Daft Punk:
Random Access Memories:
Columbia:
Out: Now
7/10
Hysteria and hype are a curious phenomenon - as half the nation gets drunk on the unlikeliest #1 single in aeons, i.e. Daft Punk's Get Lucky, the other half is either blissfully unaware of the song's summery faux-disco chops, or sadly doesn't give a shit. Being a fan of the robotic twosome, I fall into the category that initially showed interest, heard it, shrugged and declared, "is that it?". I'm not now - the bloody song is ingrained in my brain forever making it a clear cut case of 'great pop'.
After hearing Daft Punk's fourth 'proper' album, their first since 2005's hit-and-miss Human After All, I shrugged again. Not because RAM is a bad album - it isn't, it's rather enjoyable in places - but rather because it's too bleeding long. Forget about them being forward-thinking retro artists or the pretentious column-inches being bandied about by the artier end of the online and physical music-press, proclaiming the French space-disco bods as 'the future', Daft Punk do what they do because they can. And they'll noodle around for as long as it takes to show you how.
Shrouded in myths, masks and mystery, messrs Bangalter and Homem-Christo pay homage to Chic (founder Nile Rodgers performs several cameos on the album), Giorgio Moroder (the modulator king appears on his own track Giorgio By Moroder) and Herbie Hancock (the jazz legend's idea of using the vocoder on his I Thought It Was You hit is stretched to the limit throughout), with less of the rave ethos on their debut-album Homework or the widescreen electro dimensions of Discovery.
As well as Rodgers and Moroder, guest appearances from The Strokes' Julian Casablancas, Chilly Gonzales, Panda Bear and Pharrell Williams might prompt a cat-call from sceptics as ill-advised chummery, but they and musicians Omar Hakim and Nathan East lend a welcome analogue hand to proceedings. Musically, there are elements of every one of Daft Punk's previous studio albums, with the odd casual nod in the direction of their recent superb Tron soundtrack work but, essentially, this is all-new territory, explored with well-worn tools.
The opening salvo is Give Life Back To Music, an agreeable mid-tempo romp with customary extended disco-funk flashes of melodic brilliance and trademark Rodgers jangle. From there, RAM is a rollercoaster when perhaps it should be a roller-disco. The Game of Love is Something About You part 2 while the Todd Edwards-sung Fragments of Time and vocodered (again) Beyond are just plain weak.
In among the stinkers though, there are some gems. Lose Yourself to Dance and the aforementioned Giorgio By Moroder throb with pulsating confidence, with the former a strong case for a follow up to Get Lucky, partly since both have been crooned by Pharrell Williams and follow similar blueprints. Lovers of Daft Punk's more indulgent and repetitive oeuvre may seek solace with the only testing track on here, the closing Contact. It's hands-to-the-lazers time as the boys exhibit their inner maniac with a natural successor to Discovery's Too Long or Homework's Burnin', albeit with a natty breakbeat and organ riff, spiced up with squelches, cyclical sequencers and an anarchic stuttering finale that sounds like a hoover being thrown off a cliff. Like, like, like.
Paul Williams, unrelated to Pharrell, brings his '70s songwriting prowess to the overlong but still charming Touch and Panda Bear makes good company on the cheesy Doin' It Right, all of which adds up to a decent enough album, if only it was a bit shorter. At 80 minutes, Random Access Memories takes far longer to say what it could have said in 50. Pisses over Human After All, though.
Random Access Memories:
Columbia:
Out: Now
7/10
After hearing Daft Punk's fourth 'proper' album, their first since 2005's hit-and-miss Human After All, I shrugged again. Not because RAM is a bad album - it isn't, it's rather enjoyable in places - but rather because it's too bleeding long. Forget about them being forward-thinking retro artists or the pretentious column-inches being bandied about by the artier end of the online and physical music-press, proclaiming the French space-disco bods as 'the future', Daft Punk do what they do because they can. And they'll noodle around for as long as it takes to show you how.
Shrouded in myths, masks and mystery, messrs Bangalter and Homem-Christo pay homage to Chic (founder Nile Rodgers performs several cameos on the album), Giorgio Moroder (the modulator king appears on his own track Giorgio By Moroder) and Herbie Hancock (the jazz legend's idea of using the vocoder on his I Thought It Was You hit is stretched to the limit throughout), with less of the rave ethos on their debut-album Homework or the widescreen electro dimensions of Discovery.
As well as Rodgers and Moroder, guest appearances from The Strokes' Julian Casablancas, Chilly Gonzales, Panda Bear and Pharrell Williams might prompt a cat-call from sceptics as ill-advised chummery, but they and musicians Omar Hakim and Nathan East lend a welcome analogue hand to proceedings. Musically, there are elements of every one of Daft Punk's previous studio albums, with the odd casual nod in the direction of their recent superb Tron soundtrack work but, essentially, this is all-new territory, explored with well-worn tools.
The opening salvo is Give Life Back To Music, an agreeable mid-tempo romp with customary extended disco-funk flashes of melodic brilliance and trademark Rodgers jangle. From there, RAM is a rollercoaster when perhaps it should be a roller-disco. The Game of Love is Something About You part 2 while the Todd Edwards-sung Fragments of Time and vocodered (again) Beyond are just plain weak.
In among the stinkers though, there are some gems. Lose Yourself to Dance and the aforementioned Giorgio By Moroder throb with pulsating confidence, with the former a strong case for a follow up to Get Lucky, partly since both have been crooned by Pharrell Williams and follow similar blueprints. Lovers of Daft Punk's more indulgent and repetitive oeuvre may seek solace with the only testing track on here, the closing Contact. It's hands-to-the-lazers time as the boys exhibit their inner maniac with a natural successor to Discovery's Too Long or Homework's Burnin', albeit with a natty breakbeat and organ riff, spiced up with squelches, cyclical sequencers and an anarchic stuttering finale that sounds like a hoover being thrown off a cliff. Like, like, like.
Paul Williams, unrelated to Pharrell, brings his '70s songwriting prowess to the overlong but still charming Touch and Panda Bear makes good company on the cheesy Doin' It Right, all of which adds up to a decent enough album, if only it was a bit shorter. At 80 minutes, Random Access Memories takes far longer to say what it could have said in 50. Pisses over Human After All, though.