Daft Punk's Random Access Memories

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.

Halfway through first listen and this is sounding REALLY good.

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

i didn't realize that live drums in electronic music was something that people have been wanting to hear. finally, after all these years, jojo mayer is rejoicing somewhere:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA4HX9T4K5s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lFMg-0rmEE

SWEAT

Further Listening List:

Alan Parson's Project - Eye In The Sky
Quincy Jones - The Dude
Herbie Hancock - Perfect Machine

Any other sore thumbs sticking out?

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

i AM interested in business and the music industry! not, like, numbers sold or anything like that, but the story behind the making of a record, or the signing of a musician, or the machinery required to assemble an album and a tour, all the moving PR parts, that stuff can be fascinating to me. but it's a tangential interest to the music itself, at best - kind of a gossip-world sideshow. in this case it's more interesting than the record so that's what i find myself talking about. i agree with you lex that it's v v hard to imagine people talking much about this album even three weeks from now. but then again, as i think i've already said before in this thread, there may just be something i don't get with these guys.

it seems incredibly naïve on lex's part to imagine that it's possible to listen to pop music from some position "outside" the marketing and general discourse surrounding it. the very nature of what we're hearing, when, and how has been shaped by the "industry." that's not even going far enough.

i also wonder why we can't admire a marketing campaign from an aesthetic standpoint. because it's instrumental (see 1st definition in most dictionaries) and therefore corrupted?

anyway, i'm still listening to "touch"

i like this "album" but it feels wrong putting it that way since I can hardly hear this an "album." it doesn't seem to flow in any meaningful sense, each song is like a world unto its own. or maybe it's just very poorly sequenced. but i really admire several songs (so far) but can't really get a coherent picture of this as an "album."

it's v v hard to imagine people talking much about this album even three weeks from now

tbh I kind of decided to stfu about it even as I keep listening to it, oh about 3 days after it leaked

^

Yeah, been listening once per day since Monday.

i have it on right now

I think it's really well sequenced...I've listened to it from start to finish about 4 or 5 times now (when was the last time that happened??) and always think that after 'Get Lucky' the 2nd half of it is going to be really weak but it's at least as good as the 1st...I've never bought a DP record in my life and wasn't the least bit bothered about a new one (the collabs did intrigue me but had zero expectations)...but to try and ignore 'Get Lucky' was madness ( the SNL clip had me from the get go) so I listened to the album and think its the best thing I've heard in ages...don't care about the hype or what it's trying to emulate or whether I'll be listening to it in 3 weeks time....All I know is I'm really enjoying it at the mo which I guess is kinda the point.......or is it??.......

Excellent post Pastiche, describes my feelings.

Yeah, I've always been a casual Daft Punk fan. Enjoyed the robot shtick, the pyramid live show, the singles, videos, etc. Never have I made it through an entire album though. I've listened to RAM about 8-10 this week. I think it's great. Well sequenced OTM. Moves along well and I never feel the need to press the skip button.

have been listening to this album pretty much constantly; i think it might be keeping me alive. generous+loving+unpompous. i didn't know it existed until a couple days before it leaked, when this thread was getting bumped a lot. following the hype and anticipation around a record can be fun in itself, of course, but if it's not fun for you... idk, it's not that hard, guys.

I stopped myself listening to the stream after a few spins to make it more exciting when I went and bought it. I'm now back on it and I just love this album. It's an album full of great moments, right now the strings in Giorgio and Pharrell going "guitar" in that really wimpy voice on Lose Yourself are my favourite bits on the album. Tough to say what my favourite song overall is, Instant Crush, Touch and Fragments of Time are all up there along with the two I mentioned. Surprisingly there aren't any songs I want to skip right now.

i like this "album" but it feels wrong putting it that way since I can hardly hear this an "album." it doesn't seem to flow in any meaningful sense, each song is like a world unto its own. or maybe it's just very poorly sequenced. but i really admire several songs (so far) but can't really get a coherent picture of this as an "album."

fuck outta here with this; say what you want about the individual tracks, but this is one of the most beautifully sequenced albums ever.

really? some of the transitions don't seem to make sense to me.

or rather there don't seem to be many transitions; it's like a vaudeville show... "bring on the next act!"

that's not necessarily a bad thing, it just keeps me from easily comprehending it as a totality rather than a collection of individual tracks

sorry if i offended you, jones

the tracks are definitely connected, although in kind of subtle ways. e.g. "Within" has the same chord progression as the chorus of "Instant Crush," "Touch" has the same chord progression as "Get Lucky" in certain places

it's possible i need to listen straight through a few more times.

I think ending the record Motherboard --> Fragments --> Doin It Right --> Contact is pretty amazing from a sequencing perspective.

The synth arpeggios that knit these songs together are sublime.

This album is deeper than their others, many fans can't get this and are irate cos their sports team has let them down. And some others just never watched this sport.

Actually thinking about the harmonic cycles they use on this album + the "melancholy" people keep talking about -- the only songs (iirc) that contain a proper major tonic chord are Fragments of Time and Contact, and Fragments is the only one where there's a real sense of resolution to that major I. The other songs float around the ii, iii, IV, V, and vi chords, which keep it in a moodier vibe.

yeah the first time i heard it i was on drugs and def felt real sad + melancholic. happy to report that album doesn't sound that sad anymore

this is probably

the worst album I have heard in many an age

*shakes head in disgust*