Daft Punk's Random Access Memories

yes moroder, behind the spotlight, sure

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mecm5v3SK41qza6yso1_1280.jpg

Sweetzer Ave

what i like is they took nile rodgers, this guy known for producing duran duran, and had him play guitar on it. and disco guitar at that!

?

really the only unsurprising moment on the album was when they had todd edwards sing like michael mcdonald, like THIS AGAIN?

i just ran out for a short bit and heard part of "get lucky" on my pop station

a little surprising i guess

I'm just disappointed they didn't take a cue from Giorgio and have their last track consist of them listing the album's credits through a vocoder:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kw-X1dNuzI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G4at_OQenQ

you have to hand it to these guys for a fucking masterful marketing job on this. when you thought they'd ZIG, they ZAGGED. i honestly can't remember any build-up even approaching the fever-pitch intensity for this. i know what lex means about a similar feel between this and the JT album - sort of variations on hey, what up, it's the return of the mack except in more expensive suits this time - but the JT build-up paled next to this.

Hats off to these guys, because the JT basically sounds like you'd expect it to sound, but not as good, while this, no matter where you stand on the results, is the last thing anyone expected from Daft Punk, even with all the hints and clues.

sort of sick of seeing music acts being praised for their marketing skillz and business acumen. it's sort of irrelevant.

don't you have some american idol to watch or something

not to them

xp

i mean, i totally agree with lex about being sick of it, but it's also pretty much the whole game these days, right?

Is the "music act" really praised for it though? I mostly see people in awe of the PR-campaign, but it's not heavily attributed to the band iirc

lol @ iatee trying to be a snob

it's also pretty much the whole game these days, right?

well yeah if you're interested in, like, business and the music industry or whatever

is the last thing anyone expected from Daft Punk

i kinda disagree.. iirc the electroma soundtrack had a similar feel and also, digital love sounds like super cheezeball disco pop with a breakdown that sounds like supertramp

I don't think anyone expected 'touch'

once you commit to paul williams, youre getting on the boat tbf

I thought this sounded exactly like daft punk when I first listened. maybe I need to listen again.

Peter Paphides feels the need to defend RAM against the masses:

http://hiddentracks.org/its-not-actually-a-disco-album-per-se-daft-punk-notes-from-a-small-backlash-2013/

His gripes seem kind of irrelevant if this album is truly going to hit the massive volumes that have been hinted at by Amazon, et al.

marketing has always been a part of pop music

there were certainly some unexpected touches but this is basically what I expected after hearing "Get Lucky"

Afaik most if not all of the marketing ideas came from Daft Punk themselves - definitely SNL, Coachella, the artwork and the Collaborators videos.

Lex, when you've made an album that's taken five years and a ton of cash I would argue that marketing is far from irrelevant. Praise where it's due as far as I'm concerned. It's not like the artists you rate are just chucking stuff out unpromoted and hoping somebody hears it.

xp Could have been interesting if Monday had seen a Vinyl release instead of the iTunes stream though.

I still kinda agree with the dollar bin thing though. could be the Monster of 2013.

I like this bit in Pete P's blog:

7. Dear People Who Seem Convinced That It’s All Been Done Before. Listen to Get Lucky. Then go back to your record collection and try and find a song that really sounds like it. I tried it the other week. I pulled out all of my Chic records. I pulled out Diana Ross’s Upside Down. I pulled out Sheila B. Devotion. None of them scratched the itch that Get Lucky scratched. The deep, foetal bass of Get Lucky couldn’t have been laid down in a pre-techno era. The gradual mutation of the vocal melody into robot-ecstasy – I haven’t heard that on any other record of the era… I’ve got LOADS of old records. I spent ALL OF THE 80s buying up cheap disco 12-inches. I don’t have ANYTHING that truly sounds like this.

I think he's right about the problem with streaming as well. Given that the original plan was to debut it at Wee Waa, I suspect that this was the only decision that wasn't part of DP's original plan.

People sniffing that Record X sounds exactly like Old Record Y, ignoring all the ways in which it doesn't, are the biggest bores in music.

It's not like the artists you rate are just chucking stuff out unpromoted and hoping somebody hears it.

I was going to say. But I mean, we ALL know this if we work in the business to some degree. Lex's interview with Taylor was just another to-do item on someone's business plan somewhere, same as mine was with Trent Reznor.

That part is spot on, "Fragments" is really the only tune that sounds really retro, acting like this could be a lost 70's disco album is absurd.

"it should be all about the music maaaaan" - the lex

group famous for sampling 70's music making new music that sounds like.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...shockah.

I don't care who they bite with their strong gallic teeth I just wish I loved this more still for some reason. i'll give it another shot though. maybe i'll even buy the cd when they have it across the street.

xp Everyone has a marketing plan of some kind. Daft Punk are just getting props because they worked out one that's clever and fun enough to cut through all the white noise. I think that's relevant, though of course it shouldn't have any bearing on what you perceive the quality of the music to be. Sometimes Lex sounds like an indie purist from 1985, which is weird if you're a big fan of Taylor Swift and Beyonce rather than the Wedding Present and the Field Mice.

Meanwhile down in Wee Wa

http://pitchfork.com/news/50786-watch-daft-punks-random-access-memories-launch-party-in-wee-waa-australia/

DL OTM

been feeling overwhelmed by social media and the like recently and the marketing and hype about this has just...i don't want to listen to it. will do it in a few months or something.

ah just listen to it, i'm curious to hear what you think. honest it's really not that good you don't have to save it

Daft Punk are just getting props because they worked out one that's clever and fun enough to cut through all the white noise

i think you mean because they have enough $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to cut through the white noise.

some good moments tho

i think you mean because they have enough $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to cut through the white noise.

i think you mean they've made enough $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ thanks to their shrewd, tasteful musicianship to make a clever and fun record that cuts through the white noise

xp No that's dumb. Lots of people have more $$$$ than Daft Punk - JT and Beyonce to name but two - and they haven't come up with something as canny as this.

But I can't be arguing with someone who doesn't like the drums on Contact tbh

what does it mean to cut through the white noise?

it means doing everyone a solid

What other bands/artists would this marketing campaign have had the same success with?

when pharrell yells 'guitar!' in LYTD

sounds like an indie purist from 1985, which is weird if you're a big fan of Taylor Swift and Beyonce rather than the Wedding Present and the Field Mice.

xp I mean there's a lot of big artists trying to get their records talked about and anticipated and Daft Punk have managed it better than anyone this year (or last) except maybe David Bowie, who is after all David fucking Bowie. Obviously Daft Punk have enough cachet to make it work - I wouldn't rate Bloc Party's chances with a 15-second loop in the middle of Saturday Night Live - but by any measure this has been a remarkable campaign.