Instant Dance Party

Welcome to the revolution- that's what it feels like when you start listening to Daft Punk. No, this is not punk music folks, it's electronic dance, called house in Europe. Daft Punk is made up of two lovely Frenchmen- Guy-Manuel de Homem Christo and Thomas Bangalter, and together they spin magical beats that make you want to grab a random girl/guy and dance the night away.

Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit (not really), but the music really is good. I'm not a clubber, but I could stay all day (wait... night I guess) if the DJ's were Daft Punk. The album is called Discovery, and it was released in 2001. Daft Punk formed in 1993 and released their debut album, Homework, in 1997, which quite successful. This would lead up to Discovery. After that, they released another album called Human After All, as well as a live album Alive 2007 (which won a Grammy). Last year they composed the score and did the soundtrack for the movie Tron: Legacy.



But you can read about all this stuff on their Wikipedia page, so lets get to the nitty gritty. The album starts out with 'One More Time', which would become their biggest commercial hit ever. I recognized the song as soon as I heard it. Next would be 'Aerodynamic', which introduced the instrumentals that would pop up in the rest of the album (well, most of the album). I liked that better than most of the spoken word songs- the dance music really spoke for itself.

There is heavy auto-tune in all of the spoken songs, heavier in some more than others. The only song on the album I didn't like was 'Digital Love'; it was so cheesy. It sounded like a mix between Owl City and a 80's disco/techno band like the Buggles, who were made famous by their song 'Video Killed The Radio Star'. The last three songs were also kind of looked over- I didn't pay a crazy amount of attention to them either. They were good, but they were also not very memorable or life changing.


'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger' was memorable. Yes, I know Kanye West covered this and made 'Stronger'. I love 'Stronger'. But I like this, the original, better. It starts out classic 80's pop, and goes into a electronic dance mix. It's creative and keeps you wondering what twist the beat will take next. It's a musical masterpiece. My favorite song on the album was 'Something About Us', which an interesting change from the fast beats of the rest of the album. It reminded me of a disco hall love ballad, and it is amazing it comes together so beautifully. Plus, you can hear his (not sure who's) lovely French accent.

Fun fact before we continue: these guys never take off their helmets. Right below this paragraph is a picture of them as youngsters, right before they got together again (they had a rock band as teens called Darlin'). These picture (there's a handful floating around the 'Net) are rare, but there, and they offer us a glimpse of the men inside the robot costumes. Another note- Daft Punk are well known for their eccentric concert, filled with flashing lights and visual effects. They create a story to go along with their music, which brings me to this next bit...

^Daft Punk as babies.

This is a conceptual album. There is a story, through beats and weird sounds and funny lyrics and 80's style rhythms, being told here. Now, do I know what that story is? Nope, not in the slightest. I'm going to keep trying to figure out that ever important message. However you, the listener, must decipher this yourself. I'm not going to tell you what I figure out, because I really want you guys to give this one a listen. Tell me what you discover.

-Raivynn