Review by Jeff Thompson
In the world of electronic dance music, one is very likely to hear heavily synthesized keyboards, pounding four-to-the-floor beats and, in recent years, aggressive, “drops”. On Daft Punk’s new album “Random Access Memories” listeners will hear absolutely none of these. In fact, upon first listen, “Random Access Memories” seems to come from a time when electronic music itself was in diapers. Instead of picking up on the trend of modern EDM, Daft Punk chose, as they usually do, to do something entirely their own; and in this case it was channeling 70’s disco and 80’s new wave.
The album sets the scene with the sexy and funky “Give Life Back to Music”. Following with the melodic and relaxed “The Game of Love”. The pace then picks up channeling both 80s style synths and classical sounding piano and, though it is odd to say, the third track on the album, “Goirgio By Moroder” actually rocks harder than any electronic music ought to (not that this is a bad thing). “Instant Crush” featuring Julian Casablancas of the Strokes is at once cute, touching, and epic, touching on the emotional strings of the listener. On “Touch” choral singing makes way for spacey synths and finishes in the sparse vocals of songwriter Paul Williams. First album single “Get Lucky” which has already been played to death on the radio (not that this writer is complaining) features funky guitars and the smooth and sultry singing of Pharell Williams and, although it channels 70’s disco out the wazoo, it will probably still get young twenty-somethings out on the dancefloor all night trying to get lucky. “Beyond” prominently features Daft Punk’s signature (and now copied in every genre from trance to dubstep) robot voices and, though at a slower tempo, still keeps the listeners head bobbing and hips swaying, channeling something of a trance in the listener as the interlayed synths carried on. The intro to “Motherboard”, with its soft effects and harp-like chords channels many modern day atmospheric EDM acts including Múm and Boards of Canada, finishing in a truly eerie break and utterly uplifting finish. Though this track is probably most unlike all of the others on the album, it is this uniqueness that makes it stand out as one of the freshest and most intriguing. Track “Fragments of Time” seems a bit unnecessary, as at this point in the album, it just seems like a repackaging of what has come earlier, and following a gem such as “Motherboard”, it just seems like a letdown. “Doin’ it Right” relies on an interesting beat and the singing of Panda Bear of Animal Collective and adds some fun, futuristic diversity to an album thus far dominated by sounds of the past. Album closer “Contact” hits hardest with a trilled synth part and banging drums right out of a Led Zeppelin track, while coming to a screeching crescendo.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NV6Rdv1a3I&h=297&w=450]
While this album is certainly out of place amongst the throngs of most modern EDM, this is not surprising, as it would not likely please fans of modern EDM. With a few exceptions (namely “Get Lucky”) this album will hardly be played at dance clubs along with the likes of Swedish House Mafia or Avicii. And though Daft Punk certainly play tribute to the sounds that first influenced their own electronic dance music, they may have done so at the cost of making their new album danceable.
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