Daft Punk Random Access Memories is the Album Everything of The Year
A bold proclamation? Darn skippy it is, but with good reason. Daft Punk's Random Access Memories is without a doubt the Album of the Year, but also Dance Music of the Year, Collaboration of the Year, Comeback of the Year, features the Song of the Year, frankly more Of The Year's than you can shake a gold record at. It even has an element of Disappointment of the Year about it. While every other music writer has issued their OTY lists, in my considered opinions, only one set of music made every category.
An out of control hype train lead up to the release of Random Access Memories on May 17th, 2013. Internet hucksters tried to pass off their slapdash creations as Daft Punk leaks, a commercial airing during Saturday Night Live gave that venerable show more attention on Social Media than it had seen previously, the duo caused a massive stir at Coachella without ever taking the stage, the album eventually did leak which lead to a legitimate pre-release stream on iTunes, and culminated with the best unboxing video, not of the year, but ever.
Much like their soundtrack album for Tron: Legacy, which left many hardcore fans scratching their heads about why it didn't sound more like a clone of Human After All, Daft Punk's Random Access Memories was a seemingly challenging listen for some of the duo's most ardent supporters, with its eschewing of electronics in favor of live musicians. The critics however gave it near unanimous praise, with the NME giving it 10 out of 10. The album and its lead single, "Get Lucky", earned a total of five nominations for the forthcoming Grammy Awards.
Random Access Memories is as solid a listening experience as one could want in the post-2K music world. The track sequencing makes sense. From the ear-grabbing opener through the smoother sections to experimentations which only Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo could have conceived of, RAM delivers from needle drop to needle lift. We haven't even touched on the brilliant collaborations yet, but put all of this together and this disc has more than achieved Album of the Year status.
Which leads to another accolade: Vinyl Release of the Year. Whether physical media naysayers like it or not, vinyl is back, and only getting bigger. Daft Punk knows their audience, and pressed a beautiful vinyl edition of Random Access Memories for vinyl lovers.
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| Image via Now Spinning/tumblr |
Yes, that is indeed "Gerudo Valley" from The Legend of Zelda video game series, mashed up with "Get Lucky". With countless tributes, covers and the like, "Get Lucky"/Random Access Memories certainly deserves Remix/Cover/Parody Source Material of the Year honors.
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| Ganon Access Memories cover art by @Demon_Jello |
As I discussed with many music fans via Twitter as we communally listened to the pre-release stream of Random Access Memories in May, this album could usher in a new era of dance music. I still stand by that statement though the revolution has yet to occur. No, it will not cause the death of EDM, but perhaps the musicianship to be heard among its grooves will inspire a new generation of musicians to discover the dance music which inspired RAM and perhaps lead to more recordings which embody live playing as opposed to recycled loops and over saturated Auto-Tune. Dance Music of the Year? Without a doubt.
Daft Punk also deserves recognition for Comeback of the Year. Now to be fair, they were never gone, per se, but this was their first album of new music in eight years, if you don't count the Tron: Legacy soundtrack. For the purposes of this discussion, we can either consider Tron: Legacy an extension of Daft Punk's creativity or, we can consider Random Access Memories as a radical departure from all of their previous releases. Both are true. Both confirm the fact that the robots are back. And they are evolving.
Music collaborations are one of those things that when done properly can elevate a piece from just a song to legend (see: Queen and David Bowie, "Under Pressure"). Daft Punk score Collaboration of the Year for several reasons. First and foremost is the addition of the guitar of Chic's Nile Rodgers to the album. Rodgers' signature fretwork, in tandem with Pharrell Williams' vocals are a major part of what makes "Get Lucky" Song of the Year. For those who didn't delve deeper into the sounds of RAM, you missed Daft Punk teaming with The Strokes singer Julian Casablancas, Panda Bear, DJ Falcon and songwriter Paul Williams on the album's most risk-taking performance.
Undoubtedly most important to aficionados of both electronic and dance music, the robots brought living legend Giorgio Moroder back into the spotlight. Much in the way The Power Station introduced T.Rex to a new generation via their cover of "Get It On (Bang A Gong)", Daft Punk deserve the aural equivalent of sainthood for bringing Giorgio and his music to a new generation of ears.
So what exactly did I mean by "an element of Disappointment of the Year" in relation to this album? It's a minor thing, but truly the only negative thing that can be said about Random Access Memories is we didn't get a jaw-dropping live rendition of the music. Daft Punk by virtue of their mysterious nature, are a breeder reactor for the rumor mill. There was talk in 2010 that there would be a Tron: Legacy-themed tour by the duo which would have been unreal has it rezzed up. This time, Bangalter and de Homem-Christo were quick to quash tour rumors even before Random Access Memories was released. Next year maybe, guys? Please??
Perhaps next year will bring the promised remix version of RAM, which the duo announced over the summer. Frankly, while a remix album would be a welcome addition to Daft Punk's oeuvre, as someone who (true story!) never took Random Access Memories out of my car CD player for three-plus months after it released, I'm more interested in hearing how they follow up this incredible album.
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