Re: Daft Punk "Discovery"

From: Harry Marquez (organiccompound@hotmail.com)
Date: Tue Apr 24 2001 - 00:51:16 CEST

  • Next message: Elson Trinidad: "Re: Daft Punk "Discovery""

    >"other surprises." Anyone did this yet?

    Perhaps I am the only one, but I was very disappointed with the album. I
    really wanted to like Discovery, but I find myself hopelessly unfulfilled by
    the end of the album. I do like a few songs on the album, specifically that
    little clump of tracks 2, 3, and 4. However, I DO NOT LIKE "One More Time."
      I have never been keen on Romanthony to begin with. And I don't think
    this first single is anywhere near the quality of any of the singles from
    Homework.

    Before I continue, let me say that, if it wasn't for Daft Punk's Homework, I
    would probably still hear no value in house music whatsoever. That album
    changed the way I listened to dance music because it was able to translate
    the house aesthetic into terms I could understand, specifically pop song
    structures, occasional breakbeats, funky basslines, memorable samples, and a
    sense of humor. I also liked their deep "thud" kick drum sounds and their
    sense of humility and respect for past musical innovators. I literally
    understood Homework as an academic assignment, where Daft Punk were teaching
    all the world about everything they ever learned about electronic music,
    with enough smarts for the headphones and enough fun for the dancefloor.

    That said, I think a great deal of my dissatisfaction with this new album
    lies in the fact that I don't really hear much of a progression from the
    retro-futurism of Homework. Much of what I hear on the new album sounds
    like leftover cheese from Les Rythmes Digitales' outtakes (btw, I really do
    like LRD very much). Sure, I liked the guitar solo work on track #2 and the
    REO Speedwagon keyboard sounds on track #3 and even that bomb vocoder on
    track #4, but the albums seems fueled by novelty. Certainly, the same could
    be said about their first album, but you could also argue that they blazed
    that "80s retro" trail; in which case, sticking to '80s cheese leaves me
    with a been-there-done-that aftertaste.

    I was really hoping Daft Punk would expand on the funk/house dynamic that
    they practically jumpstarted on their debut with songs like "Aroudn The
    World." Or even the sparse, sterile automated sound on tracks like
    "Revolution 909." In fact, I thought those were the directions the
    production was going to be headed based on the fact that their own indie
    labels put out wax that's strictly funky house. And I also really liked the
    mid-tempo tunes on Homework, like "Da Funk" or that really nice slow electro
    track (i forget the name but it's like #12 or so on the CD I think).

    To be fair, while I dislike portions of the album, I don't believe it is
    terrible. In a way, I almost appreciate that they did an album no one was
    quite expecting. The tracks I do like, I like immensely, though for
    completely different reasons I liked any of the songs on Homework. I might
    sell my copy of Discovery one day soon; I'll definitely get rid of my 12"
    for "One More Time." But if tracks 2, 3, or 4 ever see the light of day on
    vinyl, I'll snatch those up pretty quickly. They're pop songs, and they're
    not even vaguely housey. I am also quick to realize that this album is
    probably going to do for some open-minded kid what Homework did to me back
    in 1996. And if that's the case, that's not bad at all.
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