass lines, the 80’s synths, and the 60’s drumming all keeping these distorted voices on track.
Some memorable moments include Giorgio By Moroder and Touch, which feature music legends Giorgio Moroder and Paul Williams respectively. There is a large amount of depth within these songs. Moroder talks about himself a little bit with a backing track behind him as he discusses some of what he did as a music pioneer when he first started. Once he announces his name, suddenly the song becomes a full throttled ride through eras, sounds and emotions. The history of upbeat music is at the command of Moroder himself. Then Williams sings passionately on Touch as the song escalates, abruptly changes, feels doomed then feels rewarding much like life itself. This song gets its message through with Williams’s experience and wisdom through his voice, of which is clearly full of wear and tear but is still full of life.
Some of the shorter, more upbeat songs help keep the album on track as they work as moments to breath and relax. Lord knows you need to have some fun after a really emotional track like Touch, so the lead single Get Lucky follows right after. The instrumentation itself is pretty expressive and expansive, as the drumming, for an “electronic” album, is pretty off the walls at times and the bass lines are never too scared to scale the summits. The production on this album is absolutely stellar, with so many sounds being crystal clear and almost physically sensory. You can tell this is an album Daft Punk has always wanted to make.
And there lies a possible problem. This album is for Daft Punk, and strictly for Daft Punk. Their goal was to, indeed, bring back the danceable elements of music’s glory days, and it was for the people. In the end, it was so Daft Punk could have an album where they could collaborate with some of their heroes, fully express the kind of music they want to express, and hope that the world will feel the same way as them. The good news is that this was always their goal. Discovery had a lot of flack when it came out (and it’s now considered brilliant). Human After All, which was widely panned, is an album that Daft Punk stand by and are proud of. So Random Access Memories is not something so farfetched and alienating.
In that same breath, it may not be for everyone. Seeing that it is heavily influenced by funk, new wave, synth pop, and even, and especially, disco, is the album cheesy? Oh absolutely. The thing is, why does cheesiness always have to be bad? It doesn’t. This album reflects on these eras with a modern outlook on them, and with that in mind it does its job perfectly. The cheesiness comes along with the nostalgia, much like when a friend will recall a moment and say “sorry if this seems silly” before continuing. If you put this album on expecting to hate anything that sounds like the kind of music genres that many elitists have spat on (with people wishing for the death of disco and synthetic 80s music), you may find it very hard to appreciate this album, especially with its 74 minute run time. If the idea of a fun, relaxing album that you can bring to the beach sounds great, this album is especially for you. If you just want to hear new Daft Punk, it is definitely worth the listen, and whether or not it lives up to its hype or not will depend solely on you, of course.
At the end of the day, the amount of work put into Random Access Memories is worth the listen alone. There may be something on this album for everyone, but the album as a whole is most likely not for everyone. Nonetheless, those who enjoy the album will find it highly rewarding, and those who don’t will possibly appreciate its efforts. For me, it is a beautiful tribute album to earlier music, modern music, specific songwriters, and the image of Daft Punk themselves; A pair of robots trying to understand human life and its complexities.
The fine folks over at Pitchfork have a fantastic cover-story on the evolution of Daft Punk.
