Daft Punks's "Discovery" : Classic or Dud

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Well as someone who wasn't that into electronic music, Homework sounded awesome when it came out because it was the cool things about techno (squelchy synths, loud drums) without the stereotypically bad things about techno (overbearing diva vocals, wimpy sounding keyboards). So then I didn't really like Discovery when it came out because it sounded, I don't know, cheezier, not as hard-hitting, sillier, etc.

n/a (Nick A.), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:10 (nineteen years ago) link

my dad regularly says (jocularly) "is the record stuck" when I am listening to music. however I am sure he is thinking "sometimes this 'whumping' goes on for 5 minutes without actually doing anything"

Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:10 (nineteen years ago) link

I can take a full 60 minutes+ of whumping without even feeling it. Now punch me in the stomach, go on..

adam. (nordicskilla), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:11 (nineteen years ago) link

That girl was already into DP when we started going out but she didn't have the album for some reason. So I bought it for her, she broke up with me. Then later, Discovery came out, and I said I didn't like it.

n/a (Nick A.), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:11 (nineteen years ago) link

"my son has been listening to this whumping for 5 years without actually doing anything"

Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:11 (nineteen years ago) link

My dad used to say "I noticed you've been listening to the jungle drums again".

He was always good with genre.

adam. (nordicskilla), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:11 (nineteen years ago) link

there's no room for emo in dance music

jess (dubplatestyle), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:12 (nineteen years ago) link

my dad regularly says (jocularly) "is the record stuck" when I am listening to music. however I am sure he is thinking "sometimes this 'whumping' goes on for 5 minutes without actually doing anything"

no, ronan, i think it's your mom who says that OH MY GOD OH NO PFFT

amateur!!st, Monday, 20 September 2004 20:12 (nineteen years ago) link

The straw that broke the camel's back for my dad was "Ventolin" by Aphex Twin.

n/a (Nick A.), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:13 (nineteen years ago) link

I love how One More Time either makes me unbelievably happy or unbelievably sad (especially the acapella break.) It's like acid, it all depends on your frame of mind going in.

stephen morris (stephen morris), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:13 (nineteen years ago) link

it's times like this i'm glad i had a mother who grew up on funk and disco

jess (dubplatestyle), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:14 (nineteen years ago) link

it is true that most of Homework just goes WHUUMP WHUMP WHUMP WAAAWAAAWAA WHUMP WHUMP WHAAWHAAAWHAAAWHAAWHUMP, and that is why it will be held up as a pinnacle of mankind's achievement and doubtless become record of choice on the jukebox in the bar inside the rapidly approaching mothership.

adam. (nordicskilla), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:15 (nineteen years ago) link

(xpost: Also, don't ever listen to "Exposure" by Peak Experience because that's NINE MINUTES of whumping goodness.)

Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:15 (nineteen years ago) link

not to mention "i feel love"

amateur!!st, Monday, 20 September 2004 20:17 (nineteen years ago) link

i just mentioned it though

amateur!!st, Monday, 20 September 2004 20:18 (nineteen years ago) link

That girl was already into DP when we started going out

I just realized the potentially disasterous implications of this acronym in this phrase.

n/a (Nick A.), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:18 (nineteen years ago) link

i am roffling now.

it is dance music, afterall.

Who said dance music had to be so deadly dull though? Surely dance is all about build ups and break downs and cheeky little bits that make you sit up and take notice. Granted, Discovery is perhaps more of a rock album compared to Homework but it is testament to the way dance can make you feel exhilarated and keep you bouncing around, new ideas hitting you at every turn.

Homework may have harder beats but they're really unpleasant to listen to (and I like Gabba). It's this kind of depressed mid-tempo whumping noise. It doesn't do anything to improve my life.

dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:18 (nineteen years ago) link

I like loops.

Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:19 (nineteen years ago) link

It doesn't do anything to improve my life.

Okay, Morrissey.

Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:20 (nineteen years ago) link

i kinda see where dl is coming from (i find the cryda-mixes really harsh on my ears sometimes).

jess (dubplatestyle), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:20 (nineteen years ago) link

Get those Mr Kipling crumbs off of your bedspread.

adam. (nordicskilla), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:21 (nineteen years ago) link

I do too, occasionally, but I think the thing that makes them grate is probably also a fairly key element to making them work at all.

Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:22 (nineteen years ago) link

I like loops.

Yeh, me too. Maybe I ought to forget about Discovery and try Homework out seperately. I still don't think I'll like it. Every time I've put it on, track one starts...

WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP
"Hmmm...."
WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP
"...When's that melody gonna kick in?"
WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP
"S'pose they're just being DJ friendly or something"
WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP
"Aw, c'mon DO SOMETHING!"
WHUMP SQUELCHY WHUMP SQUELCHY WHUMP
"Ah, that's more like it... I-I think"
WHUMP SQUELCHY WHUMP SQUELCHY WHUMP
"This is testing my patience more than an Autechre album..."
WHUMP SQUELCHY WHUMP SQUELCHY CROWD NOISE
(TRACK ENDS)
"Was that it?"
(TRACK TWO BEGINS)
WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP
"Oh for crap's sake".

I like repetitive loops and beats as much as the next man but these don't equal genius, they equal knob twiddling, and not very exciting knob twiddling at that.

dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:28 (nineteen years ago) link

oh for fuck sake

Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:29 (nineteen years ago) link

why do you even bother to listen to dance music if the entire concept of anything repeating is just not clever knob twiddling.

why don't they just break out the organically grown guitars!

Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:30 (nineteen years ago) link

huh?

dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:31 (nineteen years ago) link

I didn't say I hated the concept of anything repeating, that's ridiculous.

dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:33 (nineteen years ago) link

your post is such standard "dance music is not really music" crap that if I bother to argue with you I'll appear such an ILM cliché of myself that it'd be foolish.

Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:34 (nineteen years ago) link

Wait, are you talking about "Revolution 909" here???????

Wow. Abandon all hope, dude.

Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:36 (nineteen years ago) link

x-post and it's irrelevent whether you like the records or not, this excessive concern and obsession with how "easy" they are to make and quantifying the creative is so indie it makes me want to spit

Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:37 (nineteen years ago) link

"This is testing my patience more than an Autechre album..."

This is the line that makes me bubble with inappropriate laughter.

Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:37 (nineteen years ago) link

your post is such standard "dance music is not really music" crap that if I bother to argue with you I'll appear such an ILM cliché of myself that it'd be foolish.

Hang on hang on. I know that on ILX I like to play devil's advocate a lot but you know that this is not what I'm saying. If you read my posts you'll know that I enjoy producing, mixing and dancing to dance music. Don't want to get up on this now but I've noticed that you will get pretty aggressive about certain subjects and I could see you were going to play the "you are a rockist" a long way off.
This is rubbish really. If you've read my comments above, I was not having a go at any particular style of music, I was talking about Homework and how most of the tracks are average-speed whumpers with little or no variation to them. Maybe I'll admit that I think a good dance track should have build ups, breakdowns, stops, starts, and in most cases some kind of hook. Homework doesn't make me feel anything at all. It doesn't move me because it's all the same speed and more or less the same sounds the way through. It becomes a chore. I can't dance to something that is that predictable. Ironically I reckon "So Much Love to Give" is ace but that's because it really is one big massive build up. I dunno, it's just a drag.

dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:48 (nineteen years ago) link

well don't say "just knob twiddling" then.

nobody would say "it's just guitar playing" about a rock band.

also how "homework" is hookless remains a mystery to me, most of the haters would complain it's too full of hooks and not loopy enough, and let's face it in comparison to so so so much ace dance music it really is full of hooks.

Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:51 (nineteen years ago) link

There are a few hooks here and there, that's a given - Around the World and Da Funk being particularly memorable. A lot of them - "Teachers", for instance are just exercises in dissonance and repetition.

dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:54 (nineteen years ago) link

rollin and scratchin', da funk, around the world, to name 3, are the same sounds/speed?

Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:56 (nineteen years ago) link

I mean fair enough you're not into the record but all most of these criticisms are fairly off base.

Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:56 (nineteen years ago) link

more or less yeh.

dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:57 (nineteen years ago) link

dl you're not saying why just exercises in dissonance and repetition is a bad thing.

personally i find how harsh and abrasive daft punk were kind of amazing given they used to be in a mimsy indie band.

jess (dubplatestyle), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:57 (nineteen years ago) link

Ronan is the Senator McCarthy of dance music.

stephen morris (stephen morris), Monday, 20 September 2004 20:58 (nineteen years ago) link

I don't know who that is but I'm sure if I did I'd be Senator of Laugh City right now.

Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 20 September 2004 21:01 (nineteen years ago) link

ronan are you now or have you ever been a card carrying member of the paradise garage?

jess (dubplatestyle), Monday, 20 September 2004 21:03 (nineteen years ago) link

I hope they follow the Bjork route and make their next album all robotpella!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 20 September 2004 21:04 (nineteen years ago) link

jess: yes.

Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 20 September 2004 21:07 (nineteen years ago) link

me: no?

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 20 September 2004 21:15 (nineteen years ago) link

hey, maybe. but surely bjork and daft punk should NOT be mixed.

Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 20 September 2004 21:19 (nineteen years ago) link

oh I agree, I just meant that Daft Punk should do an a completely vocodered album.

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 20 September 2004 21:21 (nineteen years ago) link

Between this and the Streets I don't know if I can ever trust ILM again.

sundar subramanian (sundar), Monday, 20 September 2004 21:37 (nineteen years ago) link

doglatin is as wrong about 'homework' as he is about 'advance'! altho i was thinking about 'homework' this morning and it's true that at the time (early '97, where 'homework' just seemed a lot fresher, crazier, dynamic, powerful, fun, pulsating, even innovative) i would always skip 'rollin' and scratchin' and 'rock n' roll' tho they are great track as far as monotonous techno goes. still love 'burnin' and 'indo silver club' as much now and then. and 'fresh' is the best instrumental they've ever done.

teh pow! (blueski), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 08:35 (nineteen years ago) link

rollin' and scratchin' must be around 15bpm faster than 'da funk' and 'around the world'. 'teachers' is more than repetetive dissonance, it's a TRIBUTE - and it sounds fucking great. i love the way they cut up vocal samples throughout ('high fidelity' another example) so they make no sense at all - inspired by todd edwards naturally.

teh pow! (blueski), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 08:39 (nineteen years ago) link

"Fresh" would kill dancefloors if it was released today.

Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 08:50 (nineteen years ago) link

Not exactly what you're asking, but a few music enthusiasts my age had their first serious encounter with David Bowie via Blackstar.

vexingvexillologist, Wednesday, 9 August 2023 12:29 (eight months ago) link

Prince’s Batman would be mine

licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Wednesday, 9 August 2023 17:24 (eight months ago) link


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