Random Access Memories

Whaaa! It's the 21st! And almost every electronic music fan in the world knows what that means, at least they should. Today's date marks the release of one of the most anticipated albums in since 2007 when the group last released an album. They're pioneers in many aspects and have literally defined an entire country's electronic sound. So when the viral marketing and the rumors we've been victims of for the past 5 months actually turned out to be true, everyone from Granddad to lil' Timmy's been shitting bricks and holding their breaths.

Cleverly they also released the "Creators Series - Collaborators" in partnership with HUGE companies, so music buffs like myself could wet myself even more over the many geniuses they've brought in to collaborate with.

"What the HECK is this album he's talking about?" you're asking yourself.

We're of course talking about Daft Punk's new "Random Access Memories", officially released today. I've been waiting for a follow up album to "Human After All" (I don't really count Live as no new productions were actually on there) for a long time. I've loved Daft Punk for a LONG time so when I got access to the digital download today - still have to wait for my physical copy to arrive on the 24th (thanks German UPS..) - I jumped straight to it. 

Initial thoughts? Disappointment. It's always hard to live up to the hype that one has managed to create and acquire. Sometimes, artists manage to, but I feel like this is an unfinished product unfortunately.

Album-wise it's very well thought out, the arrangements and track fades are cool and neat but for a group that opens up an album with a song titled "Bring Life Back To Music" it sounds TOO polished. The west coast vibe is there, and I love it - I'm really looking forward to blasting this in my car with my hair in the wind later. There's a clear red thread throughout the album and there's SO much love for where we come from. It's like a tribute album to the greats of the past - something that the greats could've done themselves in a huge "Heal The World"-project.

Song for song? I've always thought that even though "Get Lucky" is a good and funky tune, it's not "single"-material, it's just not strong enough. But after listening to the album, I realized why it was chosen. It's one of the few songs that don't annoy the crap out of me.

The tune at the end is a very neat montage with bunch of sick, real life, NASA-recordings that the boys were somehow able to acquire Those samples are interwoven with good key-work and bass-work - only to end in a 30 second tinnitus-fest. It's a dissonant high-pitched noise that made me want to throw my headphones 30 ft away.

If it's not clear, I am disappointed. It's like they wanted to take this album so many places but never ended up knowing in which direction they were going. There's no real focus - the album's like a sprouting pine tree, so hopefully it grows in to a beautiful tree in a couple of years.

Don't be a stranger! Loves