Daft Punk's Random Access Memories

the trans Siberian orchestra drums that come in during “Giorgio” shudder

I’ll leave now

oh no good drumming

I really enjoy this album and, well, I’ll show myself out

i keep running into flaws in the album sequence, like "touch" stops dead any momentum the record had acquired by that point lol

"touch" is sick tho, grateful for paul williams' presence

like a lot of tracks on this album which have a cool idea but then fail to develop it at all and drag on for too long

― ufo, Wednesday, February 24, 2021 9:15 AM (twenty-one minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

the idea that so many of these songs don't develop is... let's just say it is not my experience of the album

"Beyond" is the best track on this IMO

instant crush is good too. i always forget about that one.

'touch' is def not a song without development.

get lucky feels somewhat static though, despite all the different sections. the developments there feel too minimal and the melody isnt that strong.

the present has no ribbon

this album is too long

wurrup all night

"Instant Crush" is the most boring track they ever did.

"Get Lucky" is still fine but it's among the rare disco songs that is markedly better in single edit form.

wow "beyond" rules, i always forget

the live drums on this album are a treat throughout

the vocal mix in "Instant Crush" is really weird — the dry vocal peeking out at like 5% volume underneath the vocoder — but the synth riffs in the chorus are fantastic

xp the pedal steel!!

the fucking robot voices ruin lose yourself to dance

wtf they're the best bit, one of the best bits of this very good album.

i'll just keep playing BACK
these fragments of time

I’m convinced ’Lose Yourself To Dance’ is a long lost ‘Hot Space’ offcut

i feel like i should be more suspicious of this record than i am. it's like... explicitly a nostalgia project, to the point where it's like they recreated the very appendix of sounds and ideas they used to make discovery. but on that level it's still interesting to me as a deconstruction

i'm sure i sound like someone who thinks daft punk are beyond reproach but idk i think it's pretty awesome that they have four records that are their own hived-off soundworlds that regardless feel like they were made by the same two people (the uniting sensibility beyond their shared taste may be their perverse sense of humor which they push so far that it kind of inverts into a form of earnestness?)

"Get Lucky" is still fine but it's among the rare disco songs that is markedly better in single edit form.

The chorus-verse balance on this track always seemed off to me.

i like the last song

i feel like i should be more suspicious of this record than i am. it's like... explicitly a nostalgia project, to the point where it's like they recreated the very appendix of sounds and ideas they used to make discovery. but on that level it's still interesting to me as a deconstruction

_the fucking robot voices ruin lose yourself to dance_

wtf they're the best bit, one of the best bits of this very good album.

I'm getting the impression that I'm the only person whose favorite track here is Giorgio by Moroder?

I'm a fan of this album and have listened to it regularly ever since it came out.

""Get Lucky" is still fine but it's among the rare disco songs that is markedly better in single edit form."

Even better in instrumental form.

I have a real soft spot for Touch, which hints at the overblown camptastic ELO-meets-Jesus Christ Superstar disco-prog concept musical I wish RAM could have been

If I were to rearrange the album a bit, I'd be tempted to have Touch either first or second, lose Giorgio (sorry Giorgio), and maybe not have it herky-jerking quite so hard between the happy-clappy pop numbers and the rainy-day robot ones.

otm xp

I loved Get Lucky when it came out (sound of the summer!) and I've got really good memories associated with it. But working in radio I had to listen to it at least once or twice every day for years and I can't even recognise it as music any more

"not have it herky-jerking quite so hard between the happy-clappy pop numbers and the rainy-day robot ones."

Yes, defo. The sequencing was almost automated.

I'm getting the impression that I'm the only person whose favorite track here is Giorgio by Moroder?

It's my favourite as well, followed by Touch and then Fragments.

The prices for the vinyl on Discogs have gone crazy, by the way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w-8_ycfkDw

This is really cool.

Unfortunately, it also means that there is stuff on Clubhouse I want to listen to. So that sucks.

(that's Disclosure, Zane Lowe, Todd Edwards and Nile Rodgers chatting)

in the promo vid where "track of the summer" originated, they were referring to "Lose Yourself to Dance" (see 10:43):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da_Yp9BOCaI

DL is referencing Limmy

yes and Limmy is referencing the media hype around Random Access Memories where "sound of the summer" became a ubiquitous phrase wrt "Get Lucky"

commercial radio and music PR talking about the "sound of the summer" predates that video by many decades!

Also, "Get Lucky" didn't even win the "song of the summer" contest that year.

think its a limmy ref

Lukas you are not alone sir

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRvaUKz2bHs

this is for Raymond and mike t- only

when i was complaining about some of this being static/dragging, the tracks i was thinking about were "give life back to music", "the game of love", "within", "doin' it right"... even "beyond" doesn't do that much... the album edit of "get lucky" is the rare disco extended mix that doesn't need to exist too and neither "lose yourself to dance" or "instant crush" justify their near-6-minute runtimes

i like instant crush a fair bit, mostly because i love julian's songwriting sensibilities, but it still sounds overly soft and anemic and just drags. i would like it a lot more if it were just a strokes song or even a julian solo song phrazes for the young style. the single edit of "get lucky" is fine but not good enough to survive how horribly it was overplayed. "lose yourself to dance" had potential but it doesn't quite pull off what it's going for, even in the single edit. pharrell's vocal is part of the problem there for sure.

i also just hate a lot of the drumming on this album lol, it's just too like jazz-fusiony and that's not really what i want out of the sort of soft rock they're drawing on idk.

it's a very frustrating album because i'm very sympathetic to most of their reference points here (except the middle of "touch" is absolutely not my thing) but it just doesn't come together for the most part. the soft rock ballads are nowhere near as good as "something about us" which was carried by it's production - if it was done in a similar retro pastiche style it'd also seem much weaker i think. the general slickness of everything feels hollow, it doesn't have the sort of richness of sound you can luxuriate in get from the things they're referencing.

The thing about get lucky is that the album already has give life back to myself which does everything get lucky does but with more joy, exuberance, and effortlessness than get lucky. That song makes you feel so good whereas get lucky is so mild and reserved in comparison.

*give life back to music

https://thequietus.com/articles/29614-film-daft-punk-electroma

Had no idea Epilogue was lifted from Electroma (which apparently I should see)

If anyone gaf, had a go at doing a "God Mode" edit of the RAM tracklisting and I'm fairly happy with this. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6cZYXFFccs2qm9PSoVQSMX?si=JDYrpL_mQCS3kzaOWzWZ-A&utm_source=copy-link

starting off with touch is brave. doubt anyone GAF, but mine is give life back..., lose yourself, girorgio, touch, within, game of love, motherboard, contact, beyond, instant crush, fragments of time, doing it right.

Touch
Give Life Back To Music
Doin' It Right
The Game Of Love
Instant Crush
Motherboard
Lose Yourself To Dance
Fragments Of Time
Beyond
Get Lucky
Contact

So, ditched Giorgio (so sorry Giorgio!).
Had to choose between cutting Within or Game Of Love as they do roughly the same thing, and felt a bit bad for it.
Was also tempted to cut either Motherboard or Beyond, but I think they sound okay where they are.

actually, im not sure i need contact or motherboard tbh. they would be great b sides though.