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Rating: Excellent |
Daft Punk have achieved near-universal acclaim over the course of 20 years and three albums, but Random Access Memories is their greatest achievement: an ambitious masterpiece that's hard to imagine being made by anyone other than Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo.
Opener 'Give Life Back To Music' sets the tone with guitars that wouldn't be out of place in Giorgio Moroder's Top Gun score. Chic's Nile Rodgers and Paul Jackson Jr, who played on 'Thriller', also play, so it's as funky as you'd expect. The sound of a merry crowd gurgles in the background. The party's here.
'The Game Of Love' drifts into a slower tempo, as a melancholic android discovers heartbreak. The record is loosely themed around a robot's attempt to become human, and if he needs a guide, who better than the producer who gave us Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love'? 'Giorgio By Moroder' is a documentary of sorts, with the titular hero telling his life story. As he describes the beginnings of the disco beat, we hear a haunting click track. When he tells us that there are no rules when it comes to making art, the music proves him right. It's a life-affirming salute to the power of imagination.
This is followed by a turnaround. Chilly Gonzales plays a 45-second piano solo that takes us into “Within,” the transition from the first three tracks. This is a laboriously crafted record. The track itself is subdued, as our robot protagonist begins to realize how much he has yet to understand.
He’ll struggle to keep up with all of Julian Casablancas’s rapid-fire lyrics on “Instant Crush,” an instant nightclub anthem. “Lose Yourself To Dance” is paired with “Get Lucky,” which represents the album’s poppiest moments and features the dream team of Nile Rodgers and Pharrell Williams. Sandwiched between the two is the record’s surprising centerpiece, “Touch.” Paul Williams may be best known as a composer for the Muppets, but Daft Punk love him best as Swan, the villainous antihero of the operatic horror film Phantom Of The Paradise. His background in psychedelic storytelling is put to use on an eight-minute epic that shape-shifts with every breath he takes.
'Beyond' is another melancholic-hearted collaboration with Paul Williams. 'Motherboard' is a long, spacey instrumental that sounds like it's melting somehow. 'Fragments Of Time' is another glorious highlight, with Todd Edwards chronicling his time in LA and making you feel like you're driving a fast car down the west coast of the US. 'Doin' It Right', featuring Animal Collective's Panda Bear, is the album's most forward-thinking moment; closing track 'Contact' is a collaboration with DJ Falcon, and an example of pure musical adrenaline.
By assembling a cast of their favorite musicians and delving into their childhood memories, Daft Punk have created something as emotionally honest as any singer-songwriter confessional—and way more fun to dance to. Go out there and rejoice: there's something new under the sun.
= Full Album Play List =
= Track List =
