Dull Blade: Daft Punk- Discovery (2001)

I had never really known what to make of Daft Punk until recently. I was under the false impression that they had been around since the early 2000s, were maybe some kind of Moby or Fatboy Slim that I had never paid attention to, and that they had written that Harder Better Faster Stronger song. That was the extent of my knowledge, and then the other day the Internet provided me with an excellent looped gif/ music mashup of both Ron Swanson (from Parks and Recreation) drunk dancing to a sample of the 15 second teaser Daft Punk released of a new song. It is excellent. After going back to watch/ listen to it a few times, I started digging.

I ended up with their second album, Discovery. The first thing that surprised me in reading about the band was that not only do these two fools produce everything, but also play a majority of the instruments as well as sing (the often times heavily vocoded, choppy and robotic) vocals. When tracks like Digital Love and Something About Us came on, I was pleasantly surprised to hear verses and choruses as well as some pretty tasty harmonies. Most of those elements are lacking in the typical techno styles I was expecting to hear, and although a majority of the 14 songs on the album fall between the 3-5 minute mark, the album as a whole flows very naturally from track to track, as most good techno accomplishes with less tracks in longer durations. It is a satisfying listen, and more than anything I have found it to be some incredibly great spring time music.

I was also quite surprised to learn that the 2nd to last track, Face to Face, was not released as a single. It is definitely my favorite track on the album. Amazing production, great instrumentation, and really catchy vocals. Its been stuck in my head nonstop for days. Under the video for Face to Face, I also included their first album, 1997s Homework. Im just starting to listen, and although it is much more of a techno/ house album, its nice seeing how they evolved to the awesomeness of Discovery with tracks like Around the World. Bonus points go to the band for collaborating with an animation studio and director in turning their concept album into a full feature anime with the music serving as both narration and soundtrack. Blam:


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